by Anne Fraser
Katherine was almost as perfect in her way as Sophia had been in hers. But she’d be going soon. And the thought of not seeing her again filled him with dismay.
It hit him then. He didn’t just like and admire Katherine, he was crazy about her.
So what was he doing here, on his own, kicking his heels when he could be with her?
CHAPTER SEVEN
KATHERINE WAS SITTING on her balcony, watching the sun cast shadows on the sea, when she heard a soft tap on the door. Having come to recognise the sound of Alexander’s footsteps, she didn’t need to turn around to know it was him. Neither was she really surprised. Deep down she’d known it was only a matter of time before he sought her out.
‘Crystal’s been looking for you at the taverna these last couple of evenings,’ he said softly. ‘So was I. And Yia-Yia says she hasn’t seen you for a day or two. Are you all right? Not ill or anything?’
The way he was searching her face made her pulse skip a beat.
‘I thought I should give company a miss for a while.’ Her heart was thumping so hard she was finding it difficult to breathe. ‘With everything that has happened, I’ve fallen behind with my thesis. I’m planning to submit it in the next couple of days.’
He came to sit in the chair next to hers. ‘When do you leave?’
‘At the end of the month. There’s nothing to keep me here longer now the epidemic seems to be under control. I had a phone call from Athens earlier—there’s been no more cases reported in the last forty-eight hours. They’re pretty confident the outbreak is over.’
‘Thank God. If you hadn’t got onto it as soon as you did, there could have been more deaths.’
‘I was only doing my job. A job I love.’
His expression was unreadable in the light of the moon.
‘I never did take you out on the boat, did I?’ he said softly.
‘No, you didn’t,’ she agreed. ‘But you’ve been busy. It can’t be easy for you, working and being a single father.’ God, couldn’t she think of anything less inane to say?
‘I have Yia-Yia. And Helen when I need her.’ He hooked his hands behind his head. ‘Although as Helen’s getting married in a few weeks it’s unlikely that Crystal and I will see as much of her.’ He leaned forward. ‘I could still take you out on the boat. In fact, we could go later tonight. It’s a perfect night for it.’
She didn’t think it was possible for her heart to beat any faster but apparently it could.
‘You don’t have to take me, you know,’ she said stiffly.
He looked taken aback. ‘Of course I don’t have to take you. Why would you think that?’ His eyes locked on hers. ‘It’s not just Crystal who’s missed you, I’ve missed spending time with you too,’ he said softly. ‘I like being with you. Haven’t you realised that by now?’ He stood and reached out a hand for hers.
Her heart beating a tattoo against her ribs, she allowed him to pull her to her feet. For a moment she swayed towards him, driven by a need to feel his arms around her. At the last moment she stopped herself and took a step back. Hadn’t she told herself she wouldn’t make a fool of herself?
He looked bemused, as well he might. How could he know what was inside her head when she barely did? However, he didn’t let go of her hand.
‘We should wait until Crystal’s asleep, though,’ he continued, ‘otherwise she’ll insist on coming too. If I say no, I wouldn’t put it past her to launch a boat of her own and come after us.’
Katherine had to laugh, even if it sounded shaky. ‘No one can say she’s not your daughter.’
‘No.’ His expression grew more serious. ‘I could do with having you on my own for a bit. My daughter has taken such a liking to you, it’s difficult to prise her from your side.’
Her heart catapulted inside her chest.
Why was she worrying about the future? It felt right that he was here, and why not sleep with him if he asked? And she was certain he would ask. She would be leaving soon and although there was no chance of a future for them, why resist snatching a few days of happiness? He need never know her secret. What mattered was here and now and if she could be with him, even for a short while, why not? She’d have plenty time to lick her wounds—to regret what could have been—when she left here. She surprised herself. Greece had changed so much about her.
‘We should make the most of what time you have left,’ he said, as if reading her mind. ‘I could take some leave. We could spend it together.’
‘And Crystal? Isn’t she expecting to spend time with you?’
‘Of course. And she will. I thought the three of us could do some stuff.’ He searched her face. ‘I know having my daughter around, adorable though she is, puts a spanner in the works, but happily she does go to sleep in the evenings. You do like her, don’t you? She’s definitely taken a shine to you.’
She wanted to ask him whether he liked to be with her because of Crystal because, much as she was coming to love the little girl, she needed him to want to be with her. But she wouldn’t ask him. And what if he said yes? What if he asked her to stay permanently? What would she do then? At the very least she would have to admit that there was a very large part of her life she was keeping secret from him. Perhaps the time to tell him was now, before they got in any deeper. But if she did, what would he say? How would he react?
And what was she thinking anyway? Even if he did ask her to stay, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. How could she take on the care of a child after what she’d done? However, didn’t he deserve the truth from her, whether she stayed or not?
She was being given a glimpse of a life she might have. A chance to break free from the strait-jacket of the one she’d imposed on herself with its rules, self-denial, hard work and determination. Could she forgive herself—allow herself the joy of loving and being loved? Even for a short while.
