Wish You Were Here

by Victoria Connelly

  He stood back to look at the property. An enormous wall ran around the perimeter. It all looked foreboding as well as impenetrable and he shrugged his shoulders. ‘I think we’re going to have to come back tomorrow,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, Milo – no!’

  ‘There’s nothing we can do if there’s nobody around.’ He watched Alice’s response and couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She looked thoroughly dejected with her slender shoulders slumped and her head hung in sorrow.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said.

  ‘You didn’t even try,’ she said as they headed back to the car.

  ‘What do you mean? I drove out all this way with you and nearly got attacked by that wolf.’

  ‘I don’t mean today.’

  Milo frowned. So, they were no longer talking about today, were they? The conversation had shifted when he wasn’t looking. He sighed. Why were women so complicated?

  ‘I mean, you never tried to see me before I left Kethos. You never tried to explain.’

  Milo scratched his chin. ‘But I did try to see you. I came to the villa as soon as I could but you’d gone.’

  ‘I had to go home,’ she said, glaring at him as if he was an idiot. ‘I came to see you at the Villa Argenti but your colleague told me you couldn’t work that day and there was no way of contacting you. I didn’t know what to do.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Alice. Something came up and I couldn’t reach you.’

  She looked at him and he felt as if he were being punished with the fierceness of her stare.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘I just thought you might have something to say to me.’

  He wasn’t sure what she meant and so he wasn’t sure what to say to her. He held her gaze, wondering if she was going to say anything else but she remained silent, the coolness of her eyes seeming to say so much but in a language which he didn’t understand.

  ‘Look,’ he said at last, glancing at his watch, ‘the last ferry leaves for the mainland in an hour and we’d have to break our necks to get there in time. Stay with me.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I have plenty of room and you’d be very welcome and we can get up early and make a good start by coming back here and trying to find the statue.’

  Her blue eyes seemed to double in size and her mouth had opened in a perfect little circle. ‘But—’

  ‘But what?’ he asked, his head cocked to one side.

  ‘What are you talking about, Milo? I can’t stay at yours.’

  ‘Why not?’ he asked, looking puzzled.

  ‘Because – because you have a family!’

  He looked startled for a moment. ‘How did you know about that?’

  ‘Oh, Milo!’ Her hands flew up in the air in exasperation. ‘I saw them! You have a wife – a family!’

  ‘Wife? Hang on a minute! What do you mean, wife?’

  ‘Please don’t lie to me any more. I came to your house.’

  ‘What? When?’

  ‘When you weren’t at the villa, I asked a few people where you lived. I wanted to see you again before I left but, when I got to your house, I saw—’ she stopped.

  ‘What?’ he said, anxiety filling him with fear. ‘What exactly did you see?’

  ‘I saw you pegging out washing in the garden. Children’s clothes.’

  ‘Oh, God!’ Milo said, shaking his head. ‘Do you know who those clothes belong to, Alice? They belong to my sister!’

  ‘Your sister?’

  ‘My little sister – Tiana. I wanted to tell you about her and I was going to. I tried on the morning you were leaving but it was too late and we couldn’t make it to the boat in time. Tiana was unwell. That’s why I couldn’t get in to work. There’s a lady who takes care of her after school but she was ill too so I had to stay at home.’

  ‘You have a little sister?’

  He nodded. ‘Our parents died. I’m the one who looks after her.’

  Alice looked dumbstruck. ‘Why didn’t you tell me all this?’

  ‘I was going to only I didn’t get the chance and there was no point mentioning her when we first met,’ he said. ‘I mean, would you really want to see somebody who has a little sister to take care of?’

  ‘You should have let me be the judge of that,’ she told him.

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘But I thought we were just going to be a holiday romance. When I first met you, I didn’t know how you felt about me and I always thought you’d forget about me and this place as soon as you left. I didn’t feel you needed to know everything about my life here.’ He looked at her and her face softened a little. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t get the chance to explain things,’ he said. ‘I really care about you and I felt so bad letting you go like that without explaining. I don’t know what you must have thought.’

