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They walked a short distance, until they came to the warm brownish-white sand of the Psarou. There were a few merchant stands and a beach bar that ran year round, despite
the decline in beachgoers during winter.
It was another warm day, and there was a good turn-out. Carter rented two sand chairs from a merchant, and they staked out a spot. He showed her where to change, and disappeared to change too.
Scarlett emerged from the cubicle dressed in a modest one-piece. Carter was waiting for her, wearing Bermuda style swim trunks. Finally, she could get a good look at his rippling muscles. But when he turned around, she saw that scars that lined his back, and extended around the side of his body to the arm he had showed her. She quickly averted her eyes, but knew he’d seen her looking. Her heart stirred, and she wondered once more how he’d been exposed to acid.
“If it was summertime, you could learn to wind surf or water-ski,” Carter offered as they waded into the water.
“I know how to water ski, but I’ve never been wind surfing. Do you know how?”
“I’ve done it a few times.”
She lost herself in swimming for a time before exhaustion won, and she returned to shore, joining Carter.
She skipped the chair in favor of her towel, spreading it on the warm sand before sitting down. She rummaged in her bag for sunscreen and applied it generously to all the areas she could reach. Biting her lip indecisively, she finally asked Carter, “Would you put sunscreen on my back?”
He rose from the chair and joined her on the large towel, taking the bottle of lotion from her.
Scarlett sighed as his hands settled on her back, relaxing as Carter rubbed the lotion in deeply. She tensed a little as his hands went lower, a warmth spreading between her legs, but he stopped at the edge of her swimsuit. His hands remained on her back for a long moment before he drew them away.
Rolling over, Scarlett gave in to a wicked impulse. “I’d better put some on your back too,” she suggested. “It’s probably been awhile since you were exposed to the sun to this degree.”
“Good idea,” he said huskily, lying down as she sat up on her knees. When her smooth hands settled on his back, she felt him tense, perhaps waiting for her to comment on the scars or go out of her way to avoid them. Instead she smoothed the lotion over the scarred areas in the same manner she did the untouched flesh—slowly so she could touch him for as long as possible. She felt his strong back muscles as he groaned when hands hit his waist band and she removed them from his body. “Thanks,” he said in a rough voice.
“Sure.” Scarlett lay down beside him on the towel. “You seem to love it here.”
“I do,” he agreed. “I was born on Mykanos.”
“How did you end up in San Francisco?” Scarlett asked as she smothered a yawn in the crook of her arm.
Carter hesitated so long that she thought he was either asleep or not going to answer. Finally, he said, “My father was a great man as I’ve told you, but he was not a hard worker. He had many jobs when I was little, and none were to his liking. It was never his fault that he lost the job,” he said with a hint of mocking. “When I was ten, my father decided to move us to the United States, hoping his luck would improve there.”
He fell silent again, and Scarlett nudged his calf with her toe. “Go on.”
“My mother did not want to leave Greece, but they had a very traditional family. She was responsible for the house and for raising the children, but ultimately, my father made the decisions. He took our family to America.”
“Was it better for your father?” asked Scarlett.
“Initially, but he soon fell back into the same old patterns. My mother went to work, something she’d never been prepared for, and she kept us going until my brother and I were done with school and old enough to work.”
“What did your mother do?” asked Scarlett, thinking she already knew the answer after what he’d said about her servants.
“She became a maid. She refused to quit when I graduated from high school. She insisted I got to college, and I did. Even when my father died the next year, she refused to let me drop out of the university.”
“Then what happened?” Scarlett asked as his face close.
“It’s not important.”
He fell into a brooding silence, and Scarlett stopped trying to draw him out. Instead she dozed off, and woke an hour later to him shaking her awake. “I don’t want you to burn,” he said, seeming to be restored to good humor.
“Are we going back to your island now?” Scarlett asked reluctantly. She did not want to face his sisters again anytime soon.
“It’s up to you. There is a wedding tonight, and we’ve been invited. I know the groom slightly. A traditional Greek wedding is an interesting experience, but it would mean staying the night here in Mykanos. We can’t return to the island at night.”
“I don’t have any clothes with me,” said Scarlett. “But if I can pick up a change of clothes it sounds wonderful.”
“That can be arranged.”
