Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
G race had managed to avoid Will for almost three whole days, despite the numerous messages he’d sent, asking her to come over and visit Karen. He’d also supplied her with plenty of videos of the cat and she was pleased to see that his animal husbandry skills seemed sufficient to at least keep Karen alive. His hands appeared in most of the videos, stroking Karen, picking her up or teasing her with a toy, but she blanked those bits out, expanding the moving pictures so that she could only see the cat. Thinking about his hands and what they could do wouldn’t help her at all.
His frantic texts after their night at the beach had finally forced her to send a short reply letting him know she was OK but very busy. He knew where she lived, and she didn’t want him turning up on her doorstep. A bit of distance would do them both good.
Work and entertaining Sofia had genuinely kept Grace at full stretch, plus they’d had their promised night out with Angeliki, which included plenty of drink and laughter. Sofia had clearly made the most of her time in the four-poster with Adonis and was planning a rematch in September. Not that Grace would be around then to hear about it first-hand. But she’d made Sofia promise not to let on to Angeliki, or anyone, about what had happened with Will, and, as far as she could tell, her friend had kept her word.
Sofia had flown out this afternoon, and Grace was now ready to face Will at last and try and put their relationship firmly back in the friend zone. His holiday would be over soon, and he’d be working at the villa during the day, so Karen would need someone to pop in and keep an eye on her. Grace planned to offer her services. Will being out at work was greatly preferable to Will being there all the time, and she was genuinely keen to spend some time with the cat before she left.
The fact that she only had just over a fortnight more on the island wasn’t something she could even think about.
Will’s house came into view as she dropped down from the headland onto the familiar path to the cove. She hadn’t ventured this way since the fateful night; she’d taken Sofia to a beach much nearer town. Sea grasses crunched underfoot on the sand path, filling her nostrils with the all too familiar salt tang. The smell of Will. It was vital that she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, no looking down at the beach. She could do this.
There he was, larger than life, waving from the terrace. She tried out a jaunty ‘we’re just friends, nothing to see here’ wave back.
‘Grace!’
‘Hi.’
He was holding Karen in his arms, looking like some sort of adoption ad where they were deliberately trying to move away from the image of middle-aged women and cats and going instead for shots of a hunky guy cradling a tiny, vulnerable kitten. It wasn’t going to work on her. She couldn’t let it.
Grace focused on Karen, so she didn’t have to look at him.
‘She’s grown again, in less than a week.’
‘Yes, she has. Even I can see it.’
Will indicated the sun lounger by his side.
‘Coffee?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘While I make it, can you hold Karen? I’m still a bit wary of letting her run around outside on her own.’
Grace nodded. It was like they were talking about a toddler they were looking after, maybe a grandchild. She had a sudden vision of them watching a little boy with dark unruly hair running around the terrace and blinked hard to get rid of it. She settled herself on the chair and waited for Will to put the kitten in her lap. Their fingers touched as he transferred his little bundle of fur to her, but she still didn’t look up.
Karen stared at her with solemn green eyes, and Grace tentatively stroked the top of her head and down her back all the way to her tail. The cat was silent for a few moments, but Grace’s heart leapt when she heard the telltale purr.
‘Yes, sweetheart, you haven’t forgotten me, have you? Sorry I haven’t seen you for a few days, but I’ve had a lot on, and I haven’t been able to come over here, much as I wanted to. But I’ll make it up to you, I promise.’
When she looked up, Will was stood with two cups of coffee in his hands, a plate of biscuits balanced on top of one of them, and a big grin on his face. How had he snuck up on her like that? Did he have some sort of special shoes from his army days that made no noise?
‘Are you going to make it up to me, too? I’ve got a few ideas on how.’
Grace pretended she hadn’t heard him speak and reached for one of the coffees that Will seemed reluctant to hand over. He pulled it out of her reach.
‘Can you drink this and hang onto Karen at the same time, or shall I put her inside for a minute?’
