Chapter 16
As they left the café, Ralph broke the news to Edie that he’d booked a restaurant for tonight for just the two of them.
‘Let’s head back to the villa. I’ll tell you more later.’
‘What about Mac?’ Edie asked.
‘It’s OK,’ Mac reassured her as he walked alongside them. ‘I’m going to laze by the sea. I’ll probably hang out there till suppertime and eat in a taverna. I’ll be fine.’
They were about to part ways when Edie spotted Anthea strolling up the beach towards them. She looked pretty amazing in a bright pink bikini, with her long red hair hanging loose over her shoulders.
On recognising Edie, she waved enthusiastically, as if they were long-lost friends.
‘It’s so nice to see you! How are you?’ she asked, once she was close enough. ‘I was just going to the supermarket to get a cold drink. I’ve got the day off, so I’m topping up my tan. Bliss!’
Edie introduced Anthea to Ralph and Mac before explaining they were leaving for the UK tomorrow.
‘Och, that’s a shame. I was just getting to know you,’ said Anthea. ‘I heard about your other friend going missing. That must have been horrible for you. I’m so glad she turned up.’
‘Thanks,’ said Edie, before suggesting they exchange email addresses and phone numbers.
‘Come and see us in Surrey, if you’re ever in the area. I’d love to show you some of the local sights.’
‘And you have to book a holiday here again next year,’ Anthea replied.
Mac glanced at the beach behind her, which was fairly full, and said he hoped he’d be able to find a spot for his towel.
‘You can sit next to me,’ Anthea offered. ‘I can make room.’
If he was at all put off by her big lips and permanently surprised expression, he didn’t show it. In fact, he seemed very pleased with the suggestion.
‘That’d be great. Thanks. Yes.’
Anthea’s eyes lit up and she nodded in the direction of the mini-mart. ‘Let’s grab a cold drink first.’
Edie and Ralph watched with interest while the pair headed off, side by side.
‘Maybe this could be the start of a grand new romance,’ Edie said with a grin.
Ralph frowned. ‘Steady on. Mac’s not even properly left Hannah yet. And I’m not sure he goes for big lips and eyelashes and all that stuff.’
‘Well, he seemed very happy when she asked him to join her. You never know.’
As they ambled back up the hill, the subject returned to tonight’s plans.
‘Where’s the restaurant?’ Edie asked, but Ralph went all mysterious and wouldn’t tell her.
‘It’s a surprise.’
Fortunately, there was no sign of Jessica or Hannah at the villa and after a quick, scrappy lunch, he told Edie to get ready. ‘And bring a cardigan or something warm. We’ll be on a boat for some of the journey.’
‘How long will it take?’ Edie pressed.
‘Ooh, a couple of hours.’
This only made her more curious. Wherever he was taking her was quite far away. What on earth was he up to?
It seemed he’d got everything arranged and she was wearing her favourite, strappy red frock when they strolled down to the harbour, where a private boat was already waiting for them, complete with cold drinks.
Edie sipped on some white wine while they made the fifteen-minute trip to Chora Sfakion, then they hopped straight in a taxi and headed up into the mountains.
By now, it was about 4.30p.m. and Edie still had no idea what was up. After about an hour, however, she began to see road signs for a place she recognised and the penny started to drop.
‘Rethymno,’ she said, pointing to one of the signs. ‘We went there on our honeymoon, didn’t we?’
Ralph gave an enigmatic little smile. ‘We might have.’
‘Is that where the restaurant is?’ she asked, but he pressed a finger to his lips and shrugged.
‘Grr! You’re such a tease.’ She gave him a playful slap and he laughed. He was clearly enjoying every moment.
When they finally entered the old Venetian town, with its medieval buildings, narrow streets, mellow stone walls and honeycomb of cobbled alleyways, Edie’s memories of the place came flooding back.
‘I remember that,’ she said, pointing to an impressive old fortress on a hill overlooking the town. ‘We walked there. It took ages.’
‘And you kept complaining so I carried you up the last bit on my back.’
