Page 45 of The Little Greek Guesthouse

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Hi, Theo. Glad you’re okay.’

‘Thank you for bringing me, young man.’ Theo walked to him and patted him on the back. ‘And thank you for looking after my Nina,’ he said quietly, leaning in.

George’s gaze flicked to her, and Nina, caught in his blue eyes, felt herself blush. ‘I didn’t need looking after,’ she protested. ‘But George has been very kind.’

George said nothing, just walked out with them at Theo’s rather slow pace, and then drove them all back in Maria’s battered Toyota Yaris. When he pulled up outside the house, getting out to help Theo, Vassilis stepped out from the shadow by the wall.

The two men made eye contact, and Nina sensed a flicker of hostility, though neither spoke or acknowledged the other’s presence. George turned to Nina.

‘Thank you so much,’ she said quietly, wanting a moment just between the two of them. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’

She looked up into his face, cheekbones and a sprinkle of freckles against his tan, and felt a gentleness in his gaze. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Vassilis called her name. The anguish in his voice dampened the flash of irritation she felt, but only a little.

George’s gaze flicked over her head to Vassilis, and his expression turned stony. ‘Ah,’ he said, ignoring Vassilis and smiling a little tightly. ‘You’d have been fine.’

Nina doubted it.

He was gone before she had the chance to say anything more, climbing into the car and slamming the door a little hard, she thought. And while George was still turning the car around outside the house, and Theo was still holding unsteadily onto her arm, Vassilis was upon her.

He smiled and spread his arms, tipping his head in attempt, she assumed, to show remorse.

‘Forgive me,’ he said. ‘We had a – I should have been more patient.’ He leaned in to kiss her cheek, his stubble grazing her skin lightly. The touch of his lips still sent a shiver through her. ‘I’m sorry, I – well, there is no excuse. I was a bad man, but I will do better again, I promise this. Let’s try again tonight.’

The pain in his voice was a far cry from his usual confidence, and she was tempted for a moment to forgive him. But then remembered how dismissive he’d been the night before.

Was it only the night before? It felt a lifetime ago.

‘My dad’s been in the hospital,’ she said. And for the first time, Vassilis looked at Theo, perhaps only now registering that they were just arriving home instead of having breakfast as they usually would be at this time. Nina didn’t mention that she had been awake all night, that she’d been worried sick and that she was exhausted to her bones. Let alone the fact that she was still angry with him. She didn’t have the energy.

‘You okay?’ Vassilis asked Theo. ‘I hope nothing serious?’

‘Yes, yes. Fusspot here is making a mountain out of a molecule.’

‘Molehill,’ Nina instinctively corrected, putting her arm through his.

‘This is good,’ said Vassilis. He turned to Nina. ‘Okay, we’ll talk later.’ He nodded, and stepped back respectfully to give Theo some space. Theo smiled weakly, leaning heavily on Nina’s arm. With each blink his eyes remained closed a little longer, like a child defying sleep, and Nina just wanted to get him rested and well.

‘I will do all the work today,’ Vassilis added, flashing a smile that she would usually find irresistibly charming. ‘You two need rest, yes?’

‘Yes,’ Nina said, heaving Theo towards the door and scrabbling for her keys. ‘We need sleep. Go home, Vassilis. I don’t want to talk to you today.’

A wave of shock washed over his face. She suspected he wasn’t used to being rejected. But she was too tired to tiptoe around his feelings right now.

She didn’t watch him leave.

Nina helped Theo up the stairs to his room, where he fell on to the bed fully clothed. She barely had enough energy herself to brush her teeth and wash her face before closing the shutters and crawling into her own blissfully comfortable bed.

She was exhausted and she’d missed an entire night’s sleep. She should black out immediately. But every time she closed her eyes an image of the previous night rose to taunt her: Theo, lying pale and panicked at the roadside, or sitting in the hospital bed, looking smaller than she’d ever seen him; Vassilis, scowling across the table at a luxurious restaurant, his beautiful lips set in a sulky line; George, blue eyes filled with sympathy as she talked about her mum.

George had understood. The man who had driven her half mad with fury at his antics, who had shattered the peace of her summer with Baba, who had thwarted their plans for the house and their attempts to settle into the village, and insulted her a number of times. He had been the one who understood how much the bracelet meant to her, and her need to search the beach with no realistic prospect of finding it. He’d understood how hard Theo’s refusal to talk about her mum was. He’d respected her concern about Theo’s disappearance and helped her look for him.

Vassilis had clearly not understood at all, any of what she was feeling. Nor the extent of her sadness at losing the bracelet.

Nina opened her eyes, shifting in the bed. The blankets had tangled around her feet and she felt trapped and a little panicked. She watched the light through the slats in the shutters, the floor ribboned with gold. It was daylight, and perhaps that was why she couldn’t seem to sleep, no matter how exhausted she felt. An image of the room freshly painted, the floorboards sanded and varnished, and a rug with rich, warm hues floated through her mind. A beautiful place for guests to stay. And an idea came to her, a way of persuading Theo that selling up wasn’t the only option.

She turned onto her stomach, pummelling the pillow to plump it, and lay back down with a sigh, closing her eyes.

Tears still burned her eyes as she thought of the loss of her bracelet. But at least Theo was now safe and well; she’d never again let herself lose sight of the fact that the people in her life were more important than the things, no matter what memories those things carried with them.