15
The second week of the holiday could hardly have been more different from the first. The two families spent long, lazy days by the pool or ventured into Porto Liakáda to go to the beach or buy food.
Jon had agreed to catch the same flight back as the others. He was subdued and didn’t join in the games or conversations, but he did do his fair share of meal preparation and clearing up.
Al and Stella were like newlyweds, constantly touching each other and sharing jokes. One afternoon, they lay side by side on the same sun lounger while Al played with Stella’s hair, running it through his fingers.
Hector was sitting nearby, looking at his phone. He’d been finding his parents’ PDAs hard to cope with, and he finally snapped.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ he said, sticking a finger down his throat and pretending to throw up. ‘Will you two just stop it? It’s disgusting!’
Al laughed but Stella jumped up and scurried to another seat.
‘Sorry,’ she said, fiddling with the strap of her swimsuit, feeling her cheeks heat up. ‘Um, anyone fancy a cold drink?’
A couple of days before they were due to go home, she suggested making a dinner reservation for their last night in one of Porto Liakáda’s best restaurants.
There was a full moon, and they were all together round the garden table, having just finished eating.
‘I’d like to invite some other people if that’s okay?’ Stella said. ‘April and family, Katerina, of course, Marina…’ She glanced at Louise, who nodded almost imperceptibly. ‘Maybe the shoe shop man, and the local men who came to help us on the beach. I want to say thank you to them.’
Lily made a face, wrinkling her sunburned nose. ‘Can’t it just be us?’
‘I think it’s a great idea,’ Al countered, breaking off a corner of the bread he’d left and popping it in his mouth. ‘We should show our appreciation. We’ll pay.’ He looked at Louise, who raised her eyebrows in protest. ‘Of course it’s on us.’
Being sensitive to Jon’s feelings, he didn’t add,After all, you weren’t the one who caused all the trouble, but everyone knew what he meant.
April gave Stella contact numbers for the five men who’d rushed to the rescue when they saw Al and Hector hurtling to the beach, and realised someone was in trouble.
On leaving the store with the information scribbled on a piece of paper, Stella bumped into Marina, who gladly accepted her invitation and offered to tell Katerina about it, too.
The only person who couldn’t make the dinner was Mr Makris, from the shoe shop. Stella suspected Katerina might have had a word with him, perhaps via his daughter. The old woman wasn’t exactly his greatest fan.
In the event, there were twenty-six acceptances, including April’s four children, who couldn’t be left out, plus five local men and their four wives.
Stella asked for three large tables to be put together on the veranda, overlooking the water, and the chef agreed to provide a range of sharing dishes and plenty of Cretan wine.
When the time came, Stella was looking forward to the evening’s celebration, having spent the afternoon packing and tidying up. She hummed to herself while she was getting ready, and carefully applied some creamy brown eye shadow, mascara and blusher, which she hadn’t worn all holiday.
Seeing herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help noticing her eyes had a new-found sparkle and her skin glowed. Even her hair, which had been flat and bodiless, seemed to have sprung back to life and turned thick and glossy. It was amazing what love could do to you.
Al came out of the shower with a turquoise towel round his waist just as she was putting on her favourite jumpsuit, pale pink and strappy.
He was tall and broad-shouldered and his fairish skin had turned light golden brown. His stomach wasn’t quite as flat as it had once been, nor his chest quite as firm, but he was her man and he was gorgeous. He made her burn with lust.
‘Settle down, I know what you’re thinking,’ he said, clocking her expression and grinning. ‘But we haven’t got time.’
‘Aww.’ Stella stuck out her bottom lip. ‘Just a quick one?’
She tried to grab his towel, but he hung on tight and wrestled her off.
‘Don’t! We’re in a rush! Later,’ he promised.
They sauntered down the well-worn path to Porto Liakáda with Lily and Hector. Louise, her children and Jon followed behind.
The air felt warm and delicious on Stella’s skin and the wildflowers appeared brighter and more dazzling than ever before. She seemed to bounce along, her feet hardly touching the ground, as if she’d swallowed a giant dose of endorphins, or been pumped full of magic gas which made her float.
Right now, she thought, life was just perfect, as if happiness had spread itself, like Joseph’s technicolour dream coat, over everything.
