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‘I’ve got some interviews lined up,’ she told her dad.
Except her father didn’t want to hear about her work.
‘You’ve been crying.’
‘I haven’t.’
She didn’t exactly sob herself to sleep in the dorm at the hostel, but she’d had a little weep this morning when all the excited tourists had headed off. She’d thought she had been so careful, but obviously he had spotted her slightly puffy eyes.
‘I’ve got hay fever.’
‘Mary. You might be able to fool everyone else, but I’m still your father...’
‘Just leave it, please, Dad.’ She looked at the bleak surroundings and then swallowed as her father pushed a parcel towards her. ‘What’s this?’
‘It’s okay, I’ve got permission. I’m sorry that it wasn’t ready in time. It was in the kiln. I made it for your twenty-first.’
‘I thought you’d forgotten.’
‘Of course not. I was just embarrassed that I didn’t have anything to give you, so I just...’
Avoided it.
They were both brilliant at that.
It was a little dish painted in her favourite colours, all oranges and bright blues. It almost looked as if it belonged on Anapliró.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Mary said.
And now the tears did fall—not a lot, but a couple of hot salty ones squeezed out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
‘You can use it for your earrings and things...’
A bitter laugh shot out of her lips and she quickly looked to her father. ‘That wasn’t aimed at you. This really is gorgeous...’
And then she looked up and saw his eyes were full of concern, just as they had been when she was a little girl.
Could she tell him?
How?
Yet she ached for advice, for an adult in her life who cared and who took an interest in her.
‘I met someone.’
‘Costa Leventis?’
‘How do you know?’
‘Mary, when all the newspapers were asking “Who is she?” I knew the answer. I’m your father. I’d recognise the back of your hand! How did you meet?’
‘I was on a date with someone else...’ She was too wretched to lie. ‘Not a date, exactly.’
‘Mary, please don’t take that path—’
‘I’ve learnt my lesson,’ she interrupted. ‘Well, I thought I had. Costa rescued me from an awful dinner. We agreed to spend a weekend on Anapliró—a Greek island,’ she explained. ‘I know it was a terrible idea, but it honestly didn’t feel like that at the time. He’s not really close to many people—just his mother—but he’s...’ How best to describe Costa? ‘He’s a bit of a lone wolf. Certainly he’s not the settling down type. I was supposed to convince his family that he was finally serious about someone. He told me from the start that he didn’t want to get involved, except...’
‘You’ve fallen for him?’
