The Perfect Happiness(113)

“This isn’t going to be easy.” “Of course it isn’t. But it could be a whole lot worse. Think about the mess if Olivier found out.”

“Right, I’ll do it.”

“You’ve got away with it, which I never thought you would.”

“My fingers have been burned.”

“Honey, your whole life could have gone up in flames! Now, we’d better tidy you up. If the girls see you looking like this, they’ll think you’ve given up on life!”

Angelica put on a pair of skinny flare jeans from Gap and a cashmere sweater from Paul & Joe. She dried her hair and applied some makeup. Candace sat on the loo seat watching her.

“Phew, it is you after all. I wasn’t quite sure.” They both laughed.

“You’re a great friend, Candace.”

“Well, I hope so.”

“Joking apart. You’ve made me feel so much better about the whole thing.”

“You just needed to make sense of it . . . then deal with it.”

“I was so confused. I love him, and yet I feel so hurt.”

“And angry.”

“A little.”

“If it were me . . .” She sighed heavily and flared her nostrils. “Well, it just wouldn’t be.”

At one o’clock the girls arrived on her doorstep en masse. Even Kate was on time for once. Loaded with presents and bags of lunch, they marched into the house, embracing Angelica with such fervor one might have been forgiven for thinking she’d just risen from the dead.

“You’re so pale!” Kate cried, studying her face to check her features were still in place. “I want to hear every detail. Then I want to fill you in on my life, which couldn’t get any stranger.”

“We’ve brought sushi,” said Scarlet, dumping her bag on the dining room table.

“I’m ravenous,” said Letizia. “Let’s spread it out and tuck in.”

“Not before a glass of wine. I don’t know about anyone else, but the sight of Angelica’s white face has scared the life out of me.” Kate opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Chardonnay.

“I think Angelica needs a shot more than any of us,” said Scarlet, going to the cupboard and grabbing the glasses by their stems. Her jeans were so tight they could have been painted on. She stood on tiptoe in spite of her high-heeled black PVC boots, which gave her at least another three inches.

“Thank you all for coming,” said Angelica, laying the table.

“Are you crazy? They’ve been dying to come all morning,” Candace exclaimed.

“We’ve been so worried, darling,” said Letizia kindly. “When Kate called me, having heard from Scarlet, I had to sit down. I mean, to have all those horrible men on top of you!”

“On top of me?”

Kate pulled a face. “So I exaggerated a little,” she admitted sheepishly.

“They weren’t on top of me. They tied me up and dumped me in the dining room. Besides that, they didn’t touch me.”

“Oh! I’d have been offended,” Kate quipped. “Just joking! Had any of them come anywhere near me, I would have died!”

“No, you wouldn’t. The prospect of telling all your friends afterwards would have sustained you,” said Candace.

“It must have been a real nightmare,” said Scarlet, placing the maki rolls in neat lines on the serving dish.

Letizia had found a vase for the purple tulips she had brought and placed it in the center of the table, taking a step back to admire her creation. “Now, isn’t this divine. Spring is just around the corner.” She tossed her glorious mane off her shoulder. “But an early spring is in your dining room, darling.” Angelica thanked her.

“I bet it was stunning in Franschhoek,” said Scarlet.

“It was.”

“It’s a crying shame there’s all that poverty and homelessness,” mused Letizia. “I mean, if it wasn’t for the crime, which is beyond anything we have here, it would be the perfect place to live.”

“It’s so easy to forget when you’re there, in someone’s home. I drove past shantytowns of such squalor, but the minute I was at the vineyard it was as if that squalor belonged to another country. Then it invaded their home, and I realized why people leave and start again on other continents.”

“I’d like to live in Italy,” said Kate brightly. “In a magnificent palazzo.”

“Well, of course you would.” Letizia laughed.

Candace rolled her eyes. “You’ll have your moment, Kate. But right now the spotlight’s on Angelica, and you know what? I think she deserves it.”