Cleo glanced across the tables at Tash, who was staring at her anxiously, and raised a palm to indicate she’d be a little longer.
‘I’m in Crete at the moment,’ she said, resuming the conversation. ‘I don’t know if Erica told you. Shall I come back? I should be able to get a flight tomorrow, or even tonight if I hurry, though that might be pushing it.’
‘Absolutely not,’ Paul replied. ‘There’s no need.’
‘But she might need someone to look after her for a few days, to make sure she eats properly and stays hydrated and so on.’
‘She doesn’t need anyone,’ Paul insisted. ‘They checked her over very carefully in hospital and said she was absolutely fine. She’s young and strong and there’s nothing the matter with her now. She’s perfectly healthy. Hopefully, she’ll have learned her lesson and it won’t ever happen again,’ he added with a growl.
Cleo thought for a moment. Her instinct was to phone her daughter right away to offer help, but Erica was probably still hungover and in a bad mood. Most likely wouldn’t pick up anyway.
‘Thank you for being there for her,’ she said quietly, feeling guilty for being absent in a crisis. ‘Call me if there’s anything I can do.’
Paul’s voice softened. ‘I will, but there won’t be. You carry on with your holiday. I hope you’re having a good time.’
I was, but I’m not any more, Cleo thought as she said goodbye and hung up. Her mind was still racing. Whenever Erica was ill or had had an accident in the past, it was always her mum she wanted.
When she’d fallen off her bike and cut her knee open, aged seven, it was Cleo who’d taken her to hospital and stayed by her side all night. Erica had needed an operation to remove some gravel and stitch up the wound and had been on crutches for several weeks after.
It was the same story when she’d had her tonsils out, aged eleven; she’d asked Cleo, not Paul, to be there when she came round from the anaesthetic. And in the midst of a very bad fever when she was about thirteen, it was her mum, not her dad, she’d cried out for.
What if she wanted Cleo now but felt, because of their rift, she couldn’t ask?
Cleo was busy pondering all this when she rejoined Tash at the table and told her what had happened. To her surprise, Tash seemed really quite cross with Paul.
‘I don’t know why he rang,’ she said. ‘He could’ve waited till you were back from holiday. It’s not as if he needed your help. It sounds like he managed perfectly well on his own. I actually think it’s quite selfish of him.’
Cleo disagreed. ‘I’d rather know what happened.’ But part of her did wonder whether maybe there was some truth in Tash’s words.
The problem was, Cleo would undoubtedly worry now for the rest of the trip, thinking Erica might have suffered some internal damage they hadn’t picked up on. Or perhaps she’d got drunk because of something else going on, something bad she felt she couldn’t discuss with a soul.
It didn’t matter that she was mad with Cleo and hadn’t wanted to see her for six months; Cleo was still her mother and would always be there for her.
‘Are you all right?’ Tash said, leaning towards her friend with a concerned expression and putting a hand gently on her arm. ‘You’ve gone very pale.’
Cleo was so deep in thought she scarcely heard. She was mulling over the fact that Achilles, Tash, the retreat, Villa Ariadne and Crete itself all seemed strangely unimportant now. What had she been thinking, going on an expensive, self-indulgent holiday? Her place was at home, near her children.
All of a sudden, she knew without a shadow of doubt what she must do. After signalling to the waiter for the bill, she rose abruptly and cleared her throat.
‘I’m going to book a flight home tomorrow. I can’t stay here, not after what’s happened. It doesn’t feel right.’
Tash rose, too. ‘Really? Surely that’s not necessary? I mean, Erica’s fine, you said? Surely Paul would’ve told you if she needed you.’
Cleo nodded, but her mind was made up. ‘I just feel bad… I can’t explain it. I knew I shouldn’t have taken out the bank loan. It was a stupid idea of mine to come.’
Tash was very quiet as they trudged slowly back to the villa, and it dawned on Cleo she’d upset her friend.
‘I’m sorry if I sounded harsh back there,’ she said, when they were halfway up the mountain. ‘I don’t really think coming here was a stupid idea. I mean, if I hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have met you, would I?’
Tash gave a half-hearted smile. ‘True.’
‘We’ll keep in touch, won’t we?’ Cleo went on. ‘I’d love to come and visit you in Reading, and maybe you can come to London?’
‘Sure,’ said Tash. ‘We can swap numbers before you leave.’
Her words seemed reassuring but there was a catch in her voice she couldn’t disguise and before Cleo knew it, Tash had burst into tears.
‘I-I didn’t mean to cry,’ she stuttered, pausing to cover her face with her hands. ‘It’s just… I’ll miss you. It won’t be the same here without you.’
