Page 32 of The Little Greek Guesthouse

‘We will, Baba. You know what it’s like with DIY – it always looks worse before it gets better.’

She smiled encouragingly and led him out to the courtyard, where he flopped into a chair. The sky melted to a burnt orange that was reflected in the sea below; Nina tried to stay in the moment and appreciate the beauty, but it was hard with Theo huffing and sighing beside her.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll get there,’ she said.

He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. ‘I feel like I’m losing my thoughts.’

‘Losing your mind, Baba,’ she said softly. He gave her a black look. His miserable expression upset her; he was usually so playful and full of mischief. She leaned towards him. ‘You know, we could always go home,’ she said. ‘Leave this to someone else, maybe just sell the house as it is.’ He was already shaking his head. Stubborn old man. ‘It just seems to be stressing you out, Baba. I don’t know if it’s worth it.’

He reached over and patted her hand. ‘This is kind of you to think, my sweet Antheia, but I will be okay. We stay.’ He smiled, and she was almost convinced by it. ‘We do the house up my way, we sell to the best buyer, we get you nice little inheritance, yes? What your mama wanted for you. You will always have things you need, Nina. I promise.’

‘Okay,’ she said. ‘If that’s what you want.’

She stared out at the sea below, lilting gently against the golden sand, and breathed in the fresh scent of sweet peonies and salt in the warm air. She wasn’t sad to be staying a little longer.

Chapter Fifteen

The next day Nina visited Maria, doing her best to placate her. She apologised, she brought ingredients to make baklava, she listened as Maria ranted about how selfish she’d been, she made her the best cup of coffee she could. And eventually she was forgiven.

‘How can I stay mad at you?’ Maria asked, patting her cheek and smiling. Nina was surprised to find how relieved she was that Maria hadn’t cut ties with her after all. They weren’t an obvious pair, perhaps, but there was something about this sparky woman that she was drawn to. And she suspected that, for all her spiky exterior, Maria was a softie inside.

‘Your baba tell you more about your mama, moro mou?’ she asked as they sat waiting for the baklava to bake, the room filling with the aroma of butter, honey and lemon.

Nina sighed. ‘Not yet. I thought he might yesterday, but . . .’ She shrugged.

Maria tutted and folded her arms. ‘Silly boy. You want me to make him tell you? I can, he’s still scared of me, I see it.’ She pointed two fingers of one hand at her eyes. Nina stifled a smile. ‘I’ll go right now . . .’ She stood up, wobbling a bit in her haste so that Nina also rose, reaching a steadying hand to her. She laughed.

‘No, it’s okay. Thanks, Maria. I appreciate the offer, though.’ She grinned, and Maria nodded as she lowered herself back into her chair. ‘But I think we could be getting closer; he told me a load of stuff about him being a kid here –’

‘Naughty kid,’ she grunted.

‘Naughty kid,’ Nina agreed. ‘And he’s never talked about his childhood before really, so hopefully . . .’

‘Selfish not to tell. You need to know about your own mama.’

Nina shrugged. ‘I know, but – it’s hard for him. I think he just really loved her, you know?’ Maria sighed and nodded. ‘But if I ever think he needs a telling-off, I’ll come straight to you.’

‘You do that,’ she said, grinning. ‘Now, quick-quick, those pies be burning.’

Nina reached the oven just before they caught, and then sat a little longer with Maria as they ate the delicious pastries, still slightly too hot, and shared stories, mostly about Theo’s cheeky antics.

All week Nina rose early, refreshed and motivated, to help Theo with the work on the house, and the harder she sanded and smoothed and pulled apart unwanted furnishings, the more she rediscovered her joy of DIY. She’d forgotten, in her recent years of taking such care of her manicures, how much she enjoyed hands-on refurbishing. Now, looking down at her chipped nails and roughened, reddened hands, her wrist bare as she’d left the bangle on the side so it didn’t get scratched, she could hardly bring herself to care. Satisfaction at the swathe of smooth surfaces and clean walls she’d left in the wake of her hard work thrummed through her.

Their efforts were thwarted once by the protesters, who blocked the road to the house one morning with their ranting and chanting, preventing a truck getting through. By the time they’d discovered what had happened to their missing supplies, Theo eventually calling the company to track them down, the protesters had gone. Nina raged, ready to go on a rampage of the village until she found the culprits and gave them a piece of her mind, but Theo shook his head.

‘They’re coming tomorrow, isn’t a problem. Leave it alone, eh?’

Nina, secretly wondering how hard the delivery driver had tried given that the insurmountable blockage was likely a straggled bunch of a few half-hearted villagers, swallowed her anger. Theo picked the skin around his thumbnail, his forehead wrinkled with worry, and she grudgingly accepted that causing more of a scene would only add to his problems.

As the week passed, he worked quietly, smiling at their progress and congratulating her on what she’d done. But he was distracted, she could feel it. There was none of his usual playful teasing, none of his usual enthusiasm for taking breaks in the courtyard to drink Mythos and eat a snack and admire the view. Sometimes, she thought she heard him moving around in the middle of the night. He wasn’t sleeping well, she was sure of it, the shadows under his eyes were growing deeper every day.

Even Vassilis noticed Theo’s low mood. ‘He okay?’ he asked, as they stole a quiet moment in the heat of the afternoon. ‘He seems . . .’ He shrugged.

‘Yeah, I don’t know, he’s not himself. These stupid protests are getting to him I think. He dismissed it at first, but now I think it’s too much.’

Vassilis stood frowning for a moment, picking at a rough bit of plaster on the wall. Eventually he shrugged. ‘These do-gooders, don’t know what they talk about.’

Nina nodded. ‘Right? They keep saying we’re damaging the wildlife but we can’t be, can we?’