Chapter Eighteen
She searched the house, but nothing. Theo wasn’t there, she could sense the emptiness of the place. Panicked, she called his mobile, and heard it ring, finding it on the kitchen side where he’d left it charging.
Nina sighed at his absentmindedness; he was always forgetting that he’d left his phone charging and going out without it.
Perhaps this wasn’t a disaster – it wasn’t that late and Theo was probably out with Yiannis, wasn’t he, or walking some of his old haunts?
Nina tried to hold on to logic and stay calm, but a feeling in her gut told her something was wrong.
Grabbing her keys, she hurried back out in search of her dad, panting as she stomped along the road.
She almost didn’t see George as she passed Maria’s house, focused as she was on finding Theo.
‘Hey,’ he called. Where are you going in such a hurry?’ He stared at her from where he was apparently tidying Maria’s garden.
Nina skidded to a halt. ‘I’m just – my dad’s not at home and I don’t know where he is. He’s gone out without his phone.’
His expression softened. ‘Oh. Annoying when they do that, isn’t it?’ He smiled. She tried to, but couldn’t quite manage it. He glanced around. ‘But I’m pretty much done here, want some company while you look? I wouldn’t mind a walk anyway.’
She hesitated. Who was this man, who had caused so much trouble since they’d arrived in Kefalonia, who had made unfounded accusations and upset Theo? So up on his high horse one minute, and genuinely kind the next.
‘Thank you.’ She found herself nodding. And feeling, she reluctantly admitted to herself, glad of his company as he fell into step beside her.
‘Where to first?’ he asked.
‘The café, maybe. He and Yiannis are old friends.’
‘Yeah, I’ve heard all about what they got up to as kids.’
Nina tried to smile. She wished she could shake this feeling of unease. She wished Theo was there, laughing as he told her stories of his childhood antics.
‘You’re worried, aren’t you?’
She shrugged, watching her feet as she walked, trying not to slip on the loose stones. ‘Kind of. Stupid really, I’m sure he’s fine.’
He touched her arm gently. ‘Not stupid at all.’
Nina found herself relaxing in his company; he understood her concerns and respected them. There was no pressure to downplay her fears or entertain him. No pressure to ‘be more fun’. They walked in easy silence down to the village, and she was grateful for the space to think.
The café was quiet and closed up. ‘Shall we just knock?’ George asked. ‘The lights are on; they’re still up.’
Yiannis opened the door, his smile turning to a concerned frown when she explained what had happened, missing out the part where she had left Theo on the stairs and walked out in a temper.
Yiannis hadn’t seen Theo all day. He offered to help search but Nina politely turned him down – Theo had probably just gone for a walk; she wasn’t at the point of organising a search party just yet.
‘I wasn’t very nice to him. Baba, I mean,’ she said as they turned towards the path to the clifftop, one of Theo’s favourite haunts.
There was a moment of silence, and she wondered whether George was thinking that she wasn’t very nice generally. ‘Well, you were upset, weren’t you?’ he said. ‘About the bracelet. I’m sure he understands.’
Nina slid a glance at George, catching herself admiring his profile for a second as the moonlight threw shadows under the sharp angle of his cheekbones. She cleared her throat, and quickly looked away, towards the hilltop they were aiming for.
‘It was my mum’s,’ she said, the shock of the unexpected revelation beating through her.
She never spoke to strangers about her mum, and yet, there was something surprisingly natural about having this conversation with George.
‘She died when I was a teenager, and the bracelet is really the only thing of hers I have. I mean, we have other stuff, but she loved that bracelet, she wore it every day and I know it’s stupid, but I feel like I have part of her with me when I wear it. ’
‘That makes sense,’ he said. He stopped and looked at her. ‘I hope you find it.’
Nina sighed. ‘I don’t think I will. But thanks.’ She blinked away tears. ‘That’s why – I was just upset, you know. So I got annoyed with Baba and then I went out, even though I could see he was upset, but I just . . .’ She shrugged.
‘Ah, that’s families, isn’t it? He’s your dad, he’ll understand.’ He flashed her a grin. ‘I upset people all the time and they nearly always forgive me.’
Nina snorted a laugh, feeling momentarily embarrassed about the pig impression she was apparently doing. ‘I can believe it.’
He gave her a wry glance. She thought again of the turtles, swimming around the fishing boats as they sailed out to sea. The last thing she wanted was for her and Theo’s actions to hurt them somehow.
‘I was actually going to talk to Baba about the hotel and the turtles tonight,’ she said. ‘I don’t really – I mean, I didn’t think it was a big chain he was selling to, but now I’m not so sure. He’s been a bit cagey about it all.’ She sighed. ‘Obviously he wasn’t there, so . . .’
‘The thing is, it’s not just the lights,’ said George.
‘Though the lights are bad – they confuse the hatchlings, and put the females off nesting in the first place. Your place isn’t right by the beach, but if they have a bar or a restaurant or whatever facing that way it’ll almost certainly be enough light pollution to cause problems. But also, the tourists themselves, you know, they can crush the eggs or frighten the turtles away if they’re trampling all over the beach, and then you get people feeding them fish and it’s just –’
‘What’s wrong with feeding the turtles fish?’ she asked, adding, when he turned to her with a frown, ‘I mean, don’t they eat fish anyway?’
He was shaking his head. ‘Not really, they’re too slow to catch them naturally, so they eat crustaceans and stuff.
If they get fed fish it’s like us eating McDonalds every day.
