Chapter Four
Nina’s mind was spinning. This was not how she’d imagined the summer in Kefalonia going; where was the beautiful house with blue shutters?
Where was the nightlife? So far it seemed that Metalios, although pretty, had little to offer a newly single woman in the prime of her life.
Where was the air-con? she thought as she pulled at the neck of her t-shirt.
Theo had duped her, enticing her here with promises of sun and sea and cocktails. Well, now she considered it, he might not have actually promised cocktails . . . but it was all implied, wasn’t it?
No. She’d been tricked, and there wasn’t even anywhere decent to stay. The village was hardly going to have a five-star spa hotel was it? Oh, a spa. What she wouldn’t give.
Her phone buzzed and she glanced down, her heart stopping when she read the name: Mags.
She should’ve blocked her.
Nina couldn’t resist reading the message, her fingers shaking as she opened it.
I’ve typed and deleted this so many times, but I want you to know that I’m sorry we hurt you.
Nina felt sick. She read on. Mags had always spelled and punctuated her messages perfectly, as though they were letters, and Nina had found it quaint and charming. Now it just felt pretentious.
I’m sure you think we’re bad people but I want you to know that we didn’t do this for nothing.
Sam and I have a deep connection, and I know how it started was wrong, but we were drawn to each other for a reason, and I really hope that one day you’ll be able to be happy for us.
Let’s face it, I think you know in your heart that you and Sam were never meant to be.
You were always more focused on work than him, and I know that will work out for you and you’ll have a wonderful career while the rest of us concentrate on mundane things like relationships and families.
Nina almost threw the phone across the room. Was Mags seriously hinting that she thought she and Sam were going to have a family? And suggesting that Nina would have some glittering career, even though she knew she’d been made redundant, so it didn’t matter that Mags had stolen her boyfriend?
Please know that I wish you nothing but the best, and I hope that one day you will learn to forgive me. Xx
Ugh. Nina slammed the phone onto a dusty windowsill and pressed her hands into her eyes, trying not to cry.
Mags’s ‘apology’, such as it was, was all about excusing herself and had done nothing to make Nina feel better about the double betrayal she’d endured.
She must be a terrible judge of character if those she trusted could treat her like this.
If she could even think she loved and wanted a future with Sam.
She couldn’t deal with this; she just wanted to hide away from the world and try to forget everything that had happened.
Thank god she had Baba. And this place to come to, away from every aspect of her old life.
She shook herself and wiped away the tears that had leaked onto her cheeks.
How dare Mags intrude into Nina’s escape with her self-pitying so-called apology?
She didn’t deserve a second thought from Nina, let alone a reply.
Nina sighed and lifted her clumped hair from the back of her sticky neck, wandering aimlessly through the house, fragments of brick and broken crockery crunching under her feet as she tried to concentrate on the here and now, and forget the car crash that was the life she’d left behind.
Light fell through the dirty windows in slices of lemon-yellow, gilding the dusty floor tiles.
The house must’ve been lovely, when it was looked after.
She moved to the window and gazed down at the beach, a golden stretch of sand below with waves lilting gently as little white fishing boats bobbed on the glittering surface of the water.
Had her mum walked on that very beach? Swum in the sea?
Nina had always thought her mum would’ve been proud of the strong and successful woman she’d become.
What would she think of this daughter, the one with no job, no boyfriend and no clue how to put her life back together?
Would she be as disappointed as Nina was in herself?
Nina blinked back tears and, with some effort, heaved the window open. She was immediately greeted by a cool sea breeze, smelling of salt and the fragrance of flowers. If she looked only at this, and ignored the chaos and disrepair of the house itself, she felt almost soothed for a moment.
She should leave, of course. By rights, she’d walk out now, and jump on the next flight home.
Leave Theo to his pipe dreams and begin the business of her real life: looking for a job and a flat.
She imagined, briefly, returning to Manchester, spending the rainy summer with Heather while she applied for job after job and scrolled Sam’s Instagram for pictures of him and Mags while drinking pink wine. Not appealing.
Nina blinked at her reflection in the dirty glass.
Just like her mother, Maria had said. Had the old woman known her mum?
Nina’s parents had met on this island, Clare had stayed here for several months.