‘I’m perfectly capable of doing two things at once, and not covering the cat with boiling coffee, honest.’
‘I’m sure you are. You’re a very versatile woman.’
The way he said ‘versatile’ with a tiny lift of the eyebrows made her squirm in her seat. She’d have to get the ‘we’re only ever going to be friends’ conversation on track as soon as possible.
Grace settled Karen at her side and took a long slurp of freshly ground coffee. Will proffered the plate.
‘Biscuit? They’re homemade.’
She’d never had Will down as a baker, so it was probably one of his many women friends who’d brought them over.
‘And before you ask, yes, I did make them myself. There’s not been much else to do these past few days. All the books say you should spend as much time as you can with an animal in the period straight after you adopt them. So apart from the odd swim’—Will looked ahead to the beach, while Grace kept her eyes firmly on Karen—‘cooking and reading have been my only distractions.’
‘Couldn’t you ask a friend to come over and keep you company?’
As soon as she’d said it, Grace wished she hadn’t. She’d stressed the word ‘friend’ a little too heavily.
Will’s eyes crinkled into a smile.
‘I did, but she was far too busy to spare any time for little old me or our cat.’
‘I did explain how busy I was… My best friend arrived without warning, and I’m still teaching private lessons.’
Will reached across from his seat. Grace thought he was about to touch her, but instead he stroked the cat, who purred instantly under his fingers. Lucky cat was Grace’s first thought, which she pushed to the back of her mind.
‘It’s just that we missed her, this friend, didn’t we, little one?’
They really needed to get this on a different footing. Will was straight out flirting with her. She couldn’t afford to respond. There was no future in it. She was probably one of many women he flirted with. The night on the beach had been a one-off, to be treasured, taken out of her memory trunk and pored over like a family heirloom now and then, but never repeated.
The thought of Celine’s over-tanned body entwined with Will’s in his big bed a few feet away stiffened her resolve. She wasn’t going to lower herself to ask him if what the woman had said was true. It was none of her business.
‘You’re back at work next week, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘I was going to offer to look after Karen during the day in my breaks, so she had someone with her. My busy period’s over, and I don’t have many lessons in the fortnight before I go back to England. Most of them are in the evenings anyway, so I can be here when you’re not.’
His brown eyes bored into hers.
‘You’re only on the island for another two weeks? I didn’t realise you were leaving so soon.’
Was that all he’d taken away from what she’d just said? He hadn’t even responded to her suggestion that she come and see Karen.
‘I’m sure I mentioned it, but yes, my contract will be up then.’
Will’s hand on hers forced her to look at him.
‘Grace… We really need to talk about the other night.’
She couldn’t do this. Not now.
‘No, we really don’t. It was fun, but we’re both adults who’ve been around the block a few times.’
Why was she talking in terrible clichés?
‘Fun? That’s what you’re calling it?’
Will tore his hand away from hers.
‘It was a hell of a lot more than that, and you know it. You’re just too scared to admit it.’
She’d certainly got him rattled. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides.
‘I’m not in any position…’
Wrong word to use. It brought back a memory of them locking eyes while he was still inside her. Having him so close again had her rattled too. It was tempting to throw caution to the wind and suggest they went upstairs and bonked each other’s brains out. It might get him out of her system. But she wasn’t Sophia. For better or worse, Grace Foreman didn’t behave like that. Or not more than once. Her Oxfordshire cottage and the single life she’d carefully created there beckoned.
Will was part of her Greek adventure, a moment out of time. He wasn’t her reality. She needed to make the situation clear.
‘I’m really not able to be anything other than friends with you.’
Will stood and gathered up the cups.
‘OK, Grace, have it your own way.’
Before he went back into the house, he bent low over her head and whispered in her ear.
‘Don’t think that night on the beach was a typical night for me. I swear I’ve never experienced anything like that before in my life.’
Grace lay stock still for a moment on the sun lounger. She reached down to give Karen a stroke and tried to regulate her breathing.
