Page 63 of The Little Greek Guesthouse

‘Yes, yes, this is a very nice house. Very lucky. Wait until you see the views!’ Theo was pink-faced with excitement, bustling around, and his pride in the house gave Nina hope that he might agree to her guesthouse plan. Heather sat back, stretching her legs out under the table and running her hands through her mop of dyed blonde hair, which she wore shaved at the sides and long on top.

Once she’d had coffee and some of Theo’s baklava, and been shown to her room, Nina took her, as promised, to see the sights of Metalios. She wasn’t expecting it to take long.

They started with the beach. Heather stretched out her arms as she paddled in the clear waters.

‘Wow,’ she said. ‘This place is gorgeous! I bet you’ll never want to leave, will you?’

Nina stood with her, gazing out over the turquoise sea. ‘There are turtles here too, you know. If you want to get up early one morning we can watch them swimming out with the fishing boats. It’s really – well, it’s magical.’

Heather pulled a face. ‘Actually does almost sound worth sacrificing one of my summer lie-ins for.’

‘You know I really am thinking of staying.’ Nina felt Heather turn towards her. ‘Baba’s planning on selling the house to this hotel chain and they want to build a big complex, but I was thinking maybe we should stay. We could run it together instead. Like a guesthouse, you know, nothing big.’

‘With Theo?’

‘Yes, I thought he could cook, and I could organise everything, and I have all these plans to decorate it, you know me . . .’

‘Sounds great.’

‘You think?’

‘Yeah.’ Heather grinned. ‘Mates’ rates for your best buddy to come and stay, right?’

Nina laughed. ‘Of course.’

Heather kicked at the water, and then stood still, watching as the sand shifted beneath her, burying her feet as the gentle waves pushed and pulled. ‘Seriously, though, I think you’d be fab. I mean, you’re the most organised person on the planet. And Theo’s food . . .’ She touched he fingers to her lips in a chef’s kiss.

‘Yeah, well. Maybe it’s just a stupid idea, I don’t know.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, because – you know, that’s not real life. I need to go home, get a job.’

Heather stared at her for a moment. ‘Hmm, oh yes, I see,’ she said. ‘I mean, why would you want to stay here. Just look at the place. Hideous.’ She waved her arms dramatically out towards the sea, and then turned and flung them out to indicate the green mountains beyond the beach. ‘I can see why you’d want to leave, yes.’

Nina smiled, then sighed. ‘Well, I still need to persuade Baba, so . . . nothing’s decided. And he’ll be signing the paperwork soon, so I need to get my skates on. And I might need your help.’

They began walking back up the beach. Heather put her arm around Nina’s shoulders. ‘Count me in. You okay now? After that Vassilis bloke?’ She pulled a face.

They settled on the towels they’d laid on the sand, propped on their elbows. ‘Oh that idiot, I don’t even – he’s not even worth talking about, quite honestly.’ The truth was, she’d barely thought about Vassilis over the last few days; she’d been too distracted by working on the room at the hotel, and that moment with George. She’d messaged Heather every detail of what had happened with Vassilis. She’d mentioned nothing of George.

‘At least you got it back,’ Heather said, nodding towards the bracelet that Nina was subconsciously rolling around her wrist.

Nina looked down at it in surprise, nodding. She felt Heather’s stare bore into her and, try as she might to ignore it.

‘What?’ she asked. ‘You’re acting like a loon.’

‘I am not, how very dare you. I’m acting like a woman who’s known you forever, and can tell when something’s going on. Is it Sam?’

‘Sam? God, no.’ Until the message from Mags, Nina had barely thought about him. ‘You know he and Mags have split?’

Heather narrowed her eyes. ‘And how do you feel about that? You’re not still pining?’

Nina laughed and slapped her friend’s leg playfully. ‘No! I really don’t care. Shut up, will you? Or I’ll make you pay full rates when I set up my guesthouse.’

‘God, you should so do that,’ Heather said, adjusting her sunglasses and lying down. ‘You really should.’

Nina stared out to sea as she felt Heather relax into sleep beside her. She soon began a rhythmic, whistling snore. That woman had a gift for sleeping anywhere. Nina resisted the urge to video her. Instead, she found herself reliving her swim with George, wondering what might have happened had he not left so abruptly.