Fern laughed. ‘Maybe Italy.’ She wrinkled her pretty nose. ‘Spain? There are so many places. Could island-hop in Greece.’
‘That’s it! I know how we can decide where to go!’ Stella plonked herself down on the sofa, splashing champagne on her skirt. She waved her hand, put the glass down and picked up her phone. ‘Let’s look up the most beautiful islands in Europe.’ She thumbed the search into Google. ‘Write each of these down on a separate piece of paper.’
Fern grabbed a notepad and pen from the desk.
‘Ready?’ Stella said as she scrolled through a post with jaw-droppingly beautiful island views. ‘Santorini, Ibiza, Capri, Madeira, Rhodes, Corsica, Mykonos, Sardinia, Hvar, Malta and Sicily. That’ll do.’ She took the pad from Fern, tore off the eleven sheets, folded each piece of paper in four and dropped them into an empty mug. She held it towards Fern. ‘Go on, pick one.’
Fern shook her head and pointed her champagne glass at Stella. ‘Uh-uh. No, you should. This is your treat, remember. I want you to be happy with the choice. Plus, you’re the lucky one.’
Stella stuck her hand in the coffee cup, mixed the paper up and pulled one out. With butterflies in her stomach, she unfolded it.
‘Ah!’ She looked up at Fern and grinned. ‘Capri. We’re going to Capri!’
They hugged each other and danced around the room. Stella felt giddy with excitement, as if the years had melted away and they were eighteen again, celebrating after a night out.
‘I know nothing about Capri,’ Fern said breathlessly as they collapsed back on to the sofa and grabbed their drinks.
‘That’s what’s so exciting – all I know is it’s off the coast of Italy and is supposed to be a totally glamorous place where rich people go.’
‘That’ll suit you perfectly!’
Stella reached for her phone and googled Capri. ‘An island in the Bay of Naples famed for its rugged landscape, upscale hotels and shopping,’ she read. ‘Ooh, designer labels and limoncello. Apparently Sophia Loren and Mariah Carey own villas there. I think I chose well!’
They clinked their champagne glasses together and chatted until late, getting more and more excited about an island that sounded better and better the more they read about it.
At just gone midnight, they headed to bed to try to get some sleep before their final day of pampering with Elemis face and body treatments booked in the morning. It was a weight off Stella’s mind to have told Fern about her Lottery win, and it had been nice, really nice, to see her relaxed and laughing for once, but there was still much they needed to talk about. Much that she needed to tell Fern. But with a sleepy head fuzzy from wine and champagne, that would have to wait. They’d get their birthdays out of the way first and start the next decade of their lives afresh. She bit her lip; she knew it wasn’t going to be as straightforward as that.
Before closing the curtains on the night, Stella gazed out through the window to the moonlit forest with its spindly tree trunks and skeletal branches ebony against the clear, deep indigo sky. It was still hard to believe the Lottery win had happened to her. The money wouldn’t change her, she was sure, but she did now have the opportunity to turn her life on its head.