by Anne Fraser
‘I’ll check the bay on the other side,’ Alexander said. He squeezed her shoulder. ‘Don’t look so worried, she’ll be fine.’
He couldn’t know that for sure. She ran around to the bigger bay. On the small stretch of beach was another towel and a pair of sunglasses but no sign of Poppy.
She scanned the bay, searching for her, but apart from a couple of boats the sea was empty. A late-morning breeze had whipped it into frothy peaked waves. Had she gone for a swim and gone out too far?
‘Where is she?’ She grabbed Alexander’s arm. ‘We’ve got to find her.’ She began tugging off her sandals.
‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘I’m going to swim out. I need to find her.’
Alexander gripped her by the shoulders. ‘Calm down. Think about it. You’d see her if she’s out there.’ He cupped his hands and called out to one of the boats nearby. The man called back to him.
‘He says he hasn’t noticed a stranger, and he’s been out here since dawn. He’ll ask the other boats just to make sure. Come on, let’s check the village. She’s probably gone in search of a Coke. Someone will have seen her.
Filled with dread, Katherine followed him back up the steps. He stopped a woman and spoke to her in Greek. She shook her head. They asked several more people and they all denied seeing a young stranger. Katherine’s panic was threatening to overwhelm her when the village store owner told them, his expression aghast, that, yes, he’d served a girl with short black hair and an earring in her lip. She was, he said, with Alexander’s pretty daughter. The last was said with significantly more approval.
Inside Alexander’s house, Grandmother was in her habitual place in the kitchen. In the small sitting room Crystal was lying on the sofa with her feet in Poppy’s lap as Poppy painted her toenails. The little girl was giggling while Poppy seemed totally oblivious to the stir she’d caused. Katherine sagged with relief.
Then fury overtook her.
‘Why the hell didn’t you leave a note to say where you were?’
Poppy looked up in surprise. Immediately her face resumed its belligerent look. ‘Why should I leave a note? You didn’t and it’s not as if you’ve ever known or cared what I do.’
‘While you’re staying with me, you’re my responsibility. For God’s sake, I thought you’d drowned. Your towel—all your things—were on the beach.’
Something shifted in Poppy’s eyes. If Katherine hadn’t known better she would have said it was regret.
‘Well, as you can see, I haven’t drowned. I went to the beach and came back to your house for a drink and Crystal turned up. She wanted some company.’
‘Poppy’s painting my toenails! See, Baba, she’s made patterns on them.’ When the child turned her face towards them, Katherine noticed that Poppy had also given her full make-up.
Alexander placed a restraining hand on Katherine’s arm. ‘Thanks for spending time with Crystal, Poppy.’ He crossed the room and smiled down at his daughter. ‘Have you seen my daughter, Crystal? She’s a beautiful little girl with a clean, shining face who never needs make-up.’
Crystal glared at him. ‘I am your daughter, silly. And I like my face the way Poppy has done it.’
Grandmother muttered something from behind Katherine. When she glanced at her she couldn’t be sure whether it was amusement or disapproval on her face.
Alexander scooped Crystal into his arms. ‘I think it’s time for a wash.’
‘But Poppy is going to do my fingernails next. Then we’re going to get dressed up and go to the square.’
‘Poppy, we need to go,’ Katherine said firmly.
‘Oh, all right.’ She stood up. ‘See you tomorrow, Crystal.’
* * *
‘That woman is not good,’ Alexander’s grandmother told him when he returned from helping Crystal to dress. ‘What kind of woman gives away her child? I am disappointed. I thought I had found the right woman for you.’
So Poppy hadn’t wasted any time in telling Crystal and Grandmother her story. ‘We shouldn’t judge her, Yia-Yia. Not until we know her reasons.’ But wasn’t what she’d said exactly what he’d been thinking? Katherine clearly wasn’t the woman he’d thought she was. No doubt she’d had her reasons for giving her daughter up for adoption—although he couldn’t think what they could be. She’d lied about having a child—that’s what he couldn’t bring himself to forgive. He’d thought he knew her. Now he knew better.
* * *
But a few days later his heart kicked against his ribs when he saw her emerge from the village store.
She hurried along the street, a few steps in front of him, and he was appalled to find that the villagers no longer called out to her or smiled in her direction. Since Poppy had arrived the village had been alight with gossip about her and her mother. Word had it that Poppy had been abandoned as a baby—where, no one could say exactly, but it varied between a hospital doorstep and an alleyway, that she had been taken away from Katherine because she had been unfit to look after her, to all sorts of even crazier versions. One of the other rumours he’d heard had involved Poppy running away from adoptive parents who beat her to a mother who hadn’t wanted her in the first place. It seemed now that they knew about Poppy and having made up their minds, they had decided to spurn Katherine. Alexander suspected that most of the gossip had originated from Poppy, who no doubt was making the most of the sympathy she was getting from the women in the village.
He’d seen mother and daughter yesterday, sitting on the downstairs patio. Both had been wearing shorts, revealing long brown legs, both barefoot. When they’d turned to look at him, two identical pairs of blue eyes had stared out from porcelain complexions. It was obvious they were closely related, although, given the gap in their ages, they might have been taken for sisters rather than mother and daughter—even with the radically different hairstyles and Poppy’s piercing.
