Chapter 8
I’d only been in my room for a few moments when Anita tapped on the door and came in.
‘What happened? What did he say?’ she said.
‘Nothing much,’ I said. ‘I asked him about the Minoans and he said it was pretty dry stuff. And he wasn’t very good company at the moment.’
‘I bet he is,’ Anita replied. ‘A man doesn’t look like that and not enjoy life, surely?
Perhaps he has just split up with his wife, and they have been through a terrible divorce.
And she got the house, the children and the chihuahua.
And he has come here to recover his peace of mind and plan the future away from the terrible rattle of the letterbox and more solicitors’ letters. ’
‘He didn’t say anything about that. Just that he understood things could be difficult,’ I said, chuckling.
‘Absolutely. He is probably a man battered by life, looking for tranquillity, and he has taken one look at you and seen you for the very woman he needs to restore his self-esteem and peace of mind.’
‘I’ve never heard such nonsense,’ I said. ‘I think he really does want to be left alone.’
‘In which case, what is he doing here?’
‘I don’t know, Anita!’
‘You must find out, and we are only here for a few more days so there is no time to waste.’
‘You ask him then.’
‘Oh no, you are the one he wants to talk to.’
‘Go away and let me get changed, this swimming costume is cutting off my blood supply. And I have sand in very inconvenient places.’
‘Fair enough. Okay, I’ll see you on the roof terrace later. I need to send Rick some pictures and let him know how we are getting on.’
Back in my room, I stripped off and showered and I thought about what she had said.
There were moments when Will actually did seem to want to talk to me. The trouble was he didn’t seem keen on talking about himself, and that rather spoiled the flow of conversation.
Perhaps she was right and he was dealing with some terrible marital trauma, or maybe he was ill, or damaged in some way.
It was very intriguing. And after all, after this week I would probably not see him again.
He wasn’t a member of the Lower Begley art class; he had come here independently.
In fact, just like me, there was no evidence he painted at all.
I’d been married to Malcolm for so many years, and he had been a man who absolutely loved talking about himself.
After nearly forty years there wasn’t a thing I didn’t know about his allergies (vanilla, cheap olive oil and kiwi fruit), his preferences (sheets and blankets, not duvets, and a hideously expensive duck down pillow), his special leather chair in the sitting room that no one else was allowed to sit in, incompetent colleagues (many) and his opinions on politics.
Will was the other side of the coin, a man who didn’t want to share the most basic information.
So why in that case did I feel as though I knew him?
It was very odd and increasingly interesting.
Especially to an inquisitive person like me.
Up on the roof terrace, the daylight was fading and there were the beginnings of a beautiful, warm evening. The sky above us was a delicious violet with the first stars winking over the dark sea.
Effie was leaning over the balustrade and smoking; Susan and June were sitting at a table chatting, and next to them Dennis was rummaging importantly through his sketch book, peering at the pages in the glow from the terrace lights.
‘I think I really got the sea right in this one, don’t you?’ he said, and June nodded and made appreciative noises.
‘Tomorrow I’m going to really capture the spirit of this place,’ he continued. ‘I’m going to immerse myself in the local culture and splurge everything out on the paper.’
I wondered for a moment what this event would look like.
‘Marvellous,’ Susan said.
‘How’s your blister?’ I asked.
Susan smiled happily. ‘Oh, fine. Will asked how I was getting on and he had a lovely first aid kit, some special plasters and some antiseptic spray, and it seems to be healing up really well. But he says I need to be careful; at my age I don’t heal so quickly.’
‘Old age doesn’t come easily,’ Dennis said mournfully. ‘The things we took for granted when we were young are different now. I’ve heard it said…’
He started on a long monologue about his ankle injury, his cholesterol levels and blood pressure and how his wife suffered from migraines, until I realised it wasn’t just me; no one was actually listening any more.
June had pulled out some work from her knitting bag and her nimble fingers started moving. It looked like she was making a huge, stripey Doctor Who scarf.
‘So the ancient ruins tomorrow,’ June said when Dennis stopped to draw breath. ‘I’m looking forward to that. I hear there is a lovely auditorium there that is very scenic. I hope there are some decent loos. That’s always my first concern.’
‘Ruins are hard to paint unless one gets the perspective right,’ Dennis said.
‘I’ll sit next to you and copy you,’ June said sweetly.
Effie came over to join us, flopping down onto a sun lounger.
‘What are you knitting, June?’
‘I was going to knit a scarf, but then it sort of got away from me so instead it’s going to be a jumper for my husband to wear in the garden.
I found lots of oddments when I was having a clear out in the garage, and Nigel is colourblind anyway so he won’t even notice.
So what have you been up to? I don’t think we’ve seen much of you four. Jillian wasn’t at all pleased.’
‘We’ve been having a really lovely day,’ Effie said, ‘and we haven’t done anything earthshattering, we’ve just been relaxing and enjoying ourselves and we’ve had fun and some laughs, haven’t we, Meg?’
