The Greek Villa: A beautiful and utterly addictive summer holiday rom com

Chapter 16

‘Bye, Josh, and have a wonderful time at the zoo, George.’

‘Nanny and Grandad are coming too,’ says my brother and George replies with a loud, ‘Yay.’

‘They’ll love that. I hope you all have a lovely day.’

I give Josh and George one last squeeze at the airport when I am dropped off. ‘And remember, I am only ever at the end of a phone if you need a chat,’ I tell my brother and he nods.

I plug my earphones in ready for the journey and soon enough I am walking on Greek soil once more and taking a taxi to the house. It’s a driver who I vaguely recognise from one of my previous visits.

‘It seems you can’t stay away, huh?’ He smiles through his rear-view mirror that has some rosary beads hanging from it.

‘It’s true. Do you live in Roda?’ I ask, thinking I have seen him around.

‘Nai. In the village.’ He smiles.

‘Then we will practically be neighbours. I have bought a house there,’ I tell him excitedly.

‘You buy a house! You must really like it here.’ He smiles. ‘Although, you know it is not the same in the winter. Many restaurants close,’ he informs me as we drive.

‘Don’t worry, I know all about that. I will be spending my summer holidays here, and occasional weekends, overseeing the building work. The villa I have bought needs renovating.’

‘I wish you good luck,’ he says cheerfully. ‘Do you have good builder?’ he asks.

‘Yes, a nephew of a friend I have made here. His name is Dimitri.’

‘Ah, nai, nai. Dimitri and Yiannis, they work very hard,’ he tells me, which is reassuring to know. It also makes me realise what a tight community it is as everyone seems to know each other. I can’t wait to get to know everyone a little more too.

Saying goodbye to the taxi driver, I settle in once more to my holiday apartment and have a quick shower and change. I’d received a message from Dimitri yesterday saying the removal of the roof had started, but even so when I arrive at the house I gasp in shock. There is just a stone square and a huge wooden structure above, surrounded by scaffolding. I arrive just as Dimitri is descending a ladder.

‘Kalimera.’

He smiles a dazzling smile and wipes his dusty hands on his black T-shirt before shaking mine.

‘I see you have the roof off. How’s it going then?’ I ask, hoping all is well.

It looks alarming but it’s reassuring to know that the work appears to have started in earnest.

‘Pretty good. Would you like to see?’

I follow him upstairs and as I turn to enter the bedroom, he pulls me gently back by the arm.

‘Please, do not step in there. At least not without a parachute.’ He pulls a face.

‘Wait, what?’ I cross the landing and as I open the door I find myself staring into a gaping hole where the floor once was and gazing down into the kitchen area.

‘The floor. It was no good. Rotten floorboards.’ Yiannis shakes his head.

‘What, every single floorboard?’

‘Almost all of it,’ says Dimitri. ‘The villa had been empty for a long time, there was lots of damp and some woodworm too.’

For a split second, I wonder whether I have employed cowboy builders, finding a problem with everything, ripping up floorboards and telling me there is woodworm, before pulling myself together. Dimitri is Thea’s nephew, for goodness’ sake, and didn’t the taxi driver just give him a glowing endorsement? All the same, he might have mentioned the rotten floor to me before ripping it all up.

‘And do not worry. The floorboards I buy very cheaply from a friend who has a timberyard. Would you prefer if I tell you everything we do when you are not here?’ Dimitri asks reasonably and probably noting my serious expression. ‘Also, I could not have known how bad it was, until we began working on it,’ he adds, which is a fair comment I guess.

‘No, really it’s fine. I understand that. Maybe just tell me how much things will cost as they crop up, so I can keep a running total.’

I don’t want him thinking I have unlimited funds, no matter how healthy my current bank balance is.

‘Of course. I promise you I am not, what do you say, a cowboy,’ he says, tapping into my thoughts. ‘The floorboards are the only extra cost at two hundred euros. Everything else is already included in the total quote I have given you,’ he reassures me.

‘Okay, great.’ I smile my brightest smile, embarrassed by the fact that he might think I find him unscrupulous. ‘I want this to be my dream home after all, so if anything needs doing, just let me know the cost. Anyway, I am here now so I can tell you exactly what I want.’

‘Good. Because I am here to give you exactly what you want,’ he tells me in a non-suggestive way, but even so I feel my stomach do a little flutter as he looks at me with those deep-brown eyes. He looks even more gorgeous than he did last time and those broad shoulders. Has he been working out more since the last time I was here?

Walking around downstairs, I point out things I would like, including a window seat that will look out over the rear garden. I imagine myself sitting reading inside, on the days when the weather is too hot to be outside.