  ‘You really don’t want to know,’ Alice said.

  ‘I’m sure I don’t,’ he said, giving her a tiny smile. They left the forbidding gate and the barking dog and drove back through the wild island landscape.

  Milo kept giving Alice little glances. Her shoulders had lost some of the tension that had been held in them for the whole of that day but she still looked sad – as if something was missing from her existence. ‘Are you okay?’ he said at last.

  She nodded but didn’t say anything.

  ‘You must be hungry,’ he said. ‘I know I am. We haven’t eaten for hours.’

  She nodded again. ‘I guess I lost track of time.’

  ‘It seems to me that you’ve been thinking about nothing but this statue,’ he told her. ‘Am I right?’

  She looked at him as he slowed to take a corner. ‘It’s been an odd time,’ she said and then, suddenly, her eyes filled with tears.

  ‘Alice!’ he cried, pulling over to the side of the road. ‘What’s the matter?’ For a few moments, she didn’t say a word but just sat there, tears streaming down her face, her little nose rapidly turning red.

  He took his seatbelt off and inched closer to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. He couldn’t bear to see her like this and he couldn’t help but feel partly responsible. ‘It’s my stupid behaviour, isn’t it?’ He groaned. ‘I should have told you. I knew I should have.’

  She shook her head. ‘It’s not you,’ she said in a tiny voice.

  ‘What is it, then?’

  She turned to look at him and her eyes were rimmed with red. ‘My father,’ she said. ‘My father died.’

  ‘Oh, Alice! I’m so sorry.’ Without thinking, he took her hands in his and squeezed them whilst fresh tears fell as she told him what had happened.

  ‘God,’ he said when she finished. ‘You’ve had a really bad time.’

  ‘I guess I’ve been holding on and holding on – just trying to get on with things and sort everything out.’

  ‘When what you really needed to do was to sit down and have a good cry,’ he said. ‘Look, let’s get you back to my place. You can take a shower, have a rest, do anything you like and I’ll cook us dinner. We’ve got a spare bedroom with clean sheets and you’re welcome to stay as long as you need. How does that sound?’

  ‘But I don’t have any clothes or my toothbrush or—’

  ‘I’ll lend you some clothes,’ he said, ‘and there’s a brand new toothbrush in the bathroom cabinet. Come on. Let me take you to my home.’

  Chapter 38

  Alice’s mind was reeling from what Milo had told her. For all those weeks, she’d thought of him as nothing more than a no-good cheating husband when he had, in fact, been a single man struggling to take care of his little sister whilst holding down a job.

  As he skirted the town of Kintos and headed to a part of the island she didn’t know, she glanced at him. His face was dark with his long hours of exposure to the sun and the little cut below his forehead looked red and raw and she wanted to reach out and touch it gently with her fingertips. His dark eyes were focused on the road and his dark green shirt sleeves were rolled up to reveal his tanned
forearms. Alice swallowed at the sight of them and she tried not to think about the way that they had held her as he’d made love to her.

  That moment seemed such a long time ago now. She felt as if she’d been a different person then and it felt strange sitting so close to Milo now with all that had happened between them and yet they hadn’t talked about the time when the world had closed around them and nothing had been more important than the two of them.

  She couldn’t help wondering if he was thinking about it too or if his mind was purely on negotiating the treacherous coast road that they were now driving along. Whatever he was thinking, he kept to himself and they drove on in silence together.

  When they reached Milo’s, Alice recognized the little house and saw the washing line which had caused so much trouble between them. He parked the car and turned to look at her.

  ‘Well, here we are,’ he said.

  Alice nodded. ‘Where’s your sister?’

  ‘Oh, she’s inside. There was a party after school today and a friend said she’d bring her home and sit with her until I got back.’ Sure enough, a young woman came out of the front door and waved at Milo. He got out of the car and greeted her and they chatted away for a few moments before she turned to leave.

