Page 109 of Never Too Late to Date

‘Obviously it’s still early days, but a baby is something we’ve wanted for a long time. Mama! Stop crying.’

‘I can’t help it. I’m so excited.’

‘Sit down, everyone, please.’

Christian reached for her hand under the table and squeezed it.

‘So, as I was about to say, although I cannot call you Baba, Christian, we would be happy for you to be a pappou, a Greek grandfather, to our baby, along with Baba obviously and Kat’s father. A new beginning for a new generation.’

Suzie tried to stop the tears. But one look at Christian and she was off again. He had tears in his eyes too and was struggling to speak.

‘Thank you so much. I would be honoured to be a pappou to your baby. It is very generous of you and Kat to include me.’

Panos stood up one last time.

‘This calls for a toast.’

Lydia was already in the doorway, with a tray of shot glasses and a bottle of clear liquid.

‘It’s mastika, a liqueur from my island, Chios.’ She banged her chest with her fist. ‘We drink it to celebrate, to commiserate, any reason really.’

Christian got up to take the tray from Lydia and passed it to Panos.

‘That’s my kind of drink.’

Suzie watched as Panos poured great big measures for them all.

‘Yamás! To new life!’

Suzie rose from her chair with the others.

‘Yamás!’

As one, they clinked their glasses, and Suzie was heartened to see the love in Giannis’s eyes directed at her. It would take a long time to heal the wounds she’d unwittingly inflicted on him, but a new baby was a great start.

After another round of shots, which Suzie turned down, as she had to work later, Christian had finally said his goodbyes and nudged her arm.

‘I’m hoping this one here is going to give me a lift back to town.’

‘This one here? Watch it.’

Away from the farmhouse, she and Christian kept quiet by unspoken agreement until they’d turned onto the open road.

‘We’re going to be grandparents! Can you believe it? Hip, hip…’

Christian had to shout to be heard above the sound of the wind through the open roof.

‘Hooray!’

Suzie’s voice flew up and away behind them like an unfurling ribbon.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Maeve and Seamus hadn’t been in when she’d first knocked, which was unusual, so Vicky had to wait until lunchtime to break the terrible news about Bruce. Luckily for her, it had been Angeliki on duty this morning at the sanctuary, and she hadn’t had to face Alex after leaving his house at dawn without saying goodbye. She’d had a quick coffee and a chat with her friend, but it was all surface stuff; she’d promised the others not to let on about the poisonings, and there was no way she was ready to tell Angeliki about her unexpected night of passion. If there was one thing she knew about Alex, it was that he wasn’t a gossip, so her secret was safe for the time being.

Dolly had seemed subdued when she’d let her out of her cage, with no Bruce to greet her, so she’d given the little dog plenty of cuddles and taken her for a walk along the beach, where there were grasses to sniff and holes to dig out, and explained to her about the cat’s sad demise. Anyone listening would have called her crazy, but a part of her was sure that Dolly understood every word.

About to go on her break, she finally spotted Maeve and Seamus getting out of their car and rushed over in a desperate attempt to get things over with.