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‘Well, I can personally attest that there are some very soft-hearted dogs in Devon. I have the pleasure of owning a cute little dachshund called Archie who wouldn’t hurt a fly, and my friend Holly has a gorgeous springer spaniel called Ariel, and her boyfriend has a lively, but gentle, westie called Max. I’m sure if you metthem, you’d feel differently.’
Christos looked sceptical. ‘Maybe. Are you afraid of anything, Suzie?’
She wondered if journalists counted.
She would much rather be pursued by a rampant bevy of feral cats any day! Although, if she remembered correctly, the posse of cats she’d seen outside the gallery before she started to hang the sign had looked pretty tame to her. However, instead of questioning his judgement, or worse, belittling his obvious, and justifiable phobia, she decided it was prudent to move away from talking about their fears and change the subject to something more positive.
‘Does the Alexandros Winery have a shop?’
‘Of course. Why?’
‘Because I’d like to buy a bottle of wine for Miranda.’
‘Great idea!’
They wandered back to the winery in companionable silence, giving Suzie the opportunity to mull over the various things Christos had shared with her over lunch and on their subsequent perambulation. She was happy that he’d felt able to confide in her about his fear of animals and its origin, but she suspected there was a lot more to his story about relocating to Santorini than he was letting on.
She sighed. It seemed that everyone she had met in Santorini so far – apart from Giorgos, maybe – was running away from something. Not just Christos, but also Katerina, Miranda, and even Heidi.
And, if she was being honest, she should add her own name to that list, too.
Chapter Fourteen
‘Hi Suzie, how are things at the gallery?’
Suzie grinned when she heard her sister’s voice, her soft Norfolk accent more pronounced over the telephone line all the way from Southeast Asia. A sudden spasm of homesickness threatened to engulf her; she missed her sister – and her mum – so much, and she wished they’d been able to spend more time together than they had over the last year, but they were both pursuing their dreams and that was the most important thing to her.
‘Everything’s fine, don’t worry.’
‘And it doesn’t look like a tornado has passed through?’
Suzie cringed; her sister knew her so well.
‘Of course not.’
‘And what about my plants? Are they still alive?’
‘They’re thriving,’ she said, crossing her fingers behind her back before moving swiftly on. ‘You’ll be pleased to know that over the last couple of weeks we’ve sold six of Kat’s larger paintings and three of her marble sculptures, which she said was a record for the end of September. Oh, and guess what? I happened to mention how much I miss being able to indulge in a few hours of creativity, and Kat has offered to let me use her art studio over in Armeni this afternoon. I’m going to have a go at throwing a pot!’
‘Oh, that’s fabulous. I went over there last month with Tom. We had lots of fun, if you know what I mean.’ Amber giggled. ‘Talking of romance, how did your day out at the vineyard go last week? I have to say the photos you sent me of the two of you enjoying a bottle of wine together wereswoon worthy. Christos is gorgeous, isn’t he?’
Suzie felt her cheeks colour and was glad she wasn’t on a video call.
‘I suppose so. I hadn’t really noticed,’ she mumbled.
‘Oh Suzie, I’m so pleased you’re dating again. It’s been such a long time.’
‘It was just a picnic, Ambie.’
‘Did you kiss?’
‘No! We didnotkiss!’
‘Shame, but there’s always next time. Oh, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t you ask him to tag along with you this afternoon? You could recreate that scene fromGhost!’
‘We’re not going to recreate the scene fromGhost!’ Suzie shot back, deciding that, in her sister’s case, the best line of defence was attack. ‘So, tell me about Malaysia. What’s the food like? Did you do that zip wire ride you were telling me about?’
The next twenty minutes were filled with Amber’s stories of their intrepid backpacking adventures; exploring the Batu Caves, visiting hillside tea and coffee plantations, trekking into the jungle to see sun bears in the wild, something Suzie know she would never be able to persuade Christos to do.