  ‘She wanted to know who the pretty girl was,’ Milo said as he opened Alice’s door for her.

  ‘And what did you tell her?’

  ‘I told her absolutely nothing because it would be all over the village before we sit down to dinner.’

  ‘I think it probably will anyway,’ Alice said as she got out of the car.

  ‘You’re probably right.’

  They walked towards the house together.

  ‘Does Tiana speak English?’ Alice asked nervously.

  ‘Yes. I’ve been teaching her,’ Milo said as he opened the door for her. ‘I think she speaks better English than me now!’

  Alice stepped inside and was immediately greeted by a girl with huge dark eyes and long dark hair. She was standing in the doorway of the kitchen and she had a big smile on her face. ‘Hello,’ she said.

  ‘Hello,’ Alice said, smiling right back at her.

  Milo cleared his throat and stepped forward. ‘Tiana – this is Alice,’ he said in English.

  The little girl cocked her head to one side in a manner that was uncannily like her brother. ‘ALICE!’ she suddenly shouted.

  Alice laughed at the explosive cry. ‘Yes,’ she said.

  ‘You came back.’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘You came back to see Milo,’ the little girl continued.

  ‘Er – no,’ Milo interrupted.

  ‘Then why?’

  ‘Alice has business on the island.’

  ‘Business?’ Tiana said, sounding out the word as if it was something disagreeable in her mouth. ‘What business?’

  ‘Private business that has nothing to do with little girls,’ Milo said.

  ‘Oh,’ she said, obviously disappointed, and then she turned her big brown eyes on Alice as if she might want to contradict Milo and tell her why she was there.

  ‘I think you have homework to do,’ Milo prompted her.

  ‘Oh, no. Not tonight,’ she said with a light smile. ‘I can stay and talk with Alice all evening.’

  Milo’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘But not before you’ve tidied your—’

  ‘My room’s tidy,’ she said.

  ‘And put all your books into alphabetical order.’

  ‘What?’ Tiana said in alarm.

  ‘Go on – you know I’ve told you that’s how Mama liked them.’

  She stood stunned for a moment but then gave in.

  ‘Okay!’ she said with a sigh.

  They watched as she walked as slowly as was humanly possible down the whole length of the hallway to her bedroom at the end.

  ‘Sorry about that,’ Milo whispered. ‘She can be a little demanding.’

  ‘She’s lovely,’ Alice said. ‘I wish my sister was as adorable.’

  ‘How is she?’ he asked, leading her through to the kitchen.

  ‘Oh, she’s her usual self.’

  Milo nodded in understanding. ‘And how has she taken your father’s death?’

  ‘Not well,’ Alice said. ‘She’s been living in the family home, and she doesn’t want to leave now but it’s a condition of the will. The house is going to be sold, you see, and everything paid for and then what’s left will be split between us.’

  ‘That sounds fair enough,’ Milo said.

  ‘She doesn’t see it that way, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I take it she’s been living rent-free all this time?’

  Alice nodded.

  ‘Then it all sounds more than fair to me.’ He pulled a chair out at the dinner table and Alice sat down as Milo busied himself around the kitchen preparing dinner. ‘So, what will you do with the money?’

  Alice cast her eyes up to the ceiling. ‘I guess I should put a deposit down on a house of my own. I’ve been renting for years now.’

  ‘So, you’re going to stay in the UK?’

  She looked at him. ‘That’s where my job is.’

  He nodded and Alice swallowed. She had the feeling that he wasn’t saying everything in his mind and was aware, once again, that the closeness they’d briefly shared seemed to have evaporated.

  ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘we’ll have to wait and see.’

  ‘Have you any idea how much it will be? If you don’t mind me asking.’

  ‘Well, I’ve not worked it out in detail yet but there was no mortgage on the property and it should get a good price. I guess we’re looking at six figures.’

  Milo looked as if he’d been slapped in the face. ‘Six figures?’

  ‘Very low six figures,’ Alice said.

  ‘Each? In pounds?’

