‘Made harder by my husband,’ says Grazia, apologetically. ‘I apologise again.’
Rose thinks of the sheer worry about her and Adriana’s past coming out, and just smiles gratefully.
She hasn’t been able to fully process it yet. But she will. She’s going to contact her former therapist, Vida, again.
Everybody needs help, after all.
Bobbi is on the beach too, eagerly eating the dips that Christos brought with his famous barbecue bread and drinking vast glasses of water, all the while staring at her daughter.
Keera looks different: stronger, more vital, Rose thinks. As if she’s totally in charge of her new life.
Keera is telling her mother about India’s new shop idea. Bobbi is full of ideas for it.
‘The sandals I had on yesterday – now they’re truevintage. De Havilland. I have four pairs. I could sell them to you …’
The women are laughing, and Dianne is explaining that she has a few vintage bits and bobs herself.
‘My daughters tell me most of my clothes are very old fogey,’ she’s saying to Grazia.
‘Pah, you never had a chance to buy lovely clothes,’ Grazia interrupts her. ‘We should stay in touch, yes?’
‘Yes,’ says Dianne, pleased. ‘You could come and stay with me?’
‘And you come to stay with me. Wake up your family to see you have a life.’
‘I wasn’t fair on them,’ Dianne says. ‘I should have told them where the anger came from, but then I felt I’d be ruining their vision of a happy childhood.’
‘How’s the anger now?’ Rose is curious. Dianne is the person she’s arranged the first Zoom therapy sessions with. But everyone will have them. The retreat was never just about one week.
Dianne thinks about it.
‘Sometimes, I am full of rage. It takes me over but it’s not about here or any of you: it’s about the past. I get so angry when I think about my husband but I understand that now. The rage was because I wanted to make sure nobody ever treated me like that again. In truth, I am not entirely in control of it but I will learn how to be.’
She looks sad but, this time, Adriana takes her hand.
‘Never apologise for how you had to behave to survive,’ she says.
‘Do you think we should come back next year?’ asks India. ‘For a top-up?’
‘Yes!’ says Keera. ‘Mom, you could come too!’
Bobbi rolls her eyes. ‘Like, no way,’ she says.
‘I would do it,’ says Dianne.
‘Me also,’ says Dan, gazing at India.
‘I can book you in,’ says Christos from his position on the sand.
‘Let’s see how we all get on with our Zoom therapy sessions,’ Rose says.
Later, Keera, India, Bobbi and Dan are all about to head off in the same taxi.
Marceline,who drove Keera to her meeting in Corfu Town, is chatting away merrily to the music of Fleetwood Mac.
Phone diaries are being consulted.
India can’t wait to get some business management skills under her belt.