Maria clearly knew Theo; it was perfectly possible that she’d met Nina’s mum too.
Perhaps had even known her a little, spent some time with her all those years ago, when she was the young woman Nina so longed to learn about.
Perhaps she’d stay a little while.
Theo came into the room and she turned to see him standing behind her, rubbing his hands together and grinning like a little boy on Christmas morning. ‘So, what you thinking?’ he asked. ‘Great, yes?’
Nina tried to be angry. She was hot and tired and sorely in need of the luxurious, air-conditioned break she’d been expecting. But the sheer joy on Theo’s face swept all her frustrations away. She laughed. ‘Needs a bit of work, Baba,’ she said, picking at a piece of paint flaking from the wall.
He shrugged. ‘Well yes, of course, it’s why we’re here.’
‘You’re not – I’m not expected to stay here, though? While it’s in this mess?’
He just smiled even harder. ‘Mess? Nonsense. Let me show you.’
She followed him around the house. The other rooms were in a better state, to varying degrees.
She couldn’t see sky through the ceiling, at least. There was a huge kitchen, where a large wooden table still stood, a bench seat pressed against the wall and traditional wooden chairs on the other side.
A curved fireplace was cut into the wall and old wooden shelves bowed under the weight of dusty plates.
Light spilled through the big windows, and the door opened out onto an overgrown courtyard with a spectacular view of the sea.
There was definitely potential, Nina thought, imagining the walls freshly painted and a little row of blue and white tiles.
The house was large, with three more rooms downstairs and two more floors.
The stairs were narrow and dirty, and on the top floor, the sun shone through various holes in the roof.
Not what Nina had been expecting. But the rooms were large and light, the floors mostly solid, and the views, she had to admit, better than anything she’d dreamed.
She couldn’t help but imagine the place clean and freshly painted, the shutters fixed and the rooms filled with tasteful furniture, beautiful rugs and vases of flowers.
Perhaps a subtle theme of beautiful Greek blue running throughout, picked out in window frames and stencils on the clean white walls.
A memory flashed through her mind of the treehouse she and Theo had built when she was a child.
Nina had thrown herself into the role of builder’s apprentice, showing a flair for DIY as she helped to hammer and saw, sand and varnish.
Even at that young age, she’d had a strong taste in décor, choosing a rug and curtains that made the place so cosy and inviting that she suddenly became the most popular child in school.
She shook herself. That wasn’t what she was here for. A few weeks of sun and relaxation while Theo renovated the building, and that was all. She wouldn’t be here to pick out paint or rugs; that would be down to the hotel Theo said was buying the place.
For a moment, she felt a pang of regret. But then she turned back to the view of soft yellow sand and glinting sea; she could almost taste that mojito now.
‘All right,’ she conceded. ‘I can see the potential, but we can’t stay here, Baba. There are holes in the roof!’
Theo shrugged and waved her argument away. ‘Soon have that sorted. And a little sunshine won’t kill us, lovely weather, no rain – it’ll be like camping.’
His smile was so hopeful, he so badly wanted her to be excited too that she didn’t have the heart to argue, and his comment had brought back happy memories of childhood holidays, all three of them snuggled under canvas at night, frying bacon in the open air for breakfast and running around the beach all day.
She couldn’t quite match his enthusiasm, though.
She sighed. ‘Fine. But there’s no bedding and no food, so we need to get that sorted. ’
The food issue was solved by a trip around the village.
They stopped first at the café, sitting in the shade.
Nina ordered sparkling water and Theo a coffee – how he could drink it in this heat she didn’t know, but then he was a local, she supposed.
They ate Greek salad, and she savoured the crisp cucumber and richly flavoured tomatoes, the tang of feta and black olives, all drizzled with a red wine vinegar and oregano dressing.
Everything tasted better here, all the ingredients locally produced.
The flavour, the sun, the scent of herbs and flowers in the warm air, nudged a memory into her mind; more of a feeling than a specific event.
Snatches of childhood holidays – the taste of ice cream, the splash of water on bare feet, the sound of her mum’s laughter.