  ‘Yes! Why? Does that seem a lot to you?’ Alice said in surprise.

  ‘You mean, it doesn’t seem a lot to you?’ Milo said.

  ‘It seems an absolute fortune to me but it won’t buy much in the UK.’

  ‘My God!’ Milo said. ‘You could buy a mansion with grounds for that here.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes!’ Milo said, his voice sounding hysterical. ‘Not as grand as the Villa Argenti, you understand, but a really nice house and plenty of land.’

  Alice found that she was smiling in spite of herself. ‘But that’s here, and here is miles away from anywhere, in a country that gets earthquakes.’

  ‘Well, we might not be perfect but our skies and sea beat yours for blueness.’

  Alice smiled and watched as Milo reached into a cupboard and produced two large wine glasses which he filled with a local white wine.

  ‘If I had six figures, I would buy the biggest plot of land I could afford,’ he said, passing a glass to Alice and taking a sip from his own. ‘It wouldn’t matter what the house was like as long as it had rooms and walls and things. Then I would create the most beautiful garden Kethos has ever seen. The Villa Argenti would be nothing in comparison!’ His dark eyes shone as he spoke. ‘I would choose all my favourite plants and put them exactly where I wanted them. There would be all the bright and brilliant Mediterranean flowers and the herbs that our island is so famous for and I would raise my own plants from seed and take cuttings – even do a bit of experimenting.’

  ‘But don’t you do all that already at the villa?’ Alice asked.

  ‘I have a certain amount of freedom with the plants, of course, but it’s Mr Carlson who has to tick everything off. The garden is his, after all.’

  Alice nodded and smiled at the faraway look in Milo’s eyes. He was a dreamer, wasn’t he? She liked that about him. Why couldn’t she be more like that? She was so stuck in the here and now, worrying about practicalities like work and rent and bills. Why couldn’t she just let her mind soar like Milo and dream of a future filled with flowers?

  ‘Anyway,’ he said, snapping himself back into the present, ‘that’s not likely to happen and – we
ll – I love the Villa Argenti – I really do but—’

  ‘You’d like to be your own boss?’

  ‘Exactly!’ He grinned like a young child and then turned his back to her as he prepared dinner. Alice watched him moving around the kitchen with graceful ease. He looked so at home amongst the pots and pans as if he genuinely enjoyed the whole experience of cooking rather than getting on with it simply because he had to eat.

  ‘Anything I can do?’ Alice asked.

  ‘No, no,’ he said lightly, waving a hand in the air. ‘Have yourself another wine.’ So Alice did.

  She wasn’t sure whether it was the wine or the rhythm with which Milo moved around the kitchen but she soon began to feel pleasantly mellow. It was as if all the tension of the last few weeks was finally draining away from her. Maybe it was the fact that she was back on Kethos too. After all, it had been the last place where she’d felt truly relaxed.

  Before she knew it, she was being presented with an array of pretty plates and bowls all filled with food.

  ‘It’s just a simple supper,’ Milo said, almost apologetically, as he laid everything out on the table. ‘It’s called meze. It’s food to pick at whilst you’re drinking ouzo but we like to eat it together for supper. Tiana likes it – I guess it’s what you might call finger food.’

  Alice nodded in approval as she recognised pitta bread, houmous, haloumi, calamari and scampi. ‘It all looks amazing,’ she said, and she couldn’t help comparing the exotic spread before her to her own dreary suppers at home of tinned soup and toast or some breadcrumbed concoction from out of the depths of the freezer.

  ‘Dinner!’ Milo called and Tiana came racing through to join them. ‘Have you cleaned your hands?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes!’

  ‘And sorted all your books?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Okay,’ he said with a smile as his little sister sat herself at the table.

  The food was simple and delicious – just what Alice had needed and, for a while, they all ate in silence, happily picking and munching away together like a little family. But Alice couldn’t help feeling a pair of eyes upon her the whole time she was eating and finally glanced up to meet them. Tiana grinned at her.