Page 68 of Never Too Late to Date

She had certainly loved him in the early days, when they were the twentysomething parents of two small boys, on their feet all day, falling into bed exhausted, sun-kissed and happy. In time they’d become more like brother and sister, and any passion had faded on both sides, leaving the skeleton of a friendship behind. But it was more than a lot of people had. Why had she suddenly gone looking for excitement away from the island after all these years?

But this wasn’t just about her. It affected everyone.

Kostas let go of her hand and was up and out of his seat.

‘What is it? Tell me. What is the secret? Is Gianni OK?’

Panos motioned for his son to sit down again.

Suzie took a deep breath.

‘I had to tell Gianni that your father, although his father in every way that counts, is not his biological father.’

‘What the hell?’

Kostas was on his feet again, sloshing his coffee onto the ground, and this time Panos didn’t bother to stop him. Her ex-husband was bent double over the table. His quiet voice cut through the warm air as he raised his head, and the pain in his eyes made her flinch.

‘Why, Suzie? Why did you need to do this?’

She took another deep breath. She had to keep this factual to have any chance of getting through it.

‘Because Frank, the concert promoter, invited Gianni’s biological father to be a surprise guest for the last night of the tour. I had no idea, I swear, and I wouldn’t have gone to Athens if I had. But once Frank saw the two of them, he worked it out and spitefully engineered a meeting. Once it was all out in the open, I had to get Gianni out of there straightaway, so we left late last night instead of returning today.’

Kostas was looking at her as if she’d morphed into an alien.

‘I’m so sorry, Kosta mou, and to you, Panos.’

Sorry was all she’d been saying for the past twelve hours.

Kostas slammed his coffee down on the table.

‘And does this … sperm donor know?’

‘Kosta! Don’t speak to your mama like that.’

Suzie threw her ex-husband a grateful smile.

‘It’s fine. Yes, he does know. And he’s furious.’

She’d been building up to this, the true sting in the tail.

‘In fact, he’s so furious that he wouldn’t let us out of his sight. He came back to the island with us, and he’s staying at a hotel in town.’

‘What!’

Both Panos and Kostas spoke at once.

Suzie broke down at the anger in both their voices. She put her head on the table and wept, big fat tears that spilt onto the handmade tablecloth embroidered with lemons, so familiar to her from the parties of the past. Surely there couldn’t be any more tears left.

A hand on her arm pulled her up straight, and Panos was there, enfolding her in his warm embrace. She leant into the hug for a long moment, another familiar place. It wasn’t her place anymore, but she needed some human contact.

‘It had to come out one day, Suzie. We did so well to keep it hidden for so long. Please don’t beat yourself up any longer. Thank you for coming to tell us all the truth. That was a brave thing to do.’

At last, a man she cared about, who didn’t appear to despise her.

‘Thank you.’

Kostas had reached the end of the table and gave his father an incredulous stare.