‘Speak for yourself,’ Dennis said, snorting down his nose. ‘I’m quite worn out with it. Art can be exhausting when one is fully committed. You don’t see Damian Hirst doing Iron Man challenges in his spare time, do you? Or hear about Picasso running marathons.’
‘Perhaps he did it secretly? Away from the paparazzi?’ I suggested.
‘And I’m sure I read somewhere that John Constable used to like riding his bike,’ Effie added thoughtfully. ‘I like to think of him whizzing through that stream in the Haywain with his feet in the air.’
‘Oh, I used to do that when I was little,’ Susan said, ‘and my brothers made a go-cart out of an old pram. Such fun we used to have.’
Dennis threw her an incredulous look and went back to his art folder.
‘But Dennis is right,’ I said, hoping to cheer him up. ‘We must focus more on the painting part of this holiday, and perhaps a bit less on the other bits.’
‘Absolutely,’ Effie said, ‘and we will start tomorrow. Meanwhile, are we eating this evening?’
‘Jillian mentioned a place further up this road, where apparently they do great vegetarian food,’ June said.
‘That sounds great,’ I said.
At that moment, Beryl, dressed in pink linen dungarees and a yellow frilly blouse underneath, appeared on the roof terrace with Anita.
‘Did I hear you say vegetarian?’ she said. ‘I love vegetarian food. It always makes me feel very smug.’
‘Jillian has booked us a table at six thirty, before the rush,’ Susan said.
‘I haven’t seen any rush,’ Dennis said, ‘just a lot of waiters hanging about, looking at girls.’
‘I expect later on it gets really busy,’ I said. ‘The Greeks like to eat later than we do, don’t they?’
‘Well, I don’t think that’s healthy,’ Dennis said firmly. ‘Sally says if I go to bed on a full stomach I’m a nightmare. Tossing about and fidgeting for hours. Quite often she goes to sleep in the spare room.’
‘Can’t blame her for that,’ Beryl said.
‘It’s six fifteen. Where is Jillian anyway?’ June asked, finishing one row of her knitting and bunching it up ready to start another. ‘I’m going to change colour on this. I have a lovely purple all ready which will look nice next to this turquoise. I don’t want to leave it halfway through.’
‘There you are,’ Jillian called from the door, looking rather flustered.
‘It seems I can never get you all together in one place for long. I’ve never had this trouble before.
People wandering off, it makes life very difficult.
Now then, before one of you disappears, let’s go down the road to Athena’s. ’
‘What about Will?’ I said. ‘He’s not here yet.’
Jillian pursed her mouth into a button of disapproval.
‘No, well, I suppose someone should go and find him. Meg, you seem to be volunteering. The rest of you, follow me.’
‘Go girl,’ Anita whispered as she passed me, ‘and take your time. By the way, I saw him sitting in the courtyard. I expect he’s still there.’
I nudged her with my elbow. ‘Stop being naughty!’
Effie touched my arm. ‘We’ll see you later, or perhaps not. See how things develop.’
I found Will sitting in the courtyard, once more with his laptop open.
‘You’re not still working, are you?’ I said.
He looked up. ‘Oh, you know. Just a few things to finish up.’
I went to sit down on the other side of the table.
‘What things?’
‘Did you want something?’
He sounded a bit tetchy. I decided I was going to ignore it and press on.
‘Jillian told me to come and get you and take you to Athena’s restaurant. The table is booked for six thirty, and if we eat too late, Dennis will be tossing and turning all night.’
He gave a grin. ‘And this affects me how?’
‘His wife sometimes has to sleep in the spare room.’
‘I would too.’ He slapped his laptop shut. ‘I’ve got a better idea. Let’s go to the Colosseum.’
I was confused for a second. ‘In Rome?’
‘Yes, I thought we could take a taxi. No, I mean the place I saw down by the seafront.’
‘Well, I could ask the others what they think,’ I said uncertainly.
I could just imagine it, bursting into one restaurant and trying to organise the group out of one set of chairs and into another at a different venue, while Jillian flapped and twittered her distress.
‘I didn’t mean everyone. I meant just you,’ he said, ‘unless you don’t like the idea?’
He looked a bit anxious then, as though it had taken a lot to ask me in the first place and he was unsure of my response.
I felt a bit stunned at this point, wondering why I had been singled out like this and then rather excited at the prospect. I realised my mouth was gaping unattractively with the shock.
‘Oh. Just me?’
‘Absolutely,’ he said, very earnestly and, gaining a bit of confidence, he gave me a rather unexpected, twinkling look that made my knees go wobbly. Gosh, I hadn’t seen this coming at all.
Could I do this? Wouldn’t I be seen as rather rude?
And Jillian had already expressed her disapproval of us failing to stick together like a proper tour group.
I drew in a deep breath, ready to voice these thoughts, to explain why the idea of the two of us forming a splinter group and going off alone wasn’t a good idea.
‘Oh, okay then,’ I said. ‘That sounds great.’
Honestly. Weak as water, that was me.