One Greek Summer Wedding

Chapter 53

‘Well, you have to give it to me,’ Margot began as she and Cara walked through the olive grove, the white dome of the little chapel just visible now through the branches of the trees. ‘I’ve certainly provided us with a fully packed itinerary for this trip. I mean, we’ve had a hen night, a wine and cake tasting, a blown-up suitcase, a trip to Santorini, you singing like you’ve never sung before, a ride in a helicopter, a wedding – if it ever happens – and now a funeral.’

Cara swallowed. It was the morning after their return from Santorini and the Corfu day was as blue-sky perfect as every other day of their visit had been. So much had happened in their time in Greece and there was far more for her than Margot had just mentioned then. Meeting Akis had been the most unexpected thing but it wasn’t just how crazy good-looking he was, nor what a sensitive, kind, funny, genuine guy she had found him to be, it was what he had managed to unlock inside her. It was like only he had been given the key to help her break free. Yet, with his future career path still uncertain, no one knew exactly what was going to happen next. But perhaps that didn’t matter. Something perfect didn’t necessarily have to last a lifetime, did it?

‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ Cara asked, dodging a white butterfly’s trajectory.

‘What?’ Margot asked, slowing her pace. ‘A gift? Do Greeks bring gifts to funerals?’

‘No,’ Cara said softly. ‘Of all the things you’ve just said, you didn’t mention how you stood up to Raj last night.’

‘Oh, well, yes, I mean…’ Margot’s voice trailed off and she simply gave a nod.

‘You should have just gone to the authorities, you know,’ Cara said. ‘With all the women you spoke to willing to tell their stories, you could have made sure he never did anything like that again, got him prosecuted. Especially with your MI5 connections.’

‘Yes,’ Margot said. ‘Well, about that… I didn’t actually speak to any other women.’ She stopped walking and took a jagged breath. ‘I wish I had a cigarette right now, but that awful Horror smoked my last one.’

‘You bluffed him,’ Cara said, caught between astounded yet also completely aware.

‘On a few counts actually,’ Margot said. ‘I don’t want him to invest in Carried Away to grow the reach of the Maxi-Go. I want to put his face and monogram on those cases and watch them explode. I’ll make it a launch night event – taking health and safety into account obviously, nothing and no one harmed except his ego. That limited edition range will have the shortest shelf life while we work on a fix, leaving no stone unturned until it’s foolproof. And as for the money Raj gives me, well, I thought I might give it to your mum and dad.’

‘What?’ Cara said.

‘Well, they’re always doing righteous things for the planet, things I should have and could have done long before now if I wasn’t so set on being the granite-souled business woman no one could get close to.’ She gave a small smile. ‘And obviously there is a part of me that knows whatever my sister is called now will hate taking money from me but she will because it’s for the good of the globe.’

Cara smiled and shook her head. And then she met her aunt’s gaze again. ‘But, was it true, about the baby?’

Margot gave a sharp inhale then and put her hand out to catch a silvery frond of olive leaves. ‘It’s such a cliché, isn’t it? Young stupid girl gets infatuated with someone with good looks, power and money, gives a little too much and ends up in a mess.’ She sighed. ‘I didn’t tell anyone, Cara. You’re the only person, except for Raj, that knows.’

‘You didn’t tell your parents or my mum?’

‘Tell them that the outgoing, flirtatious, pain in the arse they couldn’t wait to send away had lived up to all expectations?’ She shook her head. ‘No. I dealt with the matter. There was never any other choice to be made when I realised what kind of man Raj really was.’ She sighed. ‘And there may not be any other women I spoke to about his behaviour, but I wasn’t blind to exactly what he was once he had shown his true colours. I won’t have been the only one.’

Cara slipped an arm around her aunt’s shoulders and drew her close, holding tight. She felt Margot stiffen a little, always better at being air-kissed than hugged. But Cara wasn’t letting go.

‘You know you’ve been like a mum to me.’

‘Ugh, Cara, don’t. I’m imagining someone in dungarees doing things with glue and sequins and making lentil cottage pie.’

‘You’ve always been there when I needed you. Especially after Moldova.’

Finally, she let Margot go.

‘I could have done better,’ Margot admitted. ‘I’m ashamed of that. I took over. I made decisions and choices. I didn’t ask you, I told you.’

‘I know,’ Cara said. ‘But in the beginning that’s what I needed.’

‘But you don’t need that now. And, perhaps, if I hadn’t needed you alongside me you would have been singing again before now.’

Cara shook her head. ‘No… I don’t think so.’ She took a breath. ‘And I don’t think it’s something that’s necessarily going to be in my future, you know, as a career.’

‘No?’

‘I don’t know,’ Cara said. ‘I’m kind of settling into the idea that it’s OK to not know where things go.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Margot said, shivering. ‘No plan or strategy! Living life on the spur of the moment! You definitely come from your mother’s side of the Jones genes! You’ll be off somewhere remote to build a school soon!’

A bell sounded. It made them both jump and realise that they should probably continue making their way to the little chapel. Cara linked her arm with Margot’s.

‘Come on, let’s go and pay our respects. It looks like there’s quite a crowd down there. I’m not sure they’re all going to fit into the chapel, it’s very small inside.’

Margot shook her head. ‘Somewhere I did not think I would ever be. In Corfu at the funeral of a donkey.’