Chapter Eighteen
Blane had the coffee ready by the time Bea came downstairs on Sunday morning. She came to him, rested her hand in the middle of his chest, and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“Thank you. I’m ready if you want to go.”
He handed her a mug. “It’s okay. There’s no big rush. Drink your coffee. Want to sit outside with it?”
She closed her eyes as she took a sip. “That’s all right. I don’t want to hold us up. It’s bad enough that I’ve slowed you down from running to walking so that I can come with you.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “You haven’t slowed me down, Bea. I chose walking over running because I’d rather be with you.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “You’re awfully sweet for a man who’s supposed to be more like a granite cliff, you know.”
That made him smile. “I’m not trying to be sweet. Just telling you how it is for me. And come on, while we’re talking about it, we may as well go sit on the bench and see how our village looks this morning.”
Her gaze flickered toward his, but he just shrugged.
Our village? Dumb thing to say, it might be hers, but it wasn’t his—no matter how natural the words had felt.
He gestured for her to go out first, and once they were sitting side by side on the stone bench, on the cushions that really did make it more comfortable, he put his idea to her.
“Listen, I was thinking about not walking this morning.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Of course; you should run if you want to.”
“Slow down, Bea. That’s not what I meant. I was thinking we could go for a drive instead.”
“Oh. Okay. That sounds lovely. Where would you like to go?”
“It’s not about where we go.” He hesitated, not sure if he should even suggest it, but decided he had to. “It’s about who’s driving.”
She lowered her mug. “Oh. You want me to drive?”
“Only if you want to. I thought while it’s early on a Sunday morning, there won’t be much traffic on the roads. Could be a good chance for you to get used to them.”
She took another sip of her coffee before nodding slowly.
“That’s actually a rather good idea, isn’t it?
” Some of the tension left his shoulders when she turned to smile at him.
“Yes, please. I think it’s a very good idea.
” She gave him a sheepish smile. “Especially after that little performance on Friday afternoon—I was so stupid.”
“Hey. Don’t say that. Nobody gets to call you stupid. Not even you. It’s like I said at the time—you just have to train your instincts. And you can only train by doing. So, what do you say? After coffee, we get in the SUV and go?”
“Just go? Not go somewhere?”
“Yeah. We can follow the road instead of following a map. Figure it’ll be easier that way. There’s no pressure to get someplace in particular.”
She let out a short laugh. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Fifteen minutes later, Bea locked the house behind them and Blane noted the way she checked the door after she took out the key.
She hadn’t said anything else about the guy in the lane, but she’d seemed extra cautious since then.
And of course, so was he. He unlocked the SUV and opened the driver’s door for her.
“Thank you. That’s very sweet.” She took the car keys from his hand. “It’s not a driving lesson, though, you know. I’ve been driving for forty years. It’s just…”
“Never said it was. I’m not here to show you how the pedals and levers work. I came around to pull the seat up for you.”
She looked at the seat, which was pushed as far back as it could go. He’d had to ram the damn thing all the way back so he could drive without his knees jammed under the steering wheel.
Bea climbed in and managed to wrestle it forward herself. He couldn’t help laughing at the look she gave him when she was done.
“Now run around to the other side like a good little passenger, would you please?”
“Fair enough.”
She started the engine and turned them around without a problem, but when she reached the open gateway, she stopped and looked at him before pulling out onto the road.
He cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
“Where do you want me to go?”
He met her gaze and held it. “I want the same as I always do, Bea. I want you to do whatever the hell you want. I’m just along for the ride.”
She closed her eyes briefly, then reached across to touch his arm. “Thank you.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for. This is what you said you were going to do before I came into the picture. You wanted to get used to the roads. Now you can. You just don’t have to do it all by yourself.”
She nodded, then pulled out through the gateway and drove them down the steep, winding road toward the bakery. When they reached the main road, she indicated to turn left, but didn’t pull out even though there was no traffic. He figured he knew what was going on, but he waited.