I can hear Yiannis and the two young apprentice builders who have just arrived, whistling along to the sound of Greek music coming from the radio they have brought with them.

I sit with Yiannis and Dimitri, sketching out some ideas, before telling them about the wrought-iron balcony rail leading to the bedroom that I dream of, and they look at each other and smile.

‘What’s so amusing?’ I ask.

‘You know a stone wall may be more practical,’ suggests Dimitri. ‘It can be very rainy in the winter.’

‘And wind,’ adds Yiannis, doing a theatrical whirlwind impression. ‘From beach.’

‘Salty deposits from the sea may ruin your pretty balcony. It could even end up rusty. But, of course, it is your house.’ Dimitri shrugs.

‘Well, maybe it is just a romantic notion,’ I grudgingly admit. ‘But a stone wall is just so boring.’

‘It is your house, if that is what you want, you should have it,’ Dimitri concedes. ‘I am not a metal worker, but I know someone who is. Maybe you could visit his yard with me and look at some examples of his work and give him a sketch of your ideas?’

‘Sure, okay, that sounds like a good idea.’

I’m quickly learning that my own ideas of a house here, and what is actually practical, may be two different things, yet I yearn for a pretty holiday home near the sea.

Phoebe appears then at the front, with a huge melon cut into pieces on a platter. It’s almost noon and the sun is getting up fiercely in the bright-blue sky, so the melon is gratefully received by the men, who make short work of it.

‘And if they get tired. The ouzo,’ Phoebe advises with a wink. ‘One shot, to revive, no more.’

‘Thanks, Phoebe. Definitely no more. I don’t fancy managing a bunch of drunken builders,’ I say, and she laughs.

The lady across the road with the dark curls is outside once more, brandishing her brush and sweeping some fallen leaves from a tree. I wave over and she waves back.

‘Is she your friend?’ I ask Phoebe, noting there seems to be very little interaction with the women, even though they appear to be of a similar age.

‘No,’ she tells me flatly.

‘Did you fall out?’ I ask Phoebe, who says she needs the empty melon platter, before turning and heading back into the villa.

‘I tell you sometime,’ she says as I follow her, letting me know the subject is closed.

‘So tomorrow. You will be busy here?’ she asks.

‘Yes. I am kind of making sure everything is going okay, although I must admit I feel a bit like a spare part.’

‘A spare part of what?’

‘It’s just a saying. It means I feel a bit useless.’

‘Tomorrow it is Sunday, my granddaughter and her son, they come here. We drive out for a picnic to a nice park. Would you like to come?’ she offers.

‘That sounds really lovely, Phoebe, thanks.’

I’m sure my absence from the project won’t be felt for a few hours. Besides, is there anything more important than getting to know my new neighbours?

Phoebe heads inside then, glancing briefly at the lady across the road, who turns her back and walks into her house, and I wonder what has happened between them.

A few hours pass, and other than me brushing up and placing lots of wooden debris into a skip and nipping to a local shop for iced cold water, there isn’t an awful lot that I can do. Soon enough it’s time to pack up for the day.

‘Phoebe reminded me it is Sunday tomorrow so I take it you won’t be working?’ I say to Dimitri as the day draws to a close.

‘Normally, no, but I will be here in the morning with Yiannis,’ he reassures me.

‘Right. Well, Phoebe has invited me out for a picnic with her granddaughter, if that’s okay?’

‘Absolutely not,’ he says flatly. ‘You are the project manager, I believe is the title.’

‘But I’m sure you can manage, I—’

He bursts out laughing then. ‘I am joking. You are the boss. Have a nice time.’

‘Right, well, yes, thanks I will, although I will be here to check in. I hope it doesn’t rain.’ I glance up at the gaping hole in the roof, although the builders have already begun placing wooden slats across it.

‘It is May,’ says Dimitri, smiling as he heads to his van with Yiannis. ‘There should be no rain. And it is unusually warm,’ he reminds me.

He takes a wallet from his pocket and pays the two young labourers in cash, and they head off.

‘See you tomorrow, bright and early if you have time,’ says Dimitri, putting his sunglasses on and letting his hair loose from the band it was in. I feel almost guilty agreeing to go out with Phoebe and her granddaughter tomorrow, but at least I will be here for a little while, and I am paying them to do the job after all, I remind myself.

That night, I climb into bed exhausted after a shower, and smile at some photos Josh has sent me from Chester Zoo. Mum and Dad have beaming smiles on their faces, and I hope they have enjoyed a lovely day. It must be so nice for them having their son and grandson around to have a day out with, not something they can do on a regular basis given the distance between them. I sink into the bed with its freshly laundered white cotton sheets and I am soon out like a light.