‘Here you go.’ Miriam took the envelope and in turn handed it to Colette.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, confused.
‘Open it and see, silly,’ Noelle insisted.
Colette turned the envelope over in her hand, then proceeded to glide her finger under the seal to pry it open. Then she pulled the contents out and stared.
The brochures were a magnificent blaze of colour and light, and the scenery they presented was simply stunning.Azure oceans and groups of pastel houses tumbling down mountainside forests filled the pages, interspersed with images of sailboats on the water and delicious-looking cuisine.
‘Italy?’ Colette questioned, turning to the front of the brochure.
‘Yes, Italy,’ Noelle cheered. ‘You’ve always wanted to go there, haven’t you? You studied the language, after all.’
‘Well, yes,’ she replied hesitantly. ‘But I don’t understand …’
‘Open the white packet now,’ her mother chuckled.
Colette did as instructed, and pulled out a colourful green-and-red folder. Inside was an airline ticket with her name on it and the destination read ‘Naples’. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped in shock. It couldn’t be.
Her gaze flew upwards to her sister and mother, and her words came out as a whisper, so fragile that if spoken too loudly the dream she was obviously in would shatter and she’d be sent right back to reality.
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ her mother replied tearfully, as she took both of Colette’s hands in hers.
‘We’ve made all the arrangements,’ Noelle added, excitement raising the tone of her voice to almost a squeal. ‘You leave at the end of the month. Three weeks on the Amalfi Coast in sunny Italy.’
Colette couldn’t speak. She shook her head. ‘I can’t. I can’t go.’
‘Why not?’ Noelle asked, confused.
‘Who will take care of Mum and the bakery? The summer season is our busiest, you know that. Who will take care of things around here?’It seemed as if her entire life had been her mother, the house and the business for so long that she couldn’t imagine a day without having to attend to them. Not even a day without responsibilities.
‘Love, I can take care of myself now.’
‘And I’ll be home for the summer.’
‘But—’
‘No buts,’ her sister interrupted. ‘You’re going on this trip and that’s that. I knew you’d try to find some reason not to. Didn’t I tell you, Mum?’
‘Yes, you did,’ their mother answered, a small smile on her face as she looked at each of them in turn. ‘Though we have to remember that for the past few years Colette’s been the lady of the house here,’ she explained. ‘She’s done it so much she’s forgotten that she has a life of her own. And now the world is out there for her to discover.’
‘Mum,’ Colette said, realising she was being well and truly cornered. Yes, the doctor said all was well with her illness, but it would take more than a couple of weeks until her mother was ready to take on the responsibilities of the life she’d been forced to relinquish. Was she really up to it? ‘Why do I have to go so soon?’
‘Because Noelle will be home from university by then. And to be honest, it was quite difficult to find a place for you to stay – that part of Italy is very busy over the summer months, apparently. The travel agent said that this was basically all we could get.’
Colette looked at her. So it seemed it was now or never. ‘Are you absolutely sure you’d be OK with this? With my leaving you on your own?’
‘I’ll be perfectly fine,’ her mother insisted. ‘Really.’
‘Hey, like I said, I’ll be here, too,’ Noelle added with some annoyance. ‘Stop being such a worrier, Colette. I can take care of Mum just as well as you. Things are different now. We’ll be fine, honestly. It’s time you got out there and lived some of those dreams you’re always banging on about.’
‘An escape,’ their mother said. ‘High time you had some fun back in your life and came out of your shell.’
‘And live it up a little, too,’ Noelle added with a grin. ‘Go and meet a nice Italian who’ll show you a good time.’
‘Well, maybe not too much ofthat,’ her mother cautioned automatically, though unlike Noelle she knew well that her eldest wasn’t much of party person. ‘But, love, it is definitely time to see what’s out there for you, don’t you think?’
