Chapter 7
‘Here’s a cup of tea, lazybones.’
Edie opened her eyes and smiled gratefully.
‘Careful, it’s hot.’
Gingerly, Ralph placed a yellow pottery mug on the table beside her.
Propping herself up on an elbow, Edie took hold of the mug in her free hand and blew on it, making the steam disperse in all directions.
Ralph went over to the shutters and opened them wide before walking to the other side of the bed and sitting down.
They both stared in wonder at the sky, which was such a perfect, even shade of cornflower blue, it looked like a picture postcard. Edie couldn’t see the sea from where she was but Ralph could, when he straightened up and craned his neck.
‘It might be quite cold at this time of year but I’ll definitely go in,’ he commented. ‘It doesn’t look rough.’
He was dressed already, in a plain navy polo shirt and tan shorts. Edie noticed his broad shoulders and upper legs, which were quite strong and muscular, thanks to all the running.
She took a sip of tea and replaced the mug on the bedside table before flopping back on the pillows.
‘I was so tired yesterday.’
‘Me too,’ said Ralph.
Eyeing him cautiously, she imagined he might be a bit resentful about the fact she’d kind of led him on last night, only to give him the cold shoulder. To her surprise, however, he bent over and kissed her on the mouth.
‘Now come on, get up! Breakfast’s ready.’
‘I can’t,’ she said with a groan. ‘This bed’s too comfortable.’
She rolled over, burying her face in the pillow, and he smacked her playfully on the bare bottom.
‘Don’t!’ She laughed.
‘I’ll do it again unless you get a move on. The others are downstairs already. You’re the last one up.’
Edie’s heart sank slightly as she followed him down the stairs, through the hallway and into the kitchen. She’d managed to forget about Mac and Jessica overnight, but sensing their presence in the garden now brought everything back.
‘What sort of mood is Mac in?’ she whispered to Ralph, when he stopped for a moment to fetch a bottle of water from the fridge.
‘Fine. Shh! He’s right by the back door.’
‘Morning!’ Edie pinned a wide smile on her face before she stepped onto the patio.
Mac and Hannah were side by side at the table and Jessica sat opposite, nursing a mug of coffee. They all looked up when they heard Edie and smiled back.
‘How did you sleep?’ Hannah asked.
‘Like a log. You?’
‘Same. The bed’s so comfy and it was amazing waking up to that view.’
The table was laid and the food looked very tempting: there was a basket of crusty bread rolls, an assortment of jams and honey, thick Greek yoghurt, fruit, orange juice, a jug of frothy hot milk and a large, almost full cafetière.
No one had eaten yet; they must have been waiting for Edie.
‘Yum!’ she said, sitting down beside Jessica. ‘Who did all this?’
‘Your husband.’ Mac’s eyes were wide open. ‘We came down and it was all ready.’
‘Do you get this sort of treatment every morning?’ asked Hannah, pushing the cafetière in Edie’s direction; she knew how much her friend liked coffee.
‘I wish.’ Edie filled her mug to about the two-thirds mark and topped it up with hot milk. ‘To be fair, he does bring me a cup of tea in bed most mornings. I am lucky.’
Jessica remained silent while they ate, with an open novel face down on the table beside her. Edie noticed how precisely she prepared her bread roll, making sure there was a thin covering of butter and honey all over, and how neatly she ate, dabbing her mouth with a napkin after almost every bite.
‘Are you enjoying this?’ Edie asked, picking up the book and examining its title and cover. ‘I’ve heard it’s very good.’
‘Yes, very much.’ Jessica cleared her throat, as if she didn’t wish to pursue the conversation, and took a sip of orange juice.
There was no mistaking the message, so Edie quickly replaced the book and asked Hannah to pass her the basket of bread rolls. Perhaps Jessica preferred complete quiet at breakfast time, she thought. Maybe she normally read while eating. She must be accustomed to being alone, after all.
When they’d finished, Ralph and Mac offered to clear away while the women headed into the village. It was almost 10.30a.m. and, as Ralph pointed out, if they left it much later, they mightn’t want to go at all as it would be too hot.
‘You don’t need to buy any more clothes,’ he joked to Edie when she said goodbye. ‘You don’t wear half of them as it is.’
‘I told you, I’m not looking for clothes.’
‘Hm. I bet you come back with something.’
The women were a colourful-looking trio as they left the villa behind and headed down the mountain towards the village. Edie was wearing a pink shirt, blue shorts, sneakers and a baseball cap, wedged tightly over her curly hair.
