Chapter 24
24
‘Have they stopped talking about us now, do you think?’ Molly asked, holding a doughnut ball on a wooden fork, chocolate sauce drizzling as she looked back over at the table their families were sitting at.
‘They… have wine,’ Christos said, also doing a reconnaissance of the table.
‘I think that’s a good thing,’ Molly said.
‘My sister is sitting with two girls and three guys I do not know. I do not think that is a good thing.’ He shook his head and bit into a doughnut.
‘No?’
‘She did not come home last night and I got the feeling she did not stay the night with any of her friends called Marilyn.’
‘Oh,’ Molly said. ‘And… that’s a problem here in Greece? For a young woman to go out and have fun and spend the night somewhere else other than their family home?’
She had put on a deliberately pious expression knowing he was going to look at her. He did and then he smiled and shook his head.
‘I live in this century, you know,’ Christos responded.
‘Really?’ Molly asked. ‘Because it almost sounded like you wanted to go over to that table and invite the men to duel in turn. I guess being overprotective runs in your family.’
‘My mother takes it to the extreme and, yes, perhaps I need to remember that my sister is not still seven years old.’
‘I’m sorry I mentioned the accident,’ Molly said, nibbling at her food.
‘It is OK,’ Christos said. ‘But, you know, overprotective mother, the possibility of mentioning her sister that she isn’t talking to.’
‘Well, you did invite Maria to the forty-day service,’ Molly said.
‘I know,’ he responded with a sigh. ‘And I will have to tell her but?—’
Suddenly the band, which was positioned in a trailer at one end of the small showground, started playing. It was guitars and another odd-looking stringed instrument and a belting-it-out singer. It was so loud Molly jumped and almost dropped her container of dough balls.
‘Let’s walk to the beach,’ Christos shouted over the music. ‘There will be less noise.’
She nodded.
‘I love this beach,’ Christos remarked as they strolled along the sand, finishing their food.
It was quieter here and the beach was beautiful. It wasn’t like the pebbles of the beaches in Kassiopi, it was pure golden sand under a dramatic hillside jutting out in the sea. There were few sun loungers and even fewer reed parasols, making it feel relaxed, private almost.
‘What are these flowers?’ Molly asked him.
Even in the near-dark you could see the white petals standing proud in clumps to be navigated if you wanted to get closer to the shore.
‘Sand lilies,’ Christos said. ‘You like them?’
‘I’ve never seen flowers on a beach before.’
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘But, things in places you don’t expect them to be are sometimes the best life surprises, no? Like… you being here on Corfu because of something you didn’t expect to inherit.’
‘That’s true,’ Molly agreed. ‘And like… you having honey stuck to your body right now.’
He laughed. ‘Also true.’
‘The patch has stayed on?’
‘Did you see the way she slapped it on and fixed it to me?’
‘I know but, you know, when you wash and?—’
‘Ah yes,’ Christos said. ‘Your promise to shower me.’
Now she was blushing, the heat of the night clinging thickly to her cheeks like poor, cheap foundation. ‘I don’t think I made that promise.’ She bit into a doughnut ball.
‘It was cemented with ouzo.’
Cement . Rock . Hard .
‘Cemented? Wow.’ She couldn’t think of anything else to say that wasn’t going to stick in her throat with this chocolate-infused dough…
Brain, stop now!
‘We could settle this another way,’ Christos suggested as they arrived at the shore, the sea rushing up and back in rhythm.
‘I don’t like where this is going. And, really, there is nothing to be settled. I made no promises,’ she reminded him.
‘We could swim. The salt water would be good for my injury.’
‘We?’ Molly said.
‘Swimming alone at night is not to be recommended and, what can I say? I am not at full strength.’
She shook her head, smiling at his intent.
‘And it is so hot tonight,’ he continued. ‘The hottest night we have had this summer, I think. The humidity in the air and on your skin… you could fry an egg on the rocks over there.’
‘OK,’ Molly said. ‘You are making the heat hotter talking about it.’
‘OK, you will swim?’
‘You are not meant to be getting the honey bandage wet and honestly I would rather play two truths and one lie than swim right now.’
‘Really! Great!’ Christos exclaimed. ‘Then we can do both.’
Before Molly could say anything else, he was already unbuttoning his shirt.