Page 44 of Never Too Late to Date

The second night was as successful as the first, although it added to her nerves to know that both her new friend Vicky and her daughter-in-law Kat were somewhere in the audience.

But their presence made it easy to turn down Jake, who’d asked her out for a drink as soon as she came off stage.

‘Sorry. No can do tonight. I’ve got my friend and my son and his wife waiting to go out to dinner.’

Giannis duly obliged by waving over at her while the MC introduced the next act.

‘That’s your son?’

Was she going to have to go through this every time Giannis appeared? The men who knew her first time around obviously found it difficult to accept that little Suze had produced someone so grown up, and so much taller than her.

‘Yes.’

‘And there’s another one at home like him too?’

‘Well, nothing like him, but yes, there’s another one.’

‘Fair play to you. Let me know if you have another night free.’

At least it didn’t seem to have put him off. Not that she was desperate to go out with him, but it was good to know she could still arouse some interest.

‘Will do.’

Her dressing room was awash with the flowers that Vicky and Kat had turned up with earlier. Giannis sat with her, scrolling through his phone, until the sound of Juice playing their final song faded away and her guests burst in through the door.

Vicky enveloped her in a huge hug.

‘Oh my God, that was amazing.’

‘Thanks.’

Giannis took his wife in his arms and gave her a thorough kiss. They rarely spent time apart, but it was unusual for her son to put on such a big PDA. Athens was definitely doing him good.

She and Vicky stood and watched them for a moment, smiling.

‘Hey, you two. That’s enough of that. Vick’s got sick animals to look after, so she’s on the last ferry back to the island. We need to get her some dinner, and quickly. You’ll have plenty of snogging time later.’

Shortening Vicky’s name to Vick had come naturally to her after a couple of weeks, as their friendship grew.

‘Mama! Really. Stop embarrassing us.’

‘That’s what mothers are for. Come on, everyone, let’s go. Pame.’

Suzie linked arms with Vicky, radiant in a white dress covered in oranges, and gently pushed Giannis and Kat out the door. This evening couldn’t have gone much better if she’d planned it.

She turned to look at the empty dressing room. A sudden shiver went through her body, and the hairs on her arms stood up. Out of nowhere, a feeling of dread came over her. She shook her head to get rid of it.

Chapter Eleven

Vicky took her cup of tea outside to take advantage of the few moments of quiet before the sanctuary sprang to life. She’d had barely any sleep, arriving back on the island just after one in the morning on the last boat. But it had all been worth it, to see Suzie perform. Her friend had been fantastic, truly sensational, and all that hard work had paid off. But it wasn’t just serious graft that had propelled Suzie through her set to thunderous applause. There’d been a great big dollop of natural talent in there too. Her friend had most definitely made the right decision to join the tour. Any doubts that Suzie had entertained must surely have been swept away by that reception. A voice like hers shouldn’t be hidden away, and she’d tell her that with knobs on when she returned to the island at the weekend.

Turning towards the sun, now hovering well above the sea, bathing everything in a golden glow, Vicky raised her mug in the air.

‘Cheers, my friend. Bravo!’

A noise behind her made her turn back towards the courtyard. Alex was standing there, arms crossed, watching her. Great, he probably thought that she was some sort of hippy-dippy sun worshipper now, carrying out her pagan rites in the courtyard. It was too complicated to explain to him what she was celebrating, and anyway it was none of his business. The first round of animal feeds wasn’t due for another ten minutes, and she was going to enjoy her tea in peace.

Angeliki had done the sessions as the volunteer vet at the sanctuary for the past three days in a row, which had been a nice change. Still, she knew her friend was off to see Suzie in concert tonight in Athens, along with Grace and Sofia and their partners, so it made sense that Alex was back. Oh goody. They’d not spoken since her drunken collapse at the party, when he’d scooped her up and taken her home, but hopefully he’d keep quiet about it here, at work. She didn’t have him down as a gossip, but sometimes people could prove you wrong.