Feeling she was being unfairly accused was one thing, re-igniting their aborted love affair quite another. Nevertheless, it was about time the gossip stopped.
Furious with them, or himself—he couldn’t be sure which—he called Katherine’s name and ran the few steps to catch up with her. He took the shopping bag from her hand. ‘Let me carry this for you.’
She looked up at him, defiance shining in her blue eyes. ‘I can manage,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to keep the fallen woman company.’
But behind the defiance he could see the hurt and his chest tightened. No matter what she said, she’d been wounded badly by the villagers’ attitude. She’d told him how much she’d loved feeling part of their small community.
‘You’ll be a seven-day wonder,’ he said. ‘Then they’ll forget all about it.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ she said. ‘But I won’t be judged. Not by them—not by anyone.’ She looked at him again. He knew she was including him in her statement and she was right. He had been as guilty as the rest of drawing conclusions without having the facts. ‘Neither do I need you to stick up for me.’
‘I know. You’re perfectly able to do that yourself.’ He was rewarded by the briefest of smiles.
‘How is the prodigal daughter anyway?’ he asked. ‘I understand she spends a fair bit of time at my house.’
‘She seems to get a kick out of being around your grandmother. She’s shown her how to make soap from olive oil, how to dry herbs and how to cook. The things she was showing me before I fell out of favour. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she’s wonderfully patient with her and I’m happy Poppy has someone she feels good around.’
‘She tells me Poppy is very good at entertaining Crystal. I suspect my grandmother sees a different side to Poppy than you do.’
She smiled sadly. ‘I’m trying to get to know her. I’m trying not to nag, just to make her aware that I’m ready to talk whenever she’s ready.
I thought that she would have begun to unbend towards me a bit, but she seems as angry with me as she was the day she arrived.’ Her shoulders sagged and he had to ball his fists to stop himself taking her in his arms.
‘Give her time. She hasn’t gone home so being here must mean something to her.’
‘I don’t think I’m anything more than a bolt-hole to her. And in many ways I’m glad just to be that. I took her to Mycenae the other day. I thought doing things together would help us to bond.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘I was wrong. It was nothing short of a disaster. She managed half an hour before she sulked off back to the car.’
Despite everything, he had to suppress a smile. ‘You know the ruins of ancient cities aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Especially when they’re teens. From what little I know of Poppy she strikes me as more of a beach girl.’
‘But I thought she’d be interested—I would have been at her age. I thought we’d have something to talk about at least. Something that was less emotional than our relationship and what’s going on with her back home.’
She looked so disappointed he almost reached out for her. Instead, he dug his hands even deeper into his pockets. But was she really so naïve to think that dragging a seventeen-year-old around ruins was the way build a relationship?
‘Have you asked her what she wants to do?’
‘Of course! I’m not a complete idiot.’
‘And her answer?’
‘Let me use her exact words. “Duh. To chill.”’
Alexander hid another smile. She’d mimicked the little he’d heard of Poppy’s truculent voice exactly. ‘Then just let her to do whatever she wants. If that means hanging around my grandmother’s or sunbathing on the balcony or beach, just let her. She’ll come to you when she’s ready.’
‘I’ve tried. But every time I go near her she gets up and walks away.’ Her blue eyes were bewildered.
‘Tell you what,’ he found himself saying. ‘There’s some caves with amazing stalactites and stalagmites not very far from here. And there’s a good beach nearby—shallow, so it’s great for swimming—so why don’t the four of us go there tomorrow?’
‘You must have other things you want to do.’ But he could tell by the way her eyes lit up that she liked the idea. She looked like a drowning woman being tossed a float. He hadn’t planned to suggest a trip together, but the words were out and he couldn’t take them back. Not that he wanted to take them back. A day with Katherine was suddenly irresistible.
‘Crystal would like nothing better than to spend the day with her new idol—especially if it involves a boat trip in caves followed by a picnic and a swim. No, I promise you that is my daughter’s idea of a dream day and so it’s mine too. Do you want me to ask Poppy?’
‘I’ll do it,’ she said, taking her shopping from him. Suddenly she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
* * *
To Katherine’s surprise, when she told Poppy the next morning about Alexander’s invitation, she seemed keen to go. She disappeared into the shower and returned an hour later dressed and carrying one of Katherine’s bags. In the meantime, Katherine had prepared a picnic with some of the fresh bread she’d bought from the village store as soon as it had opened. She’d also made a fig and mozzarella salad, which she’d put in a plastic container. There were olives, cold meat, soft drinks, and crisps too. She hoped Poppy would find at least some of it to her taste. As she made her preparations her head buzzed. Did Alexander’s invite mean he was ready to listen to her? Or was he simply sorry for her? Whatever the reason, she had to at least try and make him understand.
Crystal ran into the room ahead of her father. ‘We are going to swim. We’re going to see magic caves! And you are coming too.’
