CHAPTER 9
________
EVA
As soon as I’d spoken the words, I’d regretted them. Because they weren’t true and I knew it. I was lying when I accused him of being a user and saying that my time with Nick had meant nothing to me. Because it had meant everything. For years.
I wanted to tell him the truth now, to grab hold of him and explain the reason I’d left that morning. It wasn’t because I thought of him as a hat-trick-dick and he was right calling me out on it. I just wasn’t ready to dredge up the memory of that morning and why I’d had to leave so abruptly.
I had known even then that he wasn’t that sort of guy. I knew he wouldn’t have treated me that way. What I didn’t know was that he’d still be hurt after all this time, because it was clear that he was. I could see it in his eyes.
Maria made me sit in the seat next to her as I joined her and Anna outside. I slowly sipped my wine. It was delicious. Light and dry, and perfect after such a long journey. I was tired, but there was an exhilarating energy buzzing through my veins that I knew wasn’t just because I’d taken my first trip to Europe.
I knew Maria wanted to ask more questions, but Nick came back out with the rest of the drinks, and he seemed to be much calmer. He clapped his hands together and smiled.
“Right, I know you’ve only just arrived, and I think it would be good if everyone had a rest, but tonight, we’re all meeting at Taki’s Tavern, where we’ll welcome Maria back to Santorini.”
The old lady positively beamed at the news and clasped her hands to her chest. I was pleased to hear it. It was excellent news. It meant that I could spend time alone in the house, unpacking and collecting my thoughts. But any idea of a relaxing solo night was soon dashed because Nick opened his arms to include Anna and me.
“Ladies, I’d like for you to join us, too. You’re part of the family while you’re here, and I’d be delighted if you would enjoy dinner with us.”
Part of the family? Who was he kidding? But a quick glance at Maria told me that she was positively thrilled with the idea. Dinner was arranged for nine that evening, which gave the household plenty of time to relax. I helped Maria into the house and up the stairs to her room. I suggested that she might want to take a room on the ground floor, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
“Every morning when I wake up, I must see the sea,” she declared. “If that means taking some wretched stairs, then so be it.”
I slowly walked up every step with her, as she held onto my arm. “The way to remember it is by using the heaven-and-hell principle,” I told her. “The good goes up, to heaven, the bad goes down, to hell. So, when climbing up the stairs, always lead with your good leg. And then, coming down the stairs, put the injured one down first. If you remember that, then it’s the least stressful on the joints.”
For all her grumbling, she was coping rather well with the exercises I’d given her. I got the feeling that she was so thrilled to be home that she wanted to get well in order to enjoy her time in Santorini as much as she possibly could. To sit and watch everyone else around her was simply too frustrating. She needed to be in on the action, in the center of the hustle and bustle. I imagined that no party was ever really a party until Maria arrived.
By four that afternoon, Maria was fast asleep, and I was itching to go for a swim in the ocean. I was sure that if my charge was unconscious, I wouldn’t be expected to do any work and that I could take this time to do a little exploring of my own.
Anna, though, wasn’t so lucky. She already had her sleeves rolled up, both literally and metaphorically, and all along the countertops in the kitchen, a large array of pots and pans could be seen. She’d also emptied everything out of the refrigerator, shaking her head and gabbling to herself in Greek, no doubt disdainful of the items she noted down on her imaginary inventory. I was fetching myself a glass of water to take upstairs with me when she grabbed hold of my arm and shook her head.
“Not from the tap,” she said, then pointed to the fridge. “Bottle. Bottle.”
I poured some water from a bottle as I was instructed and took it back to my room. I looked out at the beautiful gardens, but the sea was calling me. I sat on the edge of my bed for a little while and then decided not to be such a pussy. I went to find Nick. The door to his study was closed, and I tapped on the wood.
“Yeah?”
I pushed the door open, and he laughed when he saw me.
“You don’t have to knock,” he said, looking up from his laptop. “I only keep the door closed so I don’t have to listen to the terrible music Anna plays in the kitchen. Does she have the radio on?”
“No, not yet,” I said. “I think she’s taking the kitchen apart right now so she wouldn’t be able to hear anything over the din anyway.”
“Of course. She likes to rearrange everything exactly the way she wants it. I don’t mind. After all, she’s the one who’s going to be spending the most time in there this summer. And the things she creates in that kitchen are so delicious that she’s welcome to turn the whole house upside down if she wants.”
“I can’t say I’ve eaten much Greek food,” I said. “I don’t really know what to expect.”
At this, Nick raised his eyebrows. “Really? Have you never been to Greece before?”
“I’ve never been out of the States until now.”
He sat back in his chair. “Wow. That really surprises me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because when I knew you back then, there was such an adventurous spirit in you that I thought you’d be off traveling at the earliest opportunity. When all the other girls wanted to get drunk and fall over, you wanted to see things. Explore things.”
He grinned. “Explore me, for one.”
At this, I must have turned the brightest shade of pink anyone ever had. I couldn’t believe he’d been so forward as to say something like that to me. But I couldn’t get away from the image that popped into my head as he said it. The memory of lying naked with him, exploring his body not just with my fingers but with my lips, too.
