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‘Try it.’
‘Yes, please!’ Mary said. She guessed that Costa’s new crown might not be quite ready to be bathed in honey, so she dived in as he mashed up the little bit that was on his plate. ‘Wow!’ she said, and she was not exaggerating. ‘That is...’
‘Costa?’ Yolanda asked.
‘It’s good,’ he said, having taken not a bite. ‘Oh, look. There’s Nemo now. I’ll go and have a word with him.’
It actually wasn’t awkward to be left alone with Yolanda. Costa’s mother didn’t push, and she didn’t try to prise out information—at least not at first. In fact she just sat for a moment, as Mary ate her own baclava along with Costa’s.
But then Yolanda let out a long breath and admitted her doubts about the party. ‘Parties are hard work. Especially your own.’
‘Can I help with anything?’
‘Aside from a day of cooking, it’s all done,’ Yolanda said. ‘At least I hope so. I just want everyone to have fun. No speeches and all that stuff...’ She waved the thought away with her hand.
But then she did ask a question.
‘What happened to Costa’s face? And please don’t tell me a door.Éla,’ she said, and swiftly translated, ‘Come, now...’
‘He told me a door too,’ Mary said.
‘I shouldn’t worry, really,’ Yolanda sighed. ‘Costa always comes out on top. Whatever he puts his mind to, he gets. When we had no money he always made sure I had a doctor and medicine...’ She looked out to the beautiful surroundings. ‘He transformed Anapliró, though God knows how...’
She looked over and Mary honestly didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how the other Mary, the one who was allowed to love him, might have responded.
‘I tell you,’ Yolanda continued, ‘that boy was born under—’
‘He’s worked hard to get where he is,’ Mary cut in.
She was a little tired of hearing about Costa and his lucky star, or his Midas touch, or condescending sniffs like Ridgemont’s about ‘new money’. From all she could see, he hadn’t just snapped his fingers and transformed the island—he’d worked hard for it.
Except she was taking it out on the wrong person, Mary realised, when she saw Yolanda’s wide eyes. ‘Sorry.’
God, she really was the worst paid date in the world, Mary thought, because now she was snapping at his mother.
When Costa came back, Mary asked where the bathroom was—not just to be polite and give them time together, but also to hide her burning face for a moment. She should have just smiled and nodded at Yolanda and stayed the hell out of it...
As he would have wanted.
Mary stayed in the bathroom for ages. She didn’t even care if they thought she had an upset stomach or something. She just sat with her head in her hands, trying to fathom how to face Costa alone.
This was work, she reminded herself, just as a night spent folding pink towels in the salon had been...
Except this was a job she loved.
CHAPTER NINE
THEIRWALKBACKvia the beach was beautiful. The sand was warm beneath her feet and the gentle lap of water was soothing. There was a massive moon over the water, on the very edge of being full, and it should have been perfect.
It almost was.
‘It looks like a big ball of white chocolate,’ Mary said into the silence as he walked alongside her. ‘Well, like it’s been licked at one of the edges a bit.’
He didn’t laugh, or do anything really—just walked in silence. Maybe he was waiting for an explanation. Or maybe he was just killing time, Mary thought. Getting through the long-dreaded weekend.
‘Do you think she believed us?’ Mary asked.
‘What?’
