Sunshine and Second Chances Read online

  As soon as they’d been able to get a phone signal, Liv had phoned ahead to the driver to pick them up and the car was waiting as they alighted the Lady Marmalade. Debs had sent a text to Eduardo, who must have been wondering where they were, arranging to meet him when they got back.

  It was very quiet in the car on the short journey back to the villa, each of the women lost in their thoughts. When they arrived, Eduardo was leaning against the gate. His smile took Debs’ breath away. She knew at that point what she was going to have to do and it wasn’t going to be easy.

  Exhaustion had taken over and Liv, Fiona and Samantha all went up to bed leaving Debs and Eduardo at the front door. They headed out to the terrace for five minutes peace and quiet where the moonlight shone onto the sea, making it glisten with sparkles.

  ‘Have you had chance to think tonight, meu amor?’

  ‘I’ve done nothing but think all evening,’ she replied with a sad smile.

  ‘Shall I let you go to bed? You look tired.’

  ‘I would like to go to bed but only if you stay with me again tonight. Our time together will come to an end soon and I want to wake up in your arms as many times as I can. Is that OK?’

  ‘I could think of nothing more I’d rather do.’ Eduardo led her by the hand upstairs.

  When Samantha got to her room, she decided to send Peter a text message. She didn’t care what time it was, if it woke him up, it woke him up. He probably wouldn’t respond anyway.

  Hello, darling. I have some things I need to talk to you about. Please let me know if you have any plans to come home in the next week or so, or if not, I’ll come up to the uni and we can discuss them there. Love you always. Mum x.

  She turned off her phone. She was so glad that she had choices to make in her life, some people weren’t that lucky and illness cut their lives short. She was one of the fortunate ones and she was sure as hell going to make the most of every day ahead of her now that the cancer scare was behind her.

  Fiona got herself into her pyjamas and texted Brenda.

  Hello. We’ve had quite a night. Got stranded on a boat trip, but all is OK and we’re back home safely. Hope Mum is OK and I hope that you are too x

  Within seconds her phone pinged.

  Oh Fiona dear. I was just thinking about you. Marion is absolutely fine, eating well, making friends and having a lovely time. I hope you are. Really looking forward to seeing you when you are back. I know you have a late flight. Let me know what time you are coming to the home the following morning. I’ll make sure I’m around x

  As Fiona laid her head on her pillow, and started to drowse, she had no idea whether Brenda would end up being just a friend, or maybe more. But what she did know was that she was a very nice lady and Fiona hoped she would be in her life in one way or another.

  Liv stuck her finger into the pot of moisturiser. The one thing she did every night without fail these days was to maintain a good skincare routine. As she gently patted her face and neck, letting the cream do its thing, and she thought about what she needed to do, it all suddenly slotted into place.

  Laughter greeted Debs and Liv as they sauntered into the lounge. Debs flung herself on the sofa next to Fiona and Samantha.

  ‘You two sound happy.’

  ‘We were just laughing about last night and about how you thought we were going to die out at sea.’

  ‘Well, you do hear about sharks in Europe, you know. The boat could have sunk and we could have had to try to swim to safety.’

  Fiona giggled again. ‘Well, I’m glad we didn’t. And thank you for being so understanding, about, well, everything.’

  ‘Don’t know why you didn’t come clean about being a raging lezza years ago,’ Debs said in her very unsubtle way. Fiona batted her on the arm and Debs grabbed her hand. ‘We love you for being you. I hope you realise that now.’ Fiona squeezed her hand back.

  ‘Anyway, girls, we’ve been invited next door to Mikey’s parents’ villa this evening for food, and they’ve told us to dress up, so I’m going to lie on the terrace all day and top up my tan. Who’s joining me?’

  Determined to make the most of their last day in Portugal, they spent their time relaxing by the pool, taking in the gorgeous views which they all knew they would never forget and eating a delicious lunch. It was so pleasant enjoying each other’s company and chatting about what life had in store for them all when they got home.

