Gathered on Sofia’s terrace with cups of herbal tea and the sound of the sea gently lapping at the wall below them, Maddie could still hear the music ringing in her ears.
Sofia reached out and touched her friend’s knee.
‘All right, Mads?’
‘Slightly deaf, but other than that, bearing up.’
‘Now you’ve told us everything, the question is what are we going to do about it?’
Maddie hadn’t thought that far. Just saying it out loud had completely drained her.
‘What can we do about it?’
‘My inkling is that your son is probably as upset about all this as you are.’
‘I’d like to think so. But he’s not going to take my side against his wife.’ Maddie’s laugh was strained. ‘You know what they say, happy wife, happy life.’
Charlotte put up a hand.
‘No, that’s true. If you want my opinion, I think you’re going to have to be the one to apologise first.’
Maddie sighed.
‘Yes, I’d worked that out for myself. And I can’t let it go on any longer. Thanassis more or less told me the same thing.’
‘Thanassis?’ Sofia’s shock showed on her face. ‘He knows?’
‘It all came out that night on the beach. I didn’t intend to tell him. I was just looking for the right time to tell you two. But it’s easier to tell someone you barely know.’
Charlotte elbowed Sofia in the side.
‘Yes, the main thing is working out a solution now. Let’s not get hung up on who knew when.’
Sofia held her side a moment.
‘Of course. Why don’t we try and put together an email, the three of us?’
Maddie shrugged.
‘Well, it can’t possibly make things any worse, so why not?’
‘OK, let’s write it out first. Char, you’ve got the best handwriting. There’s some notepaper in the room and a pen on the side.’
‘Yes, Ma’am.’
After half an hour of crossings out, sighing and even a smattering of laughter, they finally had a draft that Maddie was happy with.
‘Can you read it out one more time, please, Char.’
‘OK, here goes. “To my darling family. Please can we find a way of sorting out our problems and moving forward with our lives. I am missing you all so much, and Elsie must have grown and mastered so many new things since I last saw her. I accept that the whole blow up was my fault, and I am truly sorry. I apologise unreservedly for my rude remarks to Hayley…”’
Maddie did a mock vomit.
‘Do we have to keep that bit in? I know I went over the top, but there was a little bit of truth in it.’
‘Yes’ was the deafening response from both her friends.
‘OK, I get it. Carry on.’