She laughed nervously. “I haven’t forgotten how to go. I’m just working out… When I turn left, I need to cross over and take the far side, don’t I?”
“You do. There’s a good way to remember it. No matter where we’re going, you should be in the middle of the road, and I should be closest to the shoulder.”
She turned to smile at him. “The shoulder?”
He frowned. “You know. Edge of the road. Place where people walk.”
“Oh. You mean the pavement.”
He smiled through pursed lips. “Guess in your language I do.”
“Okay, then.”
She pulled out onto the main road and put the sun visor down. “Perhaps we should have gone the other way.”
“Yeah. Sun’s low enough this early that it’ll come right into your eyes. Next chance you get, try a right turn, then another. Put the sun at our backs.”
She nodded but kept her attention on the road. “Oh, look at that. There’s a right turn coming up. And I think I remember taking that when we headed down to the southern beaches.”
She indicated, and since there were no other vehicles around, made the turn without hesitating.
There was nothing coming, so Blane gave it a beat, waiting to see if she’d clock what had happened.
Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “Oh, dear.”
He didn’t comment but smiled as she steered back over to the correct side of the road.
“That was a very useful little tip,” she said in a shaky voice. “I thought I was doing all right, but then I realized I was next to the pavement, and you were in the middle of the road.”
“Good job.”
She shot him a look. “Only because there wasn’t someone coming the other way. My goodness, Blane!”
“Don’t beat yourself up for it. If there’d been someone coming, you wouldn’t have been able to get on that side of the road, would you?”
She let out a short laugh. “No. I suppose not.” She glanced at him again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d figure it out for yourself.”
She didn’t say anything for a little while. Then she shot him another look, and he couldn’t quite read the expression on her face.
“Thank you.”
She got the hang of it quickly after that, navigating another right turn and then slowing as they passed through a village where she had to negotiate parked cars, pedestrians, and a motorcycle.
Once they were out in open countryside again, Blane started to relax.
“Are you all right over there?” she asked.
“I am. I’m doing great. It’s a joyride for me.”
“I would have thought it was more of a white-knuckle ride.”
“You’re doing fine. It’s like you said—you know how to drive.
You just need to get used to doing it over here, I bet you’ll be surprised how quickly it comes.
But it’ll only come with practice.” He glanced over at her.
“If you want, we can practice a little every day.” He stopped short when it hit him that there weren’t that many days left.
He heard her inhale sharply, no doubt realizing the same thing he had. All she said was, “Yes, please. I’d like that.”
After that they drove in silence for a while, and as Bea grew more confident, Blane allowed himself to look out the window more.
He hadn’t known what to expect of Crete, but so far it had lived up to the description he’d read of it as its own tiny continent.
They’d seen the sea to the north and the south, and the lush valley around the village.
Here, as they headed farther south, the land was different again.
The olive-grove-covered hillsides had given way to drier, scrub-covered slopes and rockier terrain, with mountains rising beyond.
~ ~ ~
By the time they made it back to the house, Bea was feeling much more confident.
She knew Blane was right and that she’d have to practice, but she was less nervous about it now that she’d actually done it.
She shook her head as she took the orange juice from the fridge.
She’d practice with Blane every day, as he’d offered, but that still didn’t mean she’d get much practice—there weren’t enough days left.
Blane looked over from where he was chopping tomatoes at the counter. “You okay? That was a big sigh.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize I sighed. I’m fine. What do you think? Should we eat at the table outside?”
“Sure.” Blane tossed the tomatoes into a bowl he’d already filled with lettuce, cucumber, and feta.
They’d wondered about stopping for lunch while they were out on their drive but had decided against it. Bea hoped he didn’t mind. With the way time was ticking down, she was starting to feel quite greedy about having him here in the house with her while she could.
While he finished preparing lunch, slicing some bread, and setting out cheese and olives to go with the salad, Bea laid the table outside. It was much cooler this afternoon, with the first real gray sky they’d seen since they arrived, but it was still pleasant and warm enough to sit out to eat.