He misinterpreted her silence and stood. ‘I’ll see you about then?’
‘What time do you want me to meet you?’
His expression lightened. ‘About ten?’
‘I’ll be there.’
* * *
When she arrived at the bay he was leaning against the boat, wearing a black T-shirt and dark jeans with fisherman’s boots. He looks a bit like a pirate, she thought, especially with the five o’clock shadow darkening his jaw. He whistled appreciatively when he saw her. She’d been like a cat on a hot tin roof all evening. After discarding several outfits, she’d finally settled on a pair of faded denim shorts and a cheesecloth embroidered blouse she’d purchased in the village. Underneath she wore a lacy bra with matching panties. She’d shaved her legs and moisturised all over.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so nervous and was ready long before she was due to meet him. Unable to change the habits of a lifetime, she’d packed a small bag with a cardigan in the unlikely event it was chilly on the water, and at the last minute had added some fresh fruit and olives, a bottle of wine, a corkscrew and two glasses. It was always better to be prepared.
‘Hello,’ she whispered. Feeling inexplicably like a naughty child, she suppressed the desire to giggle.
‘You don’t have to whisper, you know,’ he said with a grin. ‘It’s not as if we’re ten years old and stealing a boat.’
‘Sorry,’ she said in a normal voice. ‘Whispering just seemed to go with the moment.’
The boat was in the water, where it drifted gently in the waves, and he was holding on to the rope to stop it being pushed out to sea. ‘Why don’t you climb in?’ he suggested.
She slipped off her sandals and stepped into the sea, shivering as the waves lapped around her ankles, then her calves and above her knees. As her skin adjusted to the temperature, the cool water felt delicious against her overheated skin.
But once she’d reached the boat she stood
dumbfounded. How was she supposed to get in? As if reading her mind, Alexander, still holding the rope but gathering it in towards him, waded over until he was standing next to her. Suddenly she felt a pair of strong hands circle her waist and then she was off her feet and he was holding her in his arms. Even in the warmth of the evening air she was conscious of the heat radiating from his body and the clean, fresh scent of him.
He laughed down at her. ‘Good thing you weigh nothing.’ A slight exaggeration, she thought—she wasn’t the smallest of women—but then she was being dropped gently into the boat. A few seconds later Alexander sprang in alongside her. Tentatively she took a seat at the back. He picked up an oar and pushed them away from the shore, before coiling the rope into a neat round and placing it on the bottom of the boat. ‘Sit in the front if you like,’ he said. ‘No, not now!’ he added as she stood, making the boat wobble. ‘Wait until we’re a bit further out. Unless you want us to both end up in the water?’
Feeling a little foolish, she sat back down as Alexander started rowing. The moon was so bright she could see the muscles of his arms bunching with every pull of the oar.
‘Are we going to fish?’ she asked.
‘If you like. But later. I want to show you something first.’
A comfortable silence fell, punctuated only by the creak of the boat against the oars and the lapping of the sea. Katherine trailed her hand in the water.
‘Watch out for sharks,’ he cautioned.
She pulled her hand out of the water as if she’d had an electric shock. But when she looked at him she saw, from his grin, that he’d been teasing her.
Her skin tingled and she grinned back at him. How she loved this man!
‘So, what is it you want to show me?’
‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait and see.’ He refused to say any more so she let herself relax, gasping with delight as a shooting star sped across the sky before falling towards the black depths of the ocean. It was if she had been transported into a different world. Happiness surged through her. Everything about being here—being with Alexander—made her feel more alive than she’d ever felt before. As if the person she was when she was with him was a different, more together version of herself on one hand and a wilder, more interesting, version on the other.
It must have been so hard for her mother to leave here when she married. Britain was a colder, greyer place than the one she’d left. Although the way the villagers lived, almost on top of each other and constantly visiting each other’s homes, had taken Katherine time to get used to, and she could see how someone used to living in such close proximity with their neighbours, always having someone to call on for support, would struggle to adapt in a strange country with an entirely different culture. Her mother had loved her father very much and, as she’d told Katherine often, she would rather have been with Dad in hell than without him.
A wave of sadness threatened to swamp her mood. At least she was here. In the country her mother had once called home, she felt nearer to her than she’d felt since she’d died.
‘You okay?’
Alexander’s voice jerked her back to the present. ‘Yes. Why?’
‘It’s just that you looked sad there for a moment.’
She forced a smile. ‘Just thinking about my mother and wishing she’d been able come back even once before she died.’
In the distance the tiny lights from other boats bobbed on the sea. Beyond them dark shapes of small islands broke up the horizon.
‘Perhaps you’ll come back—or stay?’ he said softly.
Her pulse upped another notch. Was he asking her to?
‘I have my work. But, yes, I think will. What about you? Do you think you might ever return to the UK?’ She held her breath as she waited for his answer.
