Return to Amalfi

In Carol Kirkwood's atmospheric story, Stevie suspects she's missed her chance for romance, but who is waiting to welcome her back to Italy?

Stevie felt a thrill of excitement. As the ferry approached the small port of Amalfi, the tight jumble of bleached white houses with their terracotta roofs looked every inch as beautiful as she remembered. They seemed to be stacked up the side of the mountain like wonderful wedding cakes and as the azure blue of the Mediterranean sparkled like a jewelled sea in the afternoon sunlight, Stevie had to resist the urge to whip out her sketchbook right away, but she stopped herself; there’d be time for that in the next few days.

As she stepped off the boat, along with a collection of day-trippers, holidaymakers and a few locals on their return journey from Salerno, Stevie congratulated herself on making it here at all. It would have been easy to finish the trip in Naples after her best friend and travelling companion, Joanne, had been forced to cut short her trip and travel back to England.

Her beloved elderly father, living in sheltered housing, had suffered a seizure and Joanne wanted to be near him.

“I’m coming with you,” Stevie had insisted.

“You are not!” Joanne had been equally determined that she shouldn’t and had eventually won the argument. “You must finish this journey for both of us.”

They’d been looking forward to their Italian trip for ages now their children had flown the nest; Joanne’s youngest son had a job in Manchester and Stevie’s daughter had won a prestigious music scholarship to study in America.

Stevie was torn between feeling proud of Emily and feeling utterly bereft, and was prone to crying herself to sleep.

“It’s your time, Mum. A chance for your own adventure,” Emily had told her on a FaceTime call.