And then it causes other problems, it draws them in to the harbour and they get caught in fishing lines or hit with propellers, we see a lot of that, and it makes them rely on being fed so it’s altogether – they’re just better off without us, to be honest.’
They had stopped again, catching their breath as they walked up the steep path, and Nina found herself staring into his bright blue eyes, lit with passion and a certain amount of fury.
He shook his head and took a step back. ‘Well, now isn’t the time to go into all this.’
‘It’s okay, it’s good to be so passionate about it.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Not everyone thinks so.’
‘Oh, yes? Your girlfriend doesn’t approve?’
She didn’t know why she asked, and regretted it immediately. His face closed off. He cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder. Nina shifted, the awkwardness between them more palpable with every passing second.
‘No sign of Theo so far,’ George said, his voice loud with a false jollity. ‘Could he be at the top?’
‘Maybe,’ Nina said as they started walking again. ‘It’s one of his favourite places.’
George smiled, relaxing again now. ‘Yeah, him and my mum used to run away up here when they’d got into mischief, I think.’
‘So, your mum’s Maria’s daughter?’ She was happy to take his lead on the change of subject into more comfortable territory.
‘Yeah. I grew up near Cardiff but, you know, lots of holidays here. Same for you, I expect?’
Nina shook her head. They had walked up the path quickly, George making great long strides, and she was a little out of breath.
‘Sort of – but until this holiday I barely remember coming here. We came a bit when I was little, but after Mum died Baba just didn’t want to.
They met here, so I think that’s why. He won’t – he hasn’t been able to talk about it. About her, at all, really.’
They’d reached the top, the breeze cool and smelling of the sea. Nina looked around. No Theo. She bit her lip; she was starting to feel properly worried now. Where could he be?
George was gazing at her, the wind lifting his sandy, sun-bleached hair, his eyes wide and solemn. ‘That must be hard,’ he said softly.
‘What?’
‘Your dad not talking about your mum.’
‘Oh.’ She shrugged. ‘I suppose. It’s just difficult for him, you know? Maria told me some stuff from when Mum was young.’
He nodded, the grave look still in his eyes, then glanced around and opened his arms a little. ‘So, doesn’t look like Theo’s here.’
‘No.’
‘Where next?’
Nina was running out of ideas. ‘The beach?’
They walked back down the path quickly, Nina panting a little as she tried to keep up with the loping strides George took with his long legs.
The pit of her stomach hardened as she thought about her dad; she’d been convinced he’d be at the café or the mountain.
She found herself veering between near-panic and anger; the logical part of her mind struggling to find a good reason why Theo would be out this late.
‘So are you going to stay in Kefalonia, or head back to Cardiff when Maria’s better?
’ she asked, to distract herself from thoughts of what might have happened to her dad.
She didn’t really care what George’s plans were, she told herself, as she found herself admiring how tightly his Beatles t-shirt was pulled over his broad shoulders as he walked ahead of her.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know, things are a bit – up in the air, at the moment.
And there’s – I’m keeping busy here, working at the rescue centre when Yia-Yia doesn’t need me, and that’s good, so .
. .’ He puffed a bit as he spoke, his voice trailing off, and Nina felt gratified that she wasn’t the only one out of breath.
She hadn’t thought of him as being sporty, particularly, he’d struck her as more of a bookish type.
Unlike Vassilis, who was clearly fit and Sam, who had carefully sculpted his body with regular workouts.
But, as she watched George stride ahead, she realised he had more of a naturally fit physique: lean and muscled.
Nina shook herself.
Where could Theo be?
When they reached the beach, Nina knew immediately that he wasn’t there. The place was deserted. George gave her a sympathetic glance, seeing immediately that Theo wouldn’t be found here.
‘Perhaps we’ve missed him, and he’s gone back home?’ George asked softly.
Nina had been thinking this too. ‘If he’s curled up all comfy in bed I’ll throttle him,’ she said, attempting a laugh, but it came out wrong, strangled by worry. She picked up her phone and called him.
Nothing.
She rang and rang. He was a light sleeper; if he was there he would wake and answer.
Nothing.
‘Oh god, where is he?’ she asked, her voice shaking.
George looked out to sea, running a hand through his hair. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find him.’ He turned to her, blue eyes earnest. ‘We’ll keep looking until we do,’ he said, his voice calm and strong with determination.
Nina nodded. She couldn’t speak for the tears blocking her throat. But she was suddenly so grateful to have him there with her.
‘Thank you, George,’ she said.
‘No problem.’ He smiled at her, then looked thoughtful. ‘Perhaps he went looking for you?’
It was as good a suggestion as any; Nina was out of ideas at this point. She nodded, and they turned to walk away from the beach and down the path out of Metalios.
They hurried along the dusty road, the scent of the flowers and grasses in the verge mingling with that of hot tarmac. Nina found herself repeating a mantra in her mind: we’ll find him, we’ll find him.
But still, she couldn’t imagine why he’d be here at this time. Or where else he might be.
Ahead, as the sweet, sprawling buildings of Metalios that she’d become so familiar with were left behind, she saw a dark heap on the roadside. Her stomach dropping, Nina broke into a run, George at her side. It couldn’t be him, it just couldn’t.
But she knew it was.
She slid to a halt on the gritty road, falling to her knees next to him as he lay, curled on his side in the dirt.
‘Baba!’ she cried, her voice high and shaking.
She rolled him over and saw that he was alive, at least, relief flooding through her in a wave that almost had her throwing up. He clutched his hands to his chest and panted short, shallow breaths as he stared up at her, eyes dark and wide with fear in his sickly pale face.
‘My Antheia,’ he managed, his voice reedy.