‘To visit my mother certainly. But I couldn’t leave Greece permanently. I couldn’t take Crystal away from her grandmother. At least, not until she’s older.’
Her earlier happiness dimmed. She could understand him not wanting to separate Crystal from her great-grandmother, not until she was older anyway, but if he felt about Katherine the way she felt about him, wouldn’t he want to be with her? Wouldn’t he ask her outright to stay?
‘Why,’ he continued, ‘do we always regret what might have been instead of being grateful for the life we have?’
Her heart thudded a tattoo against her chest. She wanted to ask him what he meant. Was he referring to her? What might have been? Or was he talking about his wife?
‘Do you regret coming back here?’ she asked instead.
‘Not at all. It was the right decision for Crystal. Anyway, the UK was too—’ He stopped suddenly. ‘Too cold,’ he finished. She was sure that wasn’t what he had been about to say. In unguarded moments his sadness mirrored her own. Even after two years he was still grieving for his wife. But he should find some comfort in the knowledge he had found love—a great love, she suspected—and she envied him for it. More, she envied the woman who had been the recipient.
They lapsed into silence again. Just when she was beginning to wonder where exactly he was taking her, an island with a small bay came into view.
‘Is this the place you wanted to show me?’ she asked.
‘Greece has many beautiful islands, but this is one I like to come to whenever I take out the boat. Not least because no one ever comes here. The only other place I like more is Cape Sounion.’
‘Where’s that?’
‘You mean you don’t know? You must have heard of the temple of Poseidon. It’s where Byron used to go to write his poetry. I’ll take you one day.’
His assumption that they would be spending more time together sent a ripple of happiness through her. She’d waited how many years to find someone like him and she’d had to come to a remote part of Greece to do so. If only she had an inkling of how he felt about her. If only he could love her the way he had loved, and probably still loved, his wife; if only she could make him understand why she’d done what she had, they might have a chance of a future together.
But he would never understand. She was certain of that.
He jumped out of the boat, holding its rope, and held out his arms. She let him swing her into them. As his arms tightened around her she closed her eyes, wanting to savour every last moment. He carried her ashore before standing her gently on her feet.
‘So, what’s so special about this island?’ she asked, when he returned from pulling the boat out of the water. ‘You’ve just told me Greece has hundreds of beautiful islands.’
‘Legend has it that a Spartan soldier brought a Trojan princess here when he captured her. I have no evidence that this is the exact place,’ he said, holding his hands up as if to ward off her protests, ‘but he described it as an island not far from my village whose beauty was only dimmed by the beauty of his wife.’ His voice dropped to a murmur. ‘He believed if he kept her here, safe, nothing bad would ever happen to her and they could live out the rest of their lives together and in peace.’
‘And did they? In your story?’ It might only be a legend but she really wanted to know.
His gaze returned to hers, the tone of his voice almost dismissive. ‘No. In time he got bored. He missed the excitement and prestige that came with being in the Greek army.’
‘What happened?’
‘When he was away, fighting in some war or another, his enemies found her here. They captured her and intended to make her a consort. She guessed what they planned so when they weren’t watching her, she escaped and ran to the cliff. She threw herself into the sea.’
‘Oh, no! And what happened to her lover?’
‘As soon as he came back and discovered what had happened, he went mad with grief and guilt. He drowned himself so he could be with her in death.’
Katherine shivered. ‘That’s so sad.’
He reached for her hand. ‘What do you think he should have done? Was he not wrong to bring her here where she was alone and unprotected?’ His eyes bored into hers as if her answer really mattered. ‘Don’t you think he deserved what happened?’
‘Well, first of all,’ she began cautiously, her reaction was her choice. I don’t think she would have agreed to come and live here with him if she hadn’t wanted to. She must have known he was trying to protect her the best way he knew how. In the end he was wrong, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do what he did for the right reasons. Didn’t you say earlier that there is no point regretting what might have been?’
She knew she was talking as much about her own situation as this mythical couple’s. ‘It’s easy to look back on our lives and see what we did wrong, what we should have done—but at the time we can only make the best decision we can in the circumstances.’
‘Is that what you really believe? I can’t imagine you have much to regret.’
This conversation was getting too close to the bone for comfort. Perhaps it was time to tell him about Poppy. But fear held her back. She couldn’t bear it if he judged her or, worse, rejected her. She forced a smile. ‘Why do you like the island so much if it has such a sad story attached to it?’
He poured her some wine and passed the glass to her. The touch of his fingertips brushing against hers sent hot sparks up her arm. ‘In a way, I guess it is sad. But legend has it that the gods took pity on them and turned them into dolphins. I like to think of them out in the ocean together—always.’
Her heart twisted. So she’d been right. He was still in love with his wife.
He stepped forward and took her face between his hands. ‘I don’t know why no man has captured you yet. What is wrong with English men?’
‘Perhaps it is me,’ she said, then could have kicked herself. It was difficult to think straight with him being so close. ‘I mean, being too picky.’
