Chapter Twenty-Two
He led the way to the café and Nina soon found herself seated in a corner by a pot of flowers, under the shade of the canopy, as he went in to order and returned carrying two bottles of portokalada.
She took the drink, smiling her thanks, and was grateful to be sipping the chilled, fresh orange liquid.
Much more refreshing than her bottle of water that had been warmed by the sun, she had to admit.
‘How’s Theo?’ George asked, fiddling with his straw.
‘Better, now. He’s – he’s doing okay. Thanks again for your help trying to find him –’
George waved a hand. ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything. Just what anyone would.’
Nina thought of Vassilis, of his lack of empathy when she’d tried to talk to him about losing the bracelet and her guilt over the way she’d treated Theo. Of finding the lost bangle in his room.
‘Not everyone,’ she said.
He gazed at her, a slight frown creasing his brow. ‘You okay?’
Nina nodded. Her hand automatically going to her wrist to spin the bracelet, but it was bare; she’d left it at home for safekeeping.
It was only as she did this that she noticed the blood on her hand and registered the stinging of the scraped skin there – a rock-climbing injury.
It was a while since she’d had one of those.
George leaned forward in his seat. ‘Ooh, you’ve cut yourself! That looks sore, hold on.’
He was on his feet before she could stop him, rushing into the café.
Nina waited, picking at the flaking varnish on her broken nails.
She thought of her mum painting her nails before a night out with Theo and felt a flicker of shame at her own scruffiness.
But this time, Nina dismissed it, also remembering the version of Clare that Maria and her baba had spoken of: the wild girl with the purple hair, brave and adventurous and carefree.
The mum who had raced Nina to the top of Stanage Edge, and spent her evenings embracing new interests, and burned her one attempt at a cake.
This version of her mum wouldn’t care about her nail varnish or whether her hair was in place, she would only want Nina to be happy and cheerful and courageous.
She would want her to follow her heart, wherever that led: to Kefalonia, to climbing cliff faces, to a man who was independent and caring and respectful.
George returned, carrying a wet napkin, a dry one and a plaster.
He knelt at her side, his expression serious and his full lips parted slightly as he concentrated, gently washing and drying her cut, and then placing the plaster over it.
When he’d finished, he stayed where he was for a moment, still holding her palm, looking into her eyes.
Nina found she had no inclination to remove her hand from his gentle, calloused grip.
‘Thank you,’ she said as he eventually rose and sat opposite her. ‘You didn’t need to, it was just a scratch.’
‘Ah, can’t be too careful, don’t want it getting infected.
Listen to Nurse George.’ He grinned, then pointed and gave her a mock-serious look.
‘You were a good patient though so here comes your reward.’ He nodded towards Eirini, who was walking towards them wearing an apron and carrying two bowls of ice cream.
Nina laughed. ‘You moonlighting as a waitress?’
Eirini rolled her eyes and grinned. ‘Helping out. I don’t get a choice, I don’t get paid, but I will be asking for some babysitting in compensation.’
‘Seems fair,’ George said.
‘I think so.’ Eirini caught Nina’s eye, glancing towards George and raising her eyebrows, then winking.
Nina felt herself blush. She wanted to protest, to assure Eirini that there was nothing more than friendship between her George; not even that really, they barely knew each other.
But she found herself staring at him as he focused on his ice cream, the blue of his eyes stark, the smattering of freckles across his nose and lips. Fleetingly, she imagined kissing him.
Eirini made a sound that might have been a cough and might have been a laugh.
Nina, snapped out of her reverie, looked up to find Eirini watching her with a knowing smile and a glint in her eye.
The blush that fired up in Nina’s cheeks did not help with her attempt to appear nonchalant and not particularly interested in the man sitting opposite her.
Which she was, wasn’t she? Just because he’d helped her look for Theo and put a plaster on her cut and knew a lot about turtles and had the most gorgeous blue eyes, didn’t mean she felt anything for him. At all.
‘What?’ he asked, catching her eye as Eirini made a discreet exit. ‘Have I got something on my face?’ He reached for his napkin and began smacking his face with it, trying to wipe up a non-existent blob of ice cream.
‘What? No. Why?’ Flustered, Nina dug into her own bowl, dropping half her spoonful before it reached her mouth.
‘Oh, I just – you were staring and I’m a messy eater sometimes. I’m always getting stuff on –’
‘I was not staring!’ She felt the blush deepen.
He held up his palms. ‘No, I’m sure you’re right. It’s just – I’m kind of paranoid about it. I got stung once, when I was a kid, I got some food on my cheek and I felt this tickle and it turned out to be a bee and I sort of squished it with my shoulder and then it stung me. Poor thing.’
‘Poor thing? It stung you!’
‘Well, yeah, but it couldn’t help