She could just about picture them as the two young, attractive people they’d once been, both madly in love. He was slightly bent over while she clung to his shoulders, with her legs wrapped round his waist.
‘It was very gallant of you,’ she commented. ‘I don’t suppose you’d do it again now.’
‘I would – if the reward was right,’ Ralph added, with a grin.
The taxi stopped near the ancient harbour, presided over by a honey-coloured lighthouse, and the couple got out.
Looking round, Edie could see the place was filled with boats and lined with tempting-looking bars, shops and tavernas. Old men fished off the harbour walls while numerous tourists meandered along the street, stopping to look in shop windows or at restaurant menus.
She was so busy soaking up the atmosphere, she quite forgot what they were here for.
‘Come on. This way,’ Ralph said, taking her firmly by the hand. ‘We don’t want to miss the cocktails.’
He led her a short distance up the road before stopping outside a gorgeous-looking restaurant. Tables and chairs under white parasols spilled out onto the pavement, and the open doors and windows were surrounded with pink bougainvillea.
‘Oh my!’ Edie said excitedly. ‘We ate here, didn’t we? I said it was the nicest restaurant I’d ever been to.’
Ralph nodded. ‘And I had sea urchins, which made me feel slightly peculiar. I think I was showing off, pretending to be macho. I won’t make the same mistake again.’
He gave his name to a waiter in a white shirt and black trousers, who ushered them upstairs. Edie had expected to be seated at one of the ground-floor tables, but Ralph had specifically asked for the terrace, overlooking the harbour, which was where they’d sat all those years before.
Beneath palm trees and a slowly darkening sky, they drank champagne and ate tuna carpaccio with lime, chives and sesame oil and grilled squid with tomato, onion, lemon, peppery rocket and olive oil. This was followed by seafood linguine for Edie and a juicy steak for Ralph.
For pudding they shared a deliciously light, fresh panna cotta with hazelnuts, pomegranate and a sweet wine sauce, and a slice of sponge cake, made with tangy oranges.
When they’d finished, Edie sat back with a satisfied sigh.
‘Thank you so much for planning this. It’s been such a treat,’ she said. ‘And this is still the best restaurant I’ve ever been to.’
Ralph agreed. ‘It really can’t be beaten.’
They watched in silent awe as the golden sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over everything and painting the water orange, pink and purple.
Edie realised she felt serene and contented in a way she hadn’t been for ages, perhaps not since before Ralph’s devastating fling. She wished she could capture the feeling in a bottle and wear it like scent whenever she chose.
When it was finally time to leave, they walked hand in hand to their waiting taxi.
‘What a perfect evening!’ Edie said, climbing into the car while Ralph held the door open for her. ‘We must make sure we come back one day.’
‘We will,’ he promised.
They both dozed off on the drive home, but were wide awake when it was time to board the boat and trudge back up the hill to their villa. It was pitch-black, but luckily Ralph had brought a torch.
When they climbed, exhausted, into bed at last at around 2a.m. Edie assumed lovemaking would be off the agenda, but Ralph rolled onto his side to face her. They were so close, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
He kissed her lightly on her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips. Meanwhile, his fingers crept down the length of her spine and back again, making her shiver.
‘I do love you, you know,’ he murmured.
‘Me too.’
‘Did you lock the door?’
She nodded.
‘Good.’
‘Lights on or off?’
‘Ooh, off, I think.’
He reached round and flicked off the switch.
At that moment, they might have been plunged into complete darkness, but a small gap in the shutters allowed a sliver of moonlight to creep, unnoticed, into the room.
Slowly, silently, it spread its silvery limbs across the wooden floor, before tiptoeing up the bed towards them.
Right up until morning, the poor moon tried its best to find a chink of dark space between them into which its light could slip, but they were nestled so tightly together, like spoons in a drawer, there was none.
* * *
The following afternoon, Ralph checked his watch.
‘Not long now, we should land in about twenty minutes. Did you book a taxi?’
Edie nodded. ‘Hopefully they’ll be there, waiting for us.’
