Chapter 2
She was lying in bed with her eyes closed when Ralph got home around midnight. After finishing her marking, she’d run a bath and soaked in lavender-scented water for a while, hoping it would make her sleepy.
Instead, to her annoyance, she’d remained wide awake, listening for the key in the lock.
Now she could hear Ralph as clear as day, talking nonsense to the dog in the kitchen in the silly sing-song voice he reserved specially for her.
‘Hey, bubba… Who’s a good little doggie, then…?’
He was obviously tipsy and she hoped he’d remember to put Dilly out in the garden for one last pee, then bring her back in and lock the door properly afterwards.
She heard his heavy steps coming upstairs and when he pushed open the bedroom door, the glare of the landing light made her flinch. Lumbering in, he caught his leg on the edge of the bed on his way to the bathroom.
‘Fuck me, that hurt!’
She had to suppress a giggle.
Soon, the bathroom lit up, too, and the bedroom, no longer soothing and peaceful, felt like the inside of an airport terminal. Ralph relieved himself loudly, sighed, then washed his hands and buzzed away with the electric toothbrush for what seemed like an age.
There was no way she could have slept through that, though he seemed surprised when she sat up and said hello.
‘I didn’t realise you were awake. Sorry. How was your day?’ he muttered, beginning to undress.
‘Fine, thanks. You?’
‘Yeah, same.’
She was about to ask about the golf but before she knew it, he’d chucked his clothes on the floor, climbed into bed and turned his back on her. Within minutes, his breathing became slow and ponderous.
Edie, of course, was more awake than ever now and rolled from one side to another and back again, trying to find a comfortable position. She wanted to tell Ralph about the Crete idea and the villa, but he was fast asleep and snoring. All right for some.
The bed felt too hot then too cold and her neck hurt, even when she plumped the pillow and rearranged it under her head. Her mind was soon preoccupied with problems which, by day, would scarcely trouble her, but now seemed insurmountable.
After about half an hour and unable to bear it any longer, she climbed out of bed and reached for her dressing gown, hanging on a peg on the back of the door. Ralph didn’t even stir as she left the room and padded back downstairs, forgetting to avoid the third step, which gave a loud creak.
Dilly was in her basket and squinted at Edie when she walked into the kitchen, but soon shut her eyes again as if to say: ‘What sort of time do you call this?’
‘Shh!’ Edie said involuntarily, as if the dog were causing a disturbance, not the other way round.
She made herself a mug of tea before tiptoeing into what used to be Ralph’s study, a small room just off the kitchen, later appropriated by Maisie and Ollie. Then she switched on the battered task lamp and woke up the family computer.
There were already quite a few new emails in her inbox, which she’d only checked a couple of hours ago. Most could wait till tomorrow, but one in particular caught her attention.
It was from Katerina Papadakis, the housekeeper who took bookings for Villa Ariadne. Edie quickly read to the bottom and breathed in sharply.
To her amazement and delight, the villa was not only free on the dates she wanted, it was also far less pricey than she’d feared.
‘Please can you advise me as soon as possible if you would like to make the booking and forward the deposit, using the details below,’ Mrs Papadakis wrote.
‘I hope you and your husband and friends will reap the benefits from all that Villa Ariadne has to offer. It is a most unusual and very special place, like nowhere you have ever been before.’
The wording was slightly odd, Edie thought, seeming to suggest they’d be in for something more than simple relaxation.
What did the housekeeper mean? She decided to put it down to language differences and was tempted to say yes straight away, but reminded herself she’d better check with the others first.
‘Dear Mrs Papadakis,
‘Thank you for replying so quickly,’ she wrote back. ‘I’ll speak to my husband and friends first thing tomorrow and get back to you by the end of the day.’
This way, she hoped the housekeeper would be persuaded to give her a chance and keep the booking on hold, at least for a short while, before passing it on to someone else.
After closing her inbox, Edie browsed the Web for a bit, looking for swimsuits and holiday wear. It was the wrong time of year, though, and nothing much caught her fancy. She soon grew bored. Best wait till nearer the time.
She resolved not to forward the villa’s rather old-fashioned website link to Hannah or Ralph, in case it put them off. She’d rather talk to them first and explain why she thought it was so perfect. She could be persuasive when she wanted.
Back in bed, Ralph was flat out on his back, making strange little moaning sounds. She gave him a gentle nudge and he rolled onto his tummy and went quiet.