Hannah was in a straw hat, sandals and the white dress she’d worn last night, while Jessica had sports gear on: black trainers, running shorts and an orange vest top. A longish plait hung over one shoulder.
The landscape looked different this morning with the sun rising higher by the minute. Wild orchids and blue pimpernel peeped through the vegetation on either side, which was so dense, it felt as if they were walking through a giant salad bowl.
Edie breathed in deeply, filling her nostrils with the scent of herbs, listening to the sound of birds chirruping in the nearby trees and goats bleating in the distance. The ground underfoot was rocky and a bit slippery in places so she couldn’t totally switch off; she had to watch her step.
‘Are you all right in sandals?’ she asked Hannah, who needed to stop every now and again to retrieve a stone from her shoe.
‘I’m OK for now, thanks. They were a bit of a silly choice, though. I’ll definitely wear trainers next time.’
Katerina’s neighbour, Eleni Manousaki, was outside her tumbledown cottage hanging out today’s washing when they passed.
Dressed all in black and bent almost double, she had numerous lines criss-crossing her face and wrinkles so deep, they seemed to mimic the Cretan landscape with its cavernous valleys and gorges.
Despite her age and evident infirmities, she heard the visitors approaching and turned to give them a friendly smile, revealing rows of stumpy black teeth.
‘ Kalimera! ’ Hannah said. ‘Good morning!’ It was one of the few words she and Edie had learned before arriving in Crete.
The old woman’s black eyes, almost buried beneath folds of tanned, crepey skin, twinkled with pleasure.
‘ Kalimera ,’ she replied, bobbing her head in acknowledgement.
They were about to move on when she held up an arthritic hand, gesturing for them to wait. Edie and Hannah glanced at each other when she disappeared into her cottage, only to bustle out a few moments later with a basket of ripe, golden apricots.
Proffering the goods, she muttered a few words in Greek and nodded her head vigorously. Edie put a hand in the basket and looked tentatively at the old woman, unsure if this was what she was meant to do.
Eleni nodded several times again – ‘Nai, nai!’ – and pushed the basket closer.
Feeling more confident, Edie chose a plump apricot with soft, slightly furry skin, and said thank you. Then the old woman proceeded to shove the basket towards the others, who did the same.
‘Thank you,’ they all repeated once more, this time in Greek, taking Hannah’s lead: ‘ Efcharistó .’
The old woman laughed and grinned, as if she’d never heard a foreigner try to speak her language before. She was so endearing and friendly, like everyone’s favourite grannie, Edie wanted to give her a hug, but decided against it on the grounds it might not be the ‘done thing’.
Instead, she bobbed her head and beamed and sniffed the apricot while making appreciative noises. ‘Mm… yum!’
This seemed to tickle Eleni enormously, who giggled like a teenager. They could still hear her laughing when they turned their backs and walked some little way along the track, munching on the fruit, which was sweet and delicious.
‘Well, we’ve certainly made a hit with one of the locals,’ Hannah commented, throwing her apricot stone into the bushes and wiping her mouth with the back of a hand.
Edie licked her sticky fingers, one by one.
‘She was so lovely, I wanted to take her home with me,’ she said when she’d finished.
Hannah laughed. ‘I think her black teeth might upset you after a while. You’d have to get her some sparkling falsies.’
Before long, they came to a set of rough wooden beehive boxes, stacked one on top of another on a stony plateau.
Painted in vivid, primary colours with metal catches on the front, they looked very jolly, like jack-in-the-boxes.
Edie paused briefly to take a photo. ‘I expect that’s where our breakfast honey came from. They say Cretan honey’s the best in the world.’
‘I’m afraid I went a bit mad with it this morning and slathered it on,’ said Hannah. ‘Not good for the waistline.’
Jessica, who’d been very quiet up to now, paused and took a swig of water from the bottle in her small, neat backpack.
‘Want some?’ she asked Edie and Hannah, replacing the bottle before they had a chance to reply.
‘Er, no thanks.’ Edie watched Jessica buckle up her bag and swing it over her shoulders. She looked quite the professional hiker, all set for a demanding twenty-mile trek. The only item she lacked was walking poles.
‘Come on,’ she said, marching ahead. Hannah broke into a trot to catch up but Edie stayed behind, content to lose herself in her own thoughts.
As she walked, she found herself thinking about her children, whom she loved more than life itself, and felt truly grateful they were doing well. Also Ralph, who was being kinder and more gentle than usual. She realised she felt just a little bit lighter.
There was no way she’d let Mac and Hannah’s rows or Jessica and Mac’s animosity towards each other spoil things. This holiday was precious and she was determined to make the most of it.