‘Yeah,’ Poppy said, sliding a look at Katherine. ‘So she says.’ Then her daughter’s face broke into a wide smile and picked Crystal up. ‘Let’s get into the car.’
Alexander looked as gorgeous as ever in a pair of faded jeans and a white T-shirt and Katherine’s heart gave an uncomfortable thump. She couldn’t read the expression in his eyes when they rested on her. Perhaps at a different time they might have had something—perhaps if she’d been a different person... Timing had never been her strong suit.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
‘As I’ll ever be.’
* * *
Crystal did all the talking as they drove towards the caves. ‘I can swim, you know,’ she told Poppy proudly. ‘Can you?’
‘Of course,’ Poppy replied. ‘I swim for my school.’
Katherine was surprised. But delighted. They had this in common at least. ‘I swam for my school too,’ she remarked.
‘Whatever.’
Katherine shared a look with Alexander. It would take time, it seemed, for Poppy to unbend towards her—if she ever did.
They parked at the top car park and, leaving their bags and the picnic, walked the rest of the way. The sky was a brilliant blue, feathered with the slightest clouds, and the sea was turquoise against the blindingly white shore.
They bought the tickets for the boat trip into the caves and the children were given life jackets to put on. Poppy looked as if she was about to refuse but clearly thought better of it. Katherine was relieved. No doubt if she had refused, Crystal would have too.
The girls clambered into the front of the boat, with Katherine and Alexander squashed together on one of the seats in the stern. She was painfully aware of the familiar scent of the soap he used and the pressure of his leg against hers. She closed her eyes, remembering the feel of his arms around her, the way her body fitted perfectly against his, the way he made her laugh. She shook the images away. They might never be lovers again, but did him being here now mean that at the very least he was still her friend?
As their guide used an oar to push the boat further into the depths of the caves she gasped. Thousands of spectacular stalactites hung from the roof of the cave, which was lit with small lights that danced off the crystal formations like thousands of sparks.
Crystal turned around, eyes wide, her small hands covering her mouth. ‘It is a magic cave, Baba. It’s like Christmas! Only better!’
Even Poppy seemed stunned by their beauty. She spent the trip with her arm around Crystal’s shoulders, pointing out different formations. Katherine had read about them yesterday after Alexander had extended his invitation and was able to tell the girls how they’d been formed as well as a little history of the caves. Poppy asked some questions, appearing to have forgotten that she wasn’t speaking to Katherine. Katherine glanced at Alexander and he grinned back. He’d been right. This was the kind of trip to impress a seventeen-year-old—inasmuch as anything could impress this particular seventeen-year-old.
Their trip into the caves finished, Alexander returned to the car for their costumes and their picnic, while Katherine and the girls found a spot on the grass, just above the pebbly beach, where they could lay their picnic blanket. As soon as Alexander came back Poppy and Crystal disappeared off to the changing rooms to put on their swimming costumes.
‘Aren’t you going to swim?’ Alexander asked.
‘In a bit. What about you?’
‘What are the chances of Crystal letting me just lie here?’ When he grinned she could almost make herself believe that they were still together.
The girls came out of the changing rooms and ran down into the sea, squealing as the water splashed over their knees.
‘She’s a good kid,’ Alexander said.
‘Yes. I believe she is.’
‘What happened to her father?’
Katherine sighed. It was a question she’d been waiting for Poppy to ask. ‘Ben? Last time I heard, he was married with three children and doing very well as a lawyer.’
‘You must have been very young when you had her.�
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‘I was seventeen. Sixteen when I fell pregnant.’
‘You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. It’s none of my business.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I’d like to. It’s not something I’ve ever spoken to anyone about, but I think I owe it to you to tell you the truth.’
‘I don’t want you to tell me because you think you owe me, although I would like to understand. It’s not so much that you have a child you gave up for adoption, it’s the fact you didn’t tell me. Hell, Katherine, I bared my soul to you.’
‘I know...’ She sighed. ‘It’s just—it’s been a secret I’ve kept for so long, afraid of what people would think if they knew...’
‘I can’t imagine the Katherine I know caring about what people think.’
‘We all care what people think if we’re honest—at least, the opinions of those we love and respect.’
‘If they love and respect us, then their feelings shouldn’t change...’ he said slowly. He was quiet for a long time. ‘I promise I’ll listen this time.’
‘It’s a long story.’
He nodded in the direction of the girls, who were splashing each other and laughing. ‘Looks like they’re not going to be out of the water any time soon.’
Seeing Poppy like this reminded Katherine how painfully young her daughter still was and how painfully young she herself had been when she’d fallen pregnant. A child really.
‘Remember I told you that I won a scholarship to high school?’
He nodded.
‘I was proud and excited to have won it but I was totally unprepared for the reality. Being there terrified me. Most of the rest of the pupils came from well-to-do families—the children of business people, doctors and lawyers. I was desperately shy as it was, and with my second-hand uniform I knew I stuck out. Unsurprisingly perhaps, they wanted nothing to do with me. I pretended I didn’t care. At break times I’d take a book and read it. I knew I still had to get top marks if I wanted to be accepted at medical school.