As Edie’s breathing slowed and she finally began to drift off, she found herself thinking about Mrs Papadakis, trying to picture how she looked and sounded, and wondering what she’d made of Edie’s first message.
For some reason, Edie became convinced the housekeeper was thinking about her, too, that there was some sort of synchronism. She imagined she could see Mrs Papadakis sitting by herself on a wooden chair, gazing into the distance, reaching out and trying to make a connection.
Edie shook her head and told herself not to be silly. No doubt Katerina would be tucked up and dreaming by now. After all, Edie, Ralph and their friends meant nothing to her. They were just a bunch of potential clients. She’d have pushed the whole lot of them right to the back of her mind.
* * *
At lunchtime in the staffroom the following day, Edie received the news she’d been hoping for.
‘Villa Ariadne sounds ideal,’ she heard Hannah say on the phone. ‘I can’t believe the price! It’s much cheaper than I thought. I checked with Mac and he gave it the thumbs up, too. Let’s go for it.’
‘Great!’
Edie mentally punched the air. Having set her heart on Villa Ariadne, she’d been afraid either Hannah’s husband, Mac, or Ralph might veto the idea. Mac could be tricky at times.
He, Ralph and Hannah had met at university and when Edie started dating Ralph a couple of years later, they’d all become firm friends.
She thought back to their first ever holiday together, when they’d hired a barge to cruise up and down the Norfolk Broads. They must have been about twenty-three or -four and just starting out on their careers.
The barge was small, dark and cramped and it had rained most days but no one cared. Ralph and Edie, who’d met about six months before, were head over heels in love, while Mac and Hannah were already well-established and talking about saving up to buy a place together.
Edie could remember drinking cheap red wine below deck, while thunder crashed and lightning flashed around them and their sides hurt from laughing so much.
Back then, she’d thought Mac and Hannah the ideal couple, who balanced each other perfectly. He was funny, smart and creative, a dreamer with big ideas, while Hannah was the level-headed one who kept his feet on the ground.
She’d sometimes tease Mac for being impractical; for instance, when he’d suggested they buy a run-down lighthouse and convert it into a home. He’d seen it advertised for sale in a local newspaper he’d picked up when he’d gone to buy milk and bread.
‘You must be mad,’ Hannah had said with a laugh, when he’d returned to the barge. ‘I’m not living in the middle of nowhere. You’d definitely underestimate how much it would cost and we’d run out of money and it’d never get finished – and imagine all those stairs!’
‘It wouldn’t be great if you had children,’ Edie had agreed. ‘You’d spend all your time rushing them to A and E!’
Mac had groaned. ‘We could have it for a few years and really enjoy it.’ He’d looked to Ralph for backup. ‘It’d be fantastic for parties. We could always sell up if kids came along. Come on, you’ve got to enjoy the present; who wants to be sensible all the time? We’re only young once.’
There was something immensely appealing about his enthusiasm and Edie had no doubt if anyone could make a go of converting a lighthouse, it was him. He had great vision and was amazing with his hands. He’d make the place stunning.
But she could see Hannah’s point of view, too.
‘I wouldn’t fancy it myself,’ Edie had said. ‘I bet lighthouses are damp and a bit smelly.’
When Mac sighed, Ralph had affectionately ruffled his friend’s thick, dark hair.
‘Looks like you’re on a loser here, mate. Maybe buy a boat instead.’
‘You can have parties on that,’ Hannah had added, somewhat sarcastically, pointing to the rain slashing down outside the porthole window. ‘See how much fun we’re having! You don’t need to be in a lighthouse to experience nature in all its glory!’
Almost thirty years on from that holiday the four were still great friends, particularly Edie and Hannah, who happened to share the same birthday. They were godmothers to each other’s children, too.
Edie knew Mac and Hannah’s marriage wasn’t easy.
As the years had gone by, Hannah had increasingly complained about her husband’s moodiness, which Edie put down mostly to work stress.
Mac was a landscape gardener and was either on a high or a low, depending on how well his business was going. Rarely anything in between.
Another bone of contention was Hannah’s sociability. She loved nothing more than a big party or gathering, while Mac had become more introverted, preferring the company of one or two others or just his own. Hannah grumbled he was boring, while he accused her of being out all the time.
They also struggled with money, which undoubtedly put more strain on the relationship. His job was either feast or famine, more often the latter, or so it seemed to Edie.