Mac shifted from one foot to another and wiped his sticky forehead with the back of an arm.
‘I didn’t find it too difficult, actually. I was quite surprised. I expected it to be really hard as I haven’t run for so long, but maybe my fitness isn’t as bad as I thought.’
‘Clearly not. I’m impressed!’
‘Is Hannah upstairs?’
His gaze shifted up, towards the first floor. Edie guessed he must be keen to wash and prepare himself for the rest of the day.
‘She’s reading her book.’
It was only now she remembered the real reason for Mac’s mission, but scanning round, she couldn’t see any bags of food. It crossed her mind he might have left them in the porch.
‘Did you get to the supermarket?’ she asked, puzzled. ‘I’ll put the shopping away if you want to jump in the shower?’
His response wasn’t what she expected.
‘I-um…’ he said with a stammer, before licking his lips. His eyes darted this way and that and she wondered what on earth was coming next. ‘I’m tempted to lie, but I can’t.’
Now, his focus settled on her and she found herself blinking more than usual under his gaze.
‘The fact is,’ he went on, ‘I completely forgot. I’m really sorry. I was so busy concentrating on my running technique and trying to maintain my speed, it just slipped my mind. I’m such an idiot.’ He slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand. ‘Hannah will have my guts for garters.’
Edie couldn’t help laughing. ‘I haven’t heard that phrase in ages. But don’t worry,’ she added, more seriously. ‘We can get something later. It’s really not a problem.’
* * *
Ralph seemed to be taking ages in the shower and Edie suspected he’d got stuck into his next book. She was about to go and fetch him when Hannah and Mac came down.
Hannah seemed to be in a remarkably cheerful mood still, despite Mac’s oversight.
‘Did you hear about what happened?’ she asked Edie, when she found her in the garden.
Edie raised her eyebrows and nodded with a grin.
‘Honestly,’ Hannah went on. ‘You can’t trust him with anything.’ But she was smiling as she spoke. ‘What’s that old saying? “The rooster may crow, but the hen delivers the goods”. He was so busy wanting to show off about how fast he could run, he forgot why he’d offered to go to the village in the first place.’
She and Mac soon started to head off in hats, shorts and walking boots, clutching bottles of water. Whether or not they’d had any sort of discussion last night after their row, they’d obviously completely cleared the air. They were like a different couple.
Ralph joined Edie at the front door, just as they were leaving.
‘Give us a ring when you get lost,’ he called as a joke when they reached the big iron gates, which slowly swung open at the press of a button.
Hannah gave him a thumbs up. ‘We will!’
‘Well!’ Edie said to her husband as soon as he’d closed the front door again and turned to face her. ‘What shall we do now?’
‘I can think of a few things.’
He raised his eyebrows and the flicker of a smile crossed his features. Something deep within her stirred: memories of blissful moments, long forgotten.
Wistful, she reached out and touched his cheek, but then reality crashed in and the feeling quickly vanished.
‘We should clear away the breakfast things,’ she said with a sigh.
* * *
They were both hungry by the time they left the villa and made it down the mountain into Porto Liakáda. It was a bit late for lunch and too early for supper, but they found a café that served traditional Sfakian pies, thin pancakes stuffed with local, softmizithracheese, drizzled with thyme honey and topped with nuts and cinnamon.