Nina sat back in the chair and closed her eyes, lifting her sunglasses to feel the heat of the sun on her skin. Her mind felt strangely quiet. Just for this moment, she felt as though there was nothing in the world to worry about.
The café owner, Yiannis, came over, and he and Theo began talking animatedly. Nina sat up and opened her eyes to find Yiannis placing two slices of baklava on the table. He smiled. ‘Free for you.’
‘Oh no, we have to pay,’ Nina said, reaching for her bag.
He wagged a finger at her, grinning. ‘No, this is a gift from me. A celebration, of an old friend come home.’
He and Theo smiled at each other, and he grasped Theo’s shoulder, giving a gentle shake. Theo placed his hand over Yiannis’s.
‘Thank you,’ Nina said. She felt a little choked to see Theo receive such a welcome. He’d never spoken of these people, barely spoke of the place. There was so much she didn’t know.
She eyed the baklava, gleaming in the sun.
She hadn’t eaten anything so sinful for months.
Apart from the cheese puffs. The pastry looked so light and moist, and her mouth watered at the honey-sweet scent.
Without trying to resist, she reached for a slice, savouring the soft, nutty deliciousness of the flavour, quickly polishing off the whole thing.
She looked up to find Theo and Yiannis both smiling at her, as though she was a cute kid who had just sung a nursery rhyme for them. ‘What?’
‘I love to see my customers enjoying my food,’ Yiannis said, grinning. He turned to Theo, who was just swallowing his last mouthful. ‘Just like her mama, eh?’
Nina froze mid-napkin wipe. Had everyone in Metalios met her mum? But Yiannis was gone and Theo already up and walking away before she had the chance to ask.
‘Come on,’ Theo said. ‘I thought you wanted to buy food?’
They visited the market, buying fresh fruit and veg and salad, tea and coffee and milk. Blood orange juice, pomegranate juice. Fresh fish. Thank god the fridge was working, Maria having plugged it in for them the day before they arrived.
She also brought bedding over for them, freshly washed and scented with lavender. It was all they could do to stop her from making the beds.
‘You’ve already done so much,’ Nina said, her arms full with sheets.
‘And not in a fit state,’ Theo said in English, indicating her foot with the boot on.
Maria’s face immediately shifted from smile to scowl. She tutted loudly. ‘What, this? Nothing, a little mishap. Very fine to do anything, thank you, and I have my grandson Yiorgos helping if I need –’
Theo lifted his hands in resignation, his shoulders shaking as he chuckled. ‘Yes, yes. You’re right as rainbows. Come on, Antheia, let’s go.’
Maria’s scowl deepened. ‘Thought you said her name was Nina?’
‘It is,’ Nina said. ‘He just calls me that sometimes.’
Maria rolled her eyes and tutted again. ‘Silly boy, calling your daughter two names. Confusing.’
Nina couldn’t help but smirk, hearing her sixty-five-year-old dad referred to as a silly boy. His mischievous grin did nothing to alleviate the impression that Maria was right.
‘You’ve been very kind,’ Nina said, following Theo out as Maria hobbled after them. ‘Perhaps – perhaps I can get you a coffee or something at the café one day? To say thank you?’
Maria glowered. ‘Pfft, the café, why would I need that? I have coffee at home. You’re not in the city now.’
Disappointed, Nina turned away, but on the doorstep Maria grasped Nina’s wrist, a grudging smile on her face.
There was something sharp and light in the old woman’s eyes that made Nina suspect there was much more to her than a grumpy, limping old lady.
‘You come for coffee here instead, yes? Tomorrow. Leave your baba behind. Ladies together.’
She nodded, and turned away. Nina had the distinct impression that the meeting had been arranged without any say-so from her, and she could not miss it. Not that she had any intention of missing it, she thought, as she hurried after Theo.
He shook his head as they walked into the shady coolness of their own home. ‘Watch out for that one.’
‘She seems all right,’ Nina said, carrying the sheets upstairs.
Theo followed her. They had already chosen a bedroom each, and took their own bedding through to their respective rooms.
‘Just watch, is all I’m saying.’
He shook his head, puffing out his cheeks and widening his eyes in a dramatic expression of relief. ‘We nearly woke the monster there.’
‘Beast, Baba.’
‘This is what I said.’