6
Will and the girls returned from Porto Liakáda at around 10p.m., by which time the others were extremely hungry and had started to worry.
‘We used the torches on our phones,’ Amelia said in response to her mother’s comment about it being pitch black outside. ‘We were fine.’
Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks were rosy. Will and Lily kept bursting into giggles for no apparent reason. They’d clearly had more than one drink but they’d remembered to buy pizzas, salad and a sweet, sticky tart, which had got crushed on the journey.
Stella and Louise were too famished to take them to task for being late and after reheating the pizza in the oven for a few minutes and fixing a salad, they sat down to eat on the terrace.
Stella lit two citronella candles to ward off the mosquitoes, and set one on the wall beside them and another in the centre of the table.
As she ate, her eyes were repeatedly drawn to the yellow flames flickering mysteriously in the large, glass, hurricane candleholders.
Jon’s were, too. She was at one end of the table and he at the other. Once, their gazes met in the middle and when she glanced up, she realised he was staring at her. Puzzled and a bit embarrassed, she gave a small smile before looking away.
The girls were in high spirits, as was Will. He told a story about a ‘mad Englishwoman’ with blonde hair, who was chasing round the tables at the bar where they were sitting, trying to catch two children in nightclothes: a girl and a boy aged about six or seven.
‘She was ranting and raving and threatening to ground them for weeks, but they completely ignored her and just carried on racing round, with her running after them. They seemed to think it was funny. To be honest, it was funny. Everyone was laughing, until the little girl fell over and started crying and the mother picked her up and marched them both home.’
‘That sounds like April,’ said Stella. ‘I don’t think she’s got much control over her kids. She’s from Leeds originally. She’s very friendly.’
‘A bittoofriendly,’ Louise added wryly, her gold earrings glinting in the half-light.
Lily leaned across the table and helped herself to another slice of pizza. She’d caught the sun and her shoulders had turned pink.
‘Oh, and some weird lady came up and talked to us.’
She bit into her food and tomato sauce dribbled down her chin. Amelia pulled a mock-disgusted face and passed her some kitchen roll.
Freckles had sprung up on Lily’s cheeks and nose and her topknot was lopsided, with bits of hair sticking out all over the place.
‘What weird lady?’ Stella asked, only half listening. She was smiling inwardly, thinking her daughter had no idea how young and sweet she looked.
‘She had really long hair and was wearing all these droopy, colourful clothes. She asked if you and I were related.’
Stella’s ears pricked up. ‘Marina?’
Lily shrugged. ‘She didn’t say her name.’
‘How did she know you had anything to do with me?’
Amelia chipped in now. ‘She just guessed. She said Lily looked like you.’
‘Oh!’
The fear in Stella’s voice alarmed Lily, who put down her slice of pizza.
‘Is something wrong?’
Stella checked herself; she mustn’t frighten the girls.
‘No.’ She fiddled with the wedding ring she still wore, thinking it was probably time to take it off, though she couldn’t quite bear to.
‘She’s an artist. We bumped into her the day before yesterday and she said a few odd things. Best to steer clear. She’s just a bit strange, that’s all.’
‘What odd things?’ Jon’s speech was slightly slurred. He was bending forwards, his elbows on the table, helping to prop him up.
There was an almost empty bottle of red wine in front of him, which he’d had to himself, as the others were drinking white wine, lager or Coke.