When Will returned, he’d lost the promise in his eyes, which Grace convinced herself was a good thing.
‘Do you want to come and check out where Karen sleeps and talk about where everything is? I can show you where I keep the spare key to let yourself in when I’m working.’
He could have been talking to the cat sitter. So that was how it was going to be. Well, she’d insisted on the ‘let’s just be friends’ vibe. He was a proud man, and she couldn’t have it both ways, but it was a hollow victory.
‘Great.’
After some intense discussion on where and when Karen should be fed, and a look at her new cat bowls and bed, Grace couldn’t bear much more. It was like a veil had come down over Will’s eyes. The friendly banter they’d shared, let alone the private things they’d told each other, seemed way out of reach. Hopefully they could get back some of the friendship she valued so much before she left for good. She accepted a small glass of wine on the terrace, and a chance to play with Karen, but there was precious little talking.
Dusk would fall soon; way earlier than it had when Grace first arrived on the island. The seasons were nowhere near as distinct as they were in Britain, but she’d heard from Angeliki that autumn was one of the best times on the island. The tourists were mainly gone, the sea still warm and the beaches empty. It was time for the locals to relax and let their hair down. It sounded lovely. Maybe she could come back for a holiday in October.
Grace looked up at the darkening sky. If she was walking back, she needed to go now. A walk would clear her head as well. The afternoon hadn’t exactly been what she’d describe as a success. She stood up and passed the kitten to Will.
‘I’d better be off then.’
‘Right.’
Will held Karen up towards the sky, brought her down again and kissed her on the nose.
‘Hang on…’
Grace was surprised to see him carefully put the cat inside the house and lock the door behind him. In the last couple of hours, he’d given her the impression she was the last person he’d want to spend time with.
‘I’ll come with you. I fancy a walk. And I always have a little scout around the villa before I turn in for the night.’
‘But you’re on holiday.’
‘What can I say? Old habits die hard. My employers are back from holiday at the weekend, so I like to make sure they’re coming back to the same place they left behind. I trust Maria the housekeeper totally, but the gardener needs keeping an eye on. He has a tendency to do a sketchy job and bugger off early.’
‘Very…’
‘You want to say “control freaky”, don’t you?’
She’d almost got a smile out of him. The first genuine one since she’d mentioned just being friends.
‘Not at all. I was going to say dedicated.’
‘I believe you. Thousands wouldn’t.’
It was something that Phil used to say regularly. She mustn’t get flustered. It was a common saying.
‘Isn’t your deputy in charge of things while you’re away?’
‘He’s still with the family at their holiday home. But we’ve got Achilles and Andreas, the night security guards, keeping watch in turn at the villa.’
Grace laughed into the cooling air.
‘They sound like a puppet act, or a pop duo. Coming to you all the way from Greece… Give it up for Achilles and Andreas.’
‘Amusing.’
At least their conversation was getting back to something approaching normal. It would take a while, but she was determined to get there.
Will gestured for her to go ahead of him.
‘After you, madam. Remember we’re going via the villa. I’ll come all the way back with you to yours afterwards.’
‘Aye, aye, captain.’
They walked in single file until they reached the path for the town beach and further on until the whitewashed villa loomed large in front of them. The thick brick walls around the property reminded Grace of the day she’d met Will, trying to clamber over the top to get to the beach. They’d been through a lot since then. They’d told each other things that no one else knew, and they’d faced up to grief and found joy together. Grace stopped herself thinking about the joy. Will was staring up at the windows.
‘That’s odd.’
‘What?’
‘There’s a light on up there. Maria would have gone home hours ago. Maybe she forgot to switch it off, but it’s unlike her.’
He took a bunch of keys out of his pocket.
‘Mind if I have a quick look? You wait here just in case there’s a problem.’
‘Go ahead.’
Will unlocked the gate and disappeared into the garden. There was no way she was going to wait where she was told if there was a problem. She might be able to help.