I’d been fascinated by his body. He’d had the kind of physique that someone would expect to find on a billboard in the center of New York City, of a guy wearing nothing but designer underwear and with a gaze that made a girl groan silently to herself. I’d been unable to stop myself from wanting to feel every inch of him. Where I was soft, he was rock hard. My breasts, my belly, my thighs… these were all places he’d loved to rest his head, remarking on the smoothness of my skin. In contrast, the same places on his body were solid. Firm. He’d been the antithesis of me. Yin and yang. Where he was black, I was white. Where he was hard, I was soft. It had certainly felt that way.
But that was another lifetime ago, and now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past. So, with a shake of my head, as though to store the memory in a place where I could perhaps come back to it at a more convenient time, I mentioned the sea.
“Is it far to the beach?” I asked. “Only, with Maria asleep and my having slept quite well on the plane, I thought I might explore a little.”
At that, he closed the lid of the laptop. “Absolutely,” he said. “We have our own beach. Right underneath the house. I can’t believe I haven’t already taken you down there, but I thought you might want to rest.”
“Oh, if you just tell me how to get there, I can make my own way,” I said hurriedly. “I don’t want to trouble you. You clearly have work to do.”
“Nonsense. Fabian’s particularly cranky today. He doesn’t want to see the things that are right in front of his nose. I don’t have the patience for him.”
I wondered who on earth he was talking about before I remembered the hero of his books. I made a mental note to download one of the novels onto my e-reader when I got back to my bedroom. But for now, it seemed I was going to the beach with Nick, and he wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
“I’ll just go and grab a few things,” I said, and hurried upstairs, closing the bedroom door behind me. From my suitcase, I took out the selection of bikinis I’d brought with me and laid them out on the bed. I recalled the thought I’d had that Maria’s rich nephew might like how I looked in them, and I cringed. What an idiot I’d been. Be careful what you wish for, right?
All the same, I couldn’t go to the beach without putting one on, so I slipped into a simple black two-piece. I looked at myself in the mirror. With my black hair and now the black bikini, I looked like Morticia Addams’s long-lost sister. I quickly took it off and put on a light blue one instead.
There. That was much better. I slipped my dress over my head again and slid my feet into some sandals, then grabbed my beach bag, in which I threw everything I’d need: a towel, sunglasses, a book, and most importantly, sunscreen. I couldn’t risk getting burned, especially not on my very first day.
At the bottom of the stairs, Nick was waiting. He was still in his jeans and shirt, but where I was pale and desperate for the sun, he had a tan that made him look like he’d been kissed by the gods. His shirt opened a little at the top, and I caught sight of his muscular, firm chest. The chest I’d run my fingers down on a hot day just like this one, seven years ago.
“I think we should take the wine we didn’t finish earlier,” he said, and we slipped into the kitchen. Just as Nick had said, Anna was now listening to some terrible Greek folk music, humming away as she diced vegetables. When she heard us, she made a beeline for Nick, waving a knife in his face. She chattered at him in a mixture of Greek and English, and I caught the words “I cannot make dinner!” and “nothing in this house!”
Nick held his hands up in surrender. “I know I didn’t arrange for enough groceries,” he said, calmly. “That’s why we’re going out to eat tonight. I didn’t think it would be fair at all to have you cook on your first night back home, Anna. Tomorrow I’ll drive you to the store, and you can buy anything—”
“Not the store,” Anna declared. “Laiki! The market!”
“The market it is,” Nick said. “I promise. From my lips to God’s ears.”
It amused me to see a man so tall and confident reduced to a pleading little boy in his own kitchen. I liked to see Anna waving the knife in front of him and was a bit disappointed when she smiled and squeezed his cheek between her thumb and forefinger.
“You are a good boy,” she said, and she went back to dicing the inferior vegetables, happy in the knowledge that she’d soon have the whole kitchen filled with all the ingredients she could want.
“Phew,” Nick said, once we were outside. He had the bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands. “I hate getting a scolding from her. She’s like a school teacher.”
“She seems to really love you, though,” I said. “And Maria, too.”
“She’s been with the family for so long I think she does it out of love by now,” he said. He opened a side gate to the left of the veranda, and I saw that ahead of us there was a seemingly endless flight of square white steps that lead down to the beach.
“She’s so used to Maria shouting at her that she even shouts back these days when it gets too much. They’ve had some real slanging matches, believe me.”
We started walking down the steps, Nick practically bounding down them like a gazelle whereas I had to carefully watch my footing, as it didn’t seem as if the steps would measure up to US safety standards. They’d been painted white within the last few years by the look of things, but that was about it, and there was no handrail.
I stumbled a little, dizzied by the constant repetitive action of taking one step after another, but immediately Nick was there. He caught me against his chest for a second, unable to take my hand because his own hands were full with the bottle of wine and glasses.
“Careful,” he said softly. “These steps are lethal.”
Gulping, I thanked him, and carried on walking, this time much more careful as to where I placed my feet.