Page 102 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

She looked up at him. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Would I do something like that?”

She slapped his arm. “We both know you would. And come on, Blane, why shouldn’t I stop to look? I know it’s just a little blue line to you, but to me it means I live in a place where I can see the sea.”

He put his arm around her shoulders again. “I know. And I love that. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because I’m happy, okay?”

She reached up to press a kiss to his lips. “That’s more than okay. That makes me happy.”

They stood there for a little while, taking in the view of the thin blue line. The sea he’d mistakenly called the Mediterranean until she’d corrected him. South of Crete, it was known as the Libyan Sea. Same water as far as he was concerned, but Bea had been pretty pleased with herself as she explained the difference.

After a while they walked on without either of them needing to say anything.

“Oh, look.” She pointed across the field and laughed. “That’s Pericles, isn’t it?”

Blane followed her gaze and nodded. “Yeah. Damn goat.”

She laughed happily. “I’m sure you’ll get the better of him next time you run into him.”

He tried to scowl but wasn’t sure he pulled it off. “Next time I might just do that—run into him.”

“Blane!”

“Teasing, darlin’. I’m teasing.”

They didn’t do the full loop. It was cooler this afternoon, but still too warm after lunch for either of them to want to climb the hill, so they cut back through the village toward home. Blane spotted a dusty white Fiat parked beside one of the small stone houses. It took him a moment to place it. Katerina. The woman who’d brought Bea the keys when they first arrived.

He didn’t need to wonder whether Bea recognized it—Katerina came out of the house, and he frowned. He was pretty sure it was the same place where Pericles and his owner lived.

It pleased him to see the genuine smile that spread across Katerina’s face when she spotted Bea. He’d been conscious lately of how much of Bea’s time he was taking up, and he didn’t want to be the reason she held back from getting more involved in village life. These people were going to be part of the life she was building here after he was gone.

“Bea! Good to see you. How are you settling in?” Katerina greeted her with a warm hug before nodding to Blane.

“Everything’s wonderful, thank you,” Bea told her. “We’re settling in just fine.”

Blane shoved his hands into his pockets when Bea seemed to realize what she’d said at the same moment Katerina shot him a curious but not unfriendly look.

“You are settling in?” she asked him.

He knew exactly what she meant, but he couldn’t bring himself to say out loud that he’d be gone in just over a week. “I love the place.”

Katerina looked at Bea before turning back to him. She obviously had questions but apparently wasn’t going to ask them now.

“That’s good,” was all she said. Then she brightened. “Oh, Bea, come to the car. I must give you something. I’ve been driving around with it for a few days, meaning to come and see you, but I haven’t yet.”

She opened the back door of the little Fiat and took out a bag, hugging it briefly to her chest before handing it to Bea.

“This is for you. It belongs to the house.”

Bea frowned as she peered inside. “A tablecloth? It’s lovely. Thank you.”

“It was still on the table when they asked me to manage renting the house out. It seemed too nice to leave for guests to ruin, so I put it away. Now I know you’re living there, I think it should come home.”

She pulled out one corner of the white lace cloth. “Despina, the lady who lived there before, made it by hand. You should hang it out on the line for a while before you use it. It may be dusty.”

Bea hugged the bag to her. “Oh, I will. I’ll take great care of it. Thank you, Katerina. This is so lovely. It’s like having part of the history of the house.”

Katerina nodded. “It is.” She checked her watch. “But I must go. I will see you soon.”