  At seven p.m. they knocked on the door of their neighbours’ villa. Mikey and Bernardo met them and there were air kisses all round. Mikey looked so relaxed and happy. Eduardo was already in the lounge, looking very dapper in a navy-blue suit and an open-necked white shirt, and Keith and Angie stood to greet them. From nowhere a waiter appeared with a tray of full champagne flutes. These people really did know how to live in style.

  ‘We hope it’s OK with you ladies for us to dine outside on the terrace this evening?’

  They all nodded. They’d only said earlier how they all loved the outdoor living aspect of the villa. So much time at home in the UK was spent indoors, and they all felt it was nice to be away and making the most of the warm weather and the open spaces.

  ‘Shall we head out?’ Keith waved them towards the doors.

  To their complete surprise, the terrace was decked in bunting and there were fairy lights everywhere with around a dozen silver balloons with ‘Happy 50th Birthday’ written all over them tied to every tree, chair and column of the pergola.

  ‘Oh, look at what you’ve done! How lovely!’ Liv put her hands to her mouth and squealed.

  ‘Well, we couldn’t have the four of you come out here to celebrate your fiftieth birthdays without some sort of proper celebration, now could we?’ Angela smiled. ‘Michael tells us you were together on your twenty-first birthdays too. Tell us about that.’

  ‘Not sure we can. What happened in Corfu stays in Corfu.’ Olivia winked at her.

  ‘Well, we could maybe share some of it, not just all of it.’ Debs laughed. ‘And certainly not the bit about—’

  ‘Come on, ladies, let’s sit and let the men go and do men talk somewhere else. So, how have you enjoyed your holiday and your fiftieth birthday celebrations?’ Angela asked. ‘I bloody hated being fifty. We went out for a meal at a very expensive restaurant in London. It had been booked for nearly a year because it’s so difficult to get a table. I had the worst hot flush of my life and spent most of the evening looking red and blotchy with my make-up sliding off my face, feeling like shit but putting a brave face on it for the rest of my family and friends. Most of those friends, I couldn’t even remember their names because my brain cells seemed to have left my body and my memory is totally shocking. I’d have been happier staying at home in my flannelette pyjamas with a Chinese takeaway in front of the TV. How are you all coping with the menopause? Has it got any of you yet?’

  Liv laughed and couldn’t imagine this very glamorous lady in her cosies on the sofa at home. ‘Well, I’m not too bad with the hot flushes but the constant rage that runs through my body for the most ridiculous reasons, and is totally uncontrollable, just confuses me. I yelled at a woman in the supermarket last week because she took the last of the fresh bread and I called her a selfish bitch. I couldn’t believe I did it but at times everything and everyone really irritates me beyond words.’

  ‘I’m so glad it’s not just me,’ said Samantha. ‘It’s the not sleeping that gets me. I wake up because I’m hot. It’s not a hot flush, but since I hit fifty I think my body temperature has just increased in general. It’s either that or the cavity wall insulation I had fitted last year. I fling a leg out from under the duvet, then the duvet is off completely, then back on because I’m freezing and by that stage I’m bloody wide awake. Especially when I also have to get up for a wee at least once in the night too. The amount of times I say to myself, Samantha, you need to go back to sleep because you’ve got to get up in a few hours. Then I may as well get up and make a cup of tea because I don’t know what to do with myse
lf. There’s nothing worse than tossing and turning all night long and trying to force yourself to go back to sleep. I’m constantly tired, so I need a nap in the afternoon. I spend my whole weekend planning everything around the fact that I need a nap, which then means I can’t sleep when I go to bed. It’s a vicious circle. And not sleeping well is affecting my memory too! I go to say a sentence and can’t bloody remember what word I wanted to use. I feel like an idiot. I wonder if I’m getting dementia! Oh, sorry, Fiona. I didn’t mean…’

  Fiona smiled at Samantha. ‘Don’t worry, hon. I know what you mean. It’s something I worry about all the time too.’

