The Sister-In-Law(49)

‘Is there anything I can do for you Ella?’ I asked, standing up.

‘You could move your children’s toys,’ she snapped.

I followed her eyes to a small plastic truck that belonged to Alfie. I looked back at her and my confusion must have shown because Jamie said, ‘She fell over it, I think, didn’t you?’

She nodded, looking up at him like a child, making him hug her even closer.

‘It’s a small plastic toy,’ I said. ‘I don’t understand how—’

‘So dangerous to leave it there – but don’t blame yourself, Clare,’ she said in that sickly voice.

‘I wasn’t,’ I snapped, unable to control myself – I’d just run out there to save her life and now she was insinuating it was my fault. ‘Kids leave their stuff around. It’s annoying, but you just have to be careful,’ I said, standing over her.

‘She fell over the toy, it was just lying there – she could have really hurt herself,’ Jamie said over his shoulder at me as he hugged her.

‘This isn’t about falling over a plastic truck – it didn’t try to drown her, there must be another reason,’ I said, puzzled as to what exactly had happened. ‘Did you get cramp when you fell in, Ella?’ I asked.

She muttered something inaudible through her tears into Jamie’s shoulder, and he translated, ‘She says she needs to go and lie down. She thought she was drowning.’

‘She wouldn’t have drowned – even if she had cramp there are several strong swimmers around – including my nine-year-old,’ I said, trying to put this into perspective. ‘You and Dan got her out before anything happened, and I was downstairs in seconds.’

‘Come on, let’s get you upstairs,’ Jamie said tenderly, ignoring my comment.

Ella flashed a hateful look at me as he lifted her up. I glanced around; no one had even noticed. They slowly walked away, Jamie with his arm under hers, virtually carrying her.

‘If she almost drowned, there’s a reason,’ I called after them.

Jamie turned, but continued to walk away and, over his shoulder, yelled, ‘Clare, there IS – she can’t SWIM.’

Joy stood with the towel as Jamie guided Ella back to their luxury room with the huge bed, and I stood there feeling like I’d just been accused of something, but wasn’t sure what.

‘Oh, that poor girl,’ Joy said, after they’d gone. She was wringing her hands together, going over the trauma, so I asked her if she was okay.

‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘But it was such an awful thing to see – she went rigid in the water, ever so frightening.’

Bob was now nodding at her side. ‘I didn’t know she couldn’t swim! Most young people swim these days, don’t they?’

‘Yes, Violet’s a great swimmer, and the other two love the water and I’ll make sure they have lessons as soon as they’re old enough,’ I said, feeling like a good mother. ‘I’m amazed, though,’ I said, ‘Ella’s all over Instagram in bikinis, running in and out of oceans all over the world – yet she can’t swim!’

Bob didn’t seem to hear me and Joy just shrugged, but I was mystified, and wondered what the hell had just happened.

We all spent the rest of the day pottering around and relaxing as we had before Jamie and Ella arrived. It was nice just making lunch, sitting by the pool, and later Dan and I had a wander to the nearby village, where I managed to find a jar of Gianduia for Mrs Marsden.

While we were on our own, we talked about what had happened.

‘It was really scary,’ Dan said.

‘Yes, she seemed absolutely petrified in the water, but as soon as she was on dry land, she seemed to reject any offer of help.’

‘Yeah, I thought she’d be glad someone with medical training was around.’

‘Well, she thinks I just make beds.’ I smiled.

‘She really didn’t want you anywhere near her, did she?’ he confirmed.

‘I know. She hates me, Dan.’

He laughed.

‘Honestly, I know how it sounds, but it’s like she really hates me. She also knows how to grind my gears, the way she’s always grabbing you for “a quick chat”,’ I said, letting him know I was aware of this.

‘Oh, she just wants to tell me her latest ideas for the website,’ he said.

‘Hmm, I think in trying to impress her, Jamie’s misled Ella,’ I said. ‘She seems to be under the impression that we have this huge property company that’ll keep her in Prada for the rest of her life.’

‘Mmm, you said she also thought we owned the villa, and I’ve heard the way she talks about “the company”. She asked if we had any offices abroad the other day. She does seem to be carried away by it all,’ he agreed.

I was relieved, finally someone was seeing the same things I was, and I felt a little closer to Dan as a result. We even walked back to the villa holding hands, something we hadn’t done for a while. But when we approached via the garden, I glanced up and saw Ella standing at the landing window looking down on us.

‘She’s up there at the window watching us,’ I said to Dan, trying not to move my lips, looking down, so she’d think I hadn’t noticed and would stay. But when he looked up, she’d gone.