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CHAPTER SEVEN
THETWOCARS, the first carrying the minimal baggage and the second themselves, drew up onto the illuminated forecourt. Night had fallen with a speed she found confusing, a clear starlit night scented with the smell of the sea and wild thyme.
Zach, who had gone around to open her door, left her to the assistance of the driver and moved forward to meet the woman who appeared in the massive set of double doors that were flung open to welcome them.
Dressed in a tailored black dress that suited her curvy figure, the woman was average height. It was hard to tell from this distance if the silver streaks in her dark hair were natural or a fashion statement. The chignon it was arranged in appeared as smooth and immaculate as the rest of her.
Kat felt travel-worn and untidy by comparison. She tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ears and told herself if she started worrying about what impression she made on everyone here she’d be a nervous wreck within the week.
Zach’s voice drifted across the space to Kat; it sounded warm.
‘Selene.’
As she watched from where she stood beside the car it seemed to Kat there was a genuine affection in his greeting as he put his hands on the shoulders of the woman, who Kat judged to be in her forties, and kissed her cheeks.
The rapid interchange was in Greek, and, as the woman glanced over in her direction several times, it didn’t seem paranoid to assume they were discussing her.
Get used to it, Kat,she told herself as they began to walk back towards her.
‘Katina, this is Selene Carras, your grandfather’s housekeeper. This, Selene, is—’
‘You have a look of Mia, my dear.’
Kat’s cautiously polite expression melted in wondering disbelief. Eyes sparking eagerness, she sounded incredulous. ‘You knew my mother?’
‘Indeed I did.’ The smartly dressed woman’s kind brown eyes crinkled deeply at the corners as she smiled, her teeth as white as the double row of pearls around her neck. ‘My own mother was the housekeeper on the island before me. When we were girls your mother and I would play together during her school holidays before we got older and...she was missed greatly by many.’
Emotion filled Kat’s throat. There had never been anyone in her life she could speak to about her mother, never anyone she could ask all the questions she wanted, needed to ask.
‘She used to tell me stories when I was little about an island where the sun always shone and the sand on the beaches was white. I thought they were stories. I never thought...’ When her throat clogged with unshed tears of emotion, she turned her head, blinking hard, embarrassed less by the overspill of emotion than by the fact Zach was witnessing it.
Though, ironically, it was Zach who unwittingly came to her rescue.
‘Did I hear dinner mentioned?’
‘Of course, Mr Zach, but first things first. I will show Miss—’
‘Kat, please,’ Kat begged, not caring if this was etiquette or not.
The woman tipped her head. ‘I will show Kat to her rooms, give her time to freshen up and then I’ll have dinner served in half an hour?’ She glanced from Kat to Zach, taking their silence as agreement, and continued cheerfully. ‘Mr Zach will bring you down to dinner.’ She glanced at him before explaining. ‘The house is not exactly compact and it takes a little time to get your bearings.’
Not compact!
If the hallway they entered was any indication, the place was massive!
Underfoot the marble glowed while, high above, the massive antique chandeliers glistened. The central sweeping staircase ran up to the gallery above and then upwards to another floor.
It was Zach’s voice, deep and inflected with dry irony, that interrupted her shocked silence.
‘Alekis is not really a fan of less is more, and he really thinks that size matters. There isn’t a room in the place that you couldn’t have a game of cricket in. Well, not really my game, but...’
‘It didn’t stop you trying.’ The older woman touched Kat’s arm. ‘The rooms are a little large.’
Kat only dimly registered the interchange.
‘Ah.’ Zach breathed and paused when he saw what had stopped her in her tracks.
‘She is beautiful,’ Kat said, staring.