  ‘For me it’s the fact that all of a sudden I can’t control my bladder like I used to,’ said Debs. ‘And God only knows what might happen when I sneeze, cough or laugh these days. I have to concentrate that hard on clenching everything without trying to pull a face. I’m not sure what’s going to come out of what orifice!’

  Angela howled.

  ‘It’s a bloody nightmare. I’ll be signing up to a monthly subscription with Tena Ladies soon.’ Laughter erupted around the table. ‘I just can’t quite work out whether you can do a full-on wee in them, or if they’re just there to mop up the dribbles.’

  ‘Oh, Debs. Perhaps not something to share with the lovely Eduardo just yet, eh, sweetheart?’

  ‘Honestly, don’t make me laugh, Fiona. Anything could happen. It’s as much a surprise to me as it is to everyone else.’

  That made them all laugh even more.

  ‘Goodness me. What’s so funny?’ Keith meandered over to the table to see what all the noise was about.

  ‘Girl talk, darling, I’m sure you wouldn’t be interested.’ Angela swatted her husband away to go back to the men. ‘Lucky bastards that they don’t get what we get.’

  ‘But they do have to put up with us, I suppose.’

  They all started to giggle uncontrollably and Angela collared the waiter for more bubbly. ‘Thank God for alcohol, is what I say. Cheers, ladies. Happy birthday.’

  Josep came over to announce that dinner was served and they all took their seats around the table.

  On his way back to the kitchen, Josep beamed at Debs and whispered in her ear, ‘You make my brother so happy, and that makes me happy. Thank you.’

  He squeezed her shoulder and she smiled. He patted Eduardo on the back as he walked past. Her friends looked at her across the table and Liv thought Debs had never looked more beautiful than she did this evening, smiling at the man on her right, who was holding her hand under the table.

  The huge marble table was very quickly filled with dishes containing salads, lobster and langoustines, chicken and vegetable kebabs, and paella; the smell of garlic and spices wafting into the evening air made them all realise how hungry that they were. The wine flowed freely and the evening continued to be delightful. Friends old and new, chatting about their pasts and their futures.

  Mikey stood and announced that he’d like to say a few words.

  ‘This has been a week I will never forget. To my parents, I just want to say a huge thank you for accepting Bernardo and I as a couple. You are wonderful parents and I love you very much. I hope that you come and spend many more holidays out here with us. I’ve absolutely adored spending time with you this week, now you know everything and we’ve not had to hide. Thank you. I’d like you all to raise your glasses to Keith and Angela. Cheers.’

  Glasses clinked all around.

  ‘I haven’t finished yet!’

  They all laughed. Bernardo gazed at Mikey adoringly.

  ‘A week ago, I didn’t know you ladies, yet now I feel like I’ve known you all my life. You’ve taken me into your hearts, and you’ve made friends with my parents. I’ve seen you all grow and flourish before my very eyes this week, and it’s been a delight to be around you. I hope you will remember this holiday fondly and I hope you don’t leave it too long before you come back to Portugal to see us. I’d like to wish you all a very happy fiftieth birthday. Here’s to you, ladies.’

  A huge chorus of cheers went around and many more clinking of glasses and lots of thank yous were shouted to him. He really was a superstar. He’d arranged this whole holiday and nothing had been too much trouble. Liv knew there were lots of her husband’s friends who would definitely want to use a service like the one Mikey and Bernardo offered, and she knew that she’d be recommending them to anyone who would listen. She’d be raving about them when she got home.

  At the thought of the word ‘home’, she grabbed her glass and knocked back what was left in it. The waiter appeared, as if in stealth mode, to refill it and she pushed all thoughts of home to the back of her mind as she continued to enjoy a perfectly wonderful evening with her friends.

  Josep carried a huge birthday cake with literally fifty candles on it over to the table and insisted that all four ladies blew out the candles at the same time and made a wish. Each of them closed their eyes and made a secret wish and when they opened them there were hugs all around. Josep cut the cake and even though they thought that they couldn’t eat another thing, they managed pretty well before they all stumbled back to their own villa, slightly worse for wear, giggling and wobbling, and all flinging their shoes off in the hallway before making their way to their respective rooms. Eduardo chased Debs up the stairs and they all fell about laughing.

  Tomorrow was a huge day for them all. Packing to do, tidying up and they would go over all their plans again over breakfast, repeating them, and making a pledge to each other to go through with everything they had decided on over the last week to make their new dreams happen. This holiday had been wonderful and totally and utterly life-changing for each of them. Their new lives were just about to begin.

  When Debs and Eduardo got up to her room, she became serious and took his hand in hers. ‘We need to talk.’ It had been playing on her mind all day.

  ‘You do know that I’m fifty years old, don’t you, Eduardo? My days of being able to have children are behind me. Should you not be with someone younger, who could give you children?’

  ‘Meu amor, I may not be very clever, but yes, I do know this. I am not so far behind you. As I told you, I shall be fifty myself in a few years. And I have something that I need to tell you before you make your decision.’ Debs went to speak, but he raised his finger to her lips. ‘Sshh. This is hard. You must listen, not speak.’ Debs gulped, not knowing what on earth he was going to tell her.

  ‘I have a daughter. Sabina. She is seventeen. She lives in Faro with her mother, Louisa. Louisa and I were together for a short time before she fell in love with someone else. I discovered a few years later that she’d had a child and that the child was mine. Sabina was three when I met her for the first time and I fell head over heels in love with her.

  ‘Sabina is beautiful and I adore her. She comes to stay with me occasionally. You need to know about her before you make your decision as to whether you will stay, because she is a big part of my life. I have told her about you and she’d like to meet you. How do you feel about meeting her in the morning? I know that you go home tomorrow, but I would very much like the two of you to meet.’

  Debs was stunned. She turned and busied her hands, but didn’t realise they were trembling until she went to spoon coffee into cups. She certainly wasn’t expecting that. Margo hadn’t mentioned anything about a daughter when they’d chatted, and she was surprised that it was the first time Eduardo had mentioned it too.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. ‘Talk to me, Debs. How you feel?’

  ‘I’m just surprised. You hadn’t mentioned this.’

  ‘When was I to mention it? When we met in the garden. Good morning, my name is Eduardo and I have a daughter. Our time together is so precious, I did not know when to tell you. But you go home tomorrow. And you need to know. So I tell you now. She is in my life and if you are going to be in my life too, which I hope you are, then it is important you know.’

  Debs nodded. ‘I am sur
prised, but yes, I’d like to meet her. Can you bring her here in the morning?’

  He pulled her towards him. ‘Oh Deb-orah, you are amazing. I never believed that love at first sight is a thing, but now I do.’

  She looked deep into his eyes.

  ‘I love you, meu ameu,’ he said.

  She laid her head on his chest, feeling safe and very much loved.

  ‘I love you too.’

  Liv grabbed her phone from the bedside cabinet, where it had spent most of the holiday and texted her husband’s number with a message she would never have imagined sending a week ago. Once it had gone, she breathed a sigh of relief. Next she texted Mikey and asked whether he was around in the morning because she needed his help. He responded straight away.

  Get the coffee on, and I’ll be round at nine.

  She laid out her running gear on the chair in the corner of the room, knowing that she needed to be up and out early to be back in time to see Mikey. Their flight was at seven p.m., and she had a lot of things to organise before then.

  Liv sat on the terrace, her hands getting warmer from hugging a mug of coffee, and watched another spectacular sunrise. The beautiful hues of yellow and gold blended with the early morning sky, becoming a deeper rich blue by the minute, casting a glow over the line where the sky met the sea. It made for the prettiest picture that she hoped she’d never forget. This was a pivotal moment in her life. Perhaps the biggest day of her life.