She gazed out of the aeroplane window at London’s densely packed streets far below, hoping to recognise some key landmarks.
Her heart skipped when she spotted the winding River Thames, and it leaped again, on the final approach, when the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace came into view.
‘I can’t wait to get home,’ she said with feeling.
‘Me too.’
‘Do you think Maisie will come and see us tomorrow?’
Ralph stretched his back and shoulders and groaned.
‘She said she would. We’ve got a lot to tell her. We won’t know where to begin.’
‘I’ll pick up Dilly in the morning.’
The dog had been staying with the pet-sitter she always went to when they were away.
‘Good idea. I bet she’ll be pleased to see us.’
The flight attendant passed by with a black bin bag, and Edie popped in her sandwich wrapper and an empty can of Coke.
Glancing over to her left, she spotted Hannah, staring out of the window, while Mac’s head was turned the other way and his eyes were closed.
Jessica was two rows in front of them, with her nose stuck in a book. Edie had wondered before the flight if she’d offer to switch seats with either Mac or Hannah, as the two weren’t speaking, but of course she’d done no such thing.
The truth was, she was so wrapped up in herself it probably wouldn’t have even occurred to her. And if one of them had asked, she’d have said no, she wanted her own space.
Thoughtful acts and selfless gestures weren’t her thing at all. With Jessica, it was all about Number One. The rest of the world could go hang.
The sounds of the engine changed from rattles and whirrs to a loud rumbling as the flight spoilers on top of the wings were employed to slow the plane down.
Edie’s ears popped just as the cabin crew were told to prepare for landing and she regretted not having asked for a sweet to suck on. It was too late now.
Landing was her least favourite part of flying and she closed her eyes and reached for Ralph’s reassuring hand. Her stomach lurched when the wheels touched down and she was forced forward in her seat by the plane’s rapid deceleration.
When they finally stopped moving and the lights came back on, she turned to her husband and smiled.
‘Thank goodness that’s over. I can breathe again now.’
It felt strange, stepping off the plane, and walking down the long passageway towards the terminal, without saying anything to Jessica or Hannah.
Jessica was way ahead, marching purposefully towards the baggage reclaim area, while Hannah lagged a few metres behind her.
As far as Edie could tell, there was no love lost between them. Hannah’s hero worship had clearly come to an abrupt end.
Perhaps she now blamed Jessica, to some degree at least, for destroying her marriage. Edie doubted she’d ever admit to herself or anyone else the part she’d played. Bullies like her rarely did.
Edie and Ralph stayed close to Mac while they went through passport control and waited for their bags to arrive. Edie felt protective of their friend and hoped Hannah wouldn’t lose her rag and cause an upsetting scene.
As they passed through the arrivals gate, she noticed Hannah gaze at Mac with moist, puppy-dog eyes, trying to attract his attention. Edie grabbed his arm, hustling him along as fast as possible, and luckily, he didn’t notice.
After that, they didn’t see Hannah or Jessica again. In the taxi home, Edie chatted to Mac about the temporary living arrangements, where he wanted to work, what he liked to eat and so on. He seemed low and tearful and she was keen to distract him.
The house was in darkness when the taxi pulled up and she was concerned it might feel cold and unwelcoming, but she needn’t have worried. As soon as she’d walked in, dumped her bags in the hall and turned on some lights, the place seemed to spring to life again.
The shiny new kitchen gladdened her heart and even the simple act of turning on the kettle filled her with joy because it was their kettle, and they were their mugs she was using. She wouldn’t take anything for granted any more.
When she pressed her nose to the back window and looked out at the garden, bathed in moonlight, she could see the row of white azaleas she’d planted last year had come into bloom.
She’d bet she’d be greeted by a beautiful blue cloud of ceanothus, too, when she ventured out of doors tomorrow morning. She’d always liked the months of May and June in the UK best.
‘Home sweet home,’ she said, spinning round with a wide smile and looking first at Mac, then her husband, whose soft, lingering gaze warmed her heart right through.
‘Everything’s going to be all right.’