Chapter 14
An hour later after I’d walked along the shore, trying to make sense of my world, I headed home, not able to put it off any longer.
Makis was sitting at the table on the patio, a mug in one hand and his phone in the other.
As he raised his head and noticed me, I was greeted with a broad smile, along with a raised hand.
His open-fronted shirt showed a smattering of dark curly hair, above sculptured abs that Chris Hemsworth would have been proud of.
Facially, he looked so much like his brother that at one point I caught my breath.
As I got closer, I realised that their body shapes were dissimilar, Makis broader across his shoulders and more muscly.
Demetri always used to say that he didn’t have time to spend hours in a gym and that rushing around a busy A&E department kept him fit.
Whereas Makis – and I was very probably making an assumption – struck me as the sort of person that might spend hours looking at himself in gym mirrors, flexing his biceps.
His eyes never left me as I walked towards the table and chairs.
I temporarily lowered my head because looking into his eyes felt almost dangerous.
It was just like looking into Demetri’s eyes.
Dark, endless pools that I could get lost in.
I told myself to remember that this was not Demetri.
That he was gone from my life. That this was his little brother, just passing by.
Trying hard not to stare, I took a deep breath and smiled back.
He invited me to sit, offering to make me a drink.
I raised an eyebrow, finding it a little bizarre how it was like he was welcoming me back to my own home, but when he returned with two steaming mugs he immediately apologised for that.
‘I just wanted to do something to thank you for allowing me to rest in your spare room. It is very generous of you, especially when you have only just met me,’ he explained. ‘I’m sorry if I have taken liberties.’
He must have seen my feelings written all over my face and felt a little guilty.
‘No, it’s fine,’ I replied, waving away my thoughts into thin air.
‘So, Michelle, tell me all about how you met my brother, but more than that, why I feel there is something that you are not telling me? And why is he not here?’
I explained how we met and had spent the last few months together, but when I got to the part about how we’d arrived at the position we had, he shook his head in disbelief.
‘Why has he been so stupid in going back to Greece when he has you here? I would certainly not be throwing away something so special. This is not making sense to me. Unless’ – he scratched his chin – ‘there is another reason that he’s not telling us.’
I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to admit that I’d found deciphering it all out puzzling too.
At first I’d thought that Demetri might go back to visit only, but he felt that he had to make such a permanent decision.
He said that after talking to his mother’s doctor, they seemed to think that it was a long-term thing and that since her stroke she would need a lot of looking after for a good while.
However, talking to Makis about it and his subtle insinuations made me think that there might be another reason as to why he was so keen to relocate back to his little Greek island.
There was still a niggling feeling I had in my stomach and for some reason I felt uncomfortable when I thought about this Katrina that seemed to be entangled with his family.
I made a mental note to ask Makis more about her when the opportunity arose and when it wouldn’t make me look like a jealous teenager, even though that’s how I felt.
‘Anyway, enough about my idiot brother. Tell me more about you, Michelle. What do you do with your time here in Cornwall?’
When I told Makis about my newly launched business, and how it was growing beyond my wildest dreams, his face lit up.
It was so nice to see how interested he was.
Despite the fact Demetri always tried to show willing, trying to grasp what I was talking about when I told him of my work, he often struggled as he didn’t understand.
It just wasn’t his thing. He was a man of facts and scientific evidence.
He wasn’t a creative soul in any way. He didn’t use social media, didn’t stay up to date with anything regarding public relations, and he didn’t know any of the marketing jargon that went with it.
Yet Makis sat forward on his chair, as if he was taking in my every word.
‘You come alive when you talk about all of this, Michelle. I can totally understand why you didn’t want to give it all up to go and live a dull existence on a lonely little Greek island.
It is clearly your passion.’ Nobody had ever said this to me before.
Until Demetri, I’d never had anyone that cared about me, let alone about my job.
Realising that I had spent far too much time talking about myself, it dawned on me that I had no idea what Makis did.
If he was travelling, did he even have a job?
‘Ah, well, you know, a bit of this and a bit of that,’ he replied after I voiced the question.
‘I have my fingers in a lot of pies, as my brother always used to say. But I say that I’m an entrepreneur.
I help businesses to expand and develop their ideas.
Maybe I could help you while I am here as a way to pay you back for your kindness? ’
It would be interesting to get another view from a business-minded person on whether my expansion plan was feasible or not, but it would be good to know what his plans were.
‘I would like that. And I hope you don’t mind me asking but how long are you intending to stick around for, Makis? Now that Demetri isn’t here in Sandpiper Shore, what will you do?’
It seemed rude to ask – and I didn’t want to get rid of him when he’d only just arrived – but I had no idea what his plans were now, and as Jo and Emma reminded me frequently, I wasn’t one to hold back pussyfooting around someone when I wanted an answer.
I’d always been direct and felt that it had stood me in good stead throughout life.
‘To be honest, I’m not sure. As long as I have my laptop and an internet connection, I can work from anywhere in the world. This is why it’s been no issue for me to be travelling. I recently spent some time in Hong Kong and Thailand. I love the variety that travelling around the world brings me.’
‘Do you travel alone?’ I asked. Presumably if he was such a seasoned traveller, there wasn’t a wife or partner in the background.
‘Ah yes, I’m a bit of a loner you could say.
I’m happy with my own company, although I find it very easy to meet new people and make friends.
I should probably see if there is anywhere local I could stay.
I like what I’ve seen so far in Sandpiper Shore.
’ I couldn’t help but feel that for a split second his eyes travelled over me a little more than they should, but I may have imagined it.
He continued. ‘I feel calm and tranquil here already, and it might be nice to stay in one place for a while. I’ve been travelling so much lately that I feel like I should just try to take some time to reset.
Would you mind if I made some calls for an hour or so?
I need to speak to Demetri again and find out how Mama is. ’
‘Of course not. Please take as much time as you need. If you want to make some private calls, use the guest bedroom. There’s a dressing table that you could use as a desk if you’d like to.’
‘You are very kind, Michelle. I can see why my brother fell in love with you. What I can’t see is why he left you behind.’ To my surprise, he stood, approached me, bent down to kiss my cheek and walked into the house, muttering under his breath, ‘He’s a fool!’
Staring after him, I wondered how things might have been different had I met Makis instead of Demetri. Whether we’d have been compatible. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t attracted to his looks because I was. And so far he’d been nothing but super charming.
No good ever came from what ifs. They don’t change anything – they only pull us back, not letting us live in the present.
Pulling myself together, I dropped Karen at the boutique B&B a text.
Hi Karen, hope you’re well. I’ve had a surprise visitor and they’re looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights. I know you said you’re booked up but is there anywhere else you know of that might have availability?
Her message came back promptly with a string of laughing emojis.
Good luck with that my friend. Getting a room within Sandpiper Shore or the surrounding towns for the next few weeks is near on impossible. I can let you know if I have any cancellations but I’m afraid that’s the best I can do right now.
Sending her a thumbs-up emoji back, I could only hope that Makis had better luck.
If not, maybe he wasn’t meant to stay. It’s not like he had any reason to be here.
Demetri would have been his reason but not any more.
Surely he’d want to go back to Greece if his mother was on death’s door.
There was nothing for him here in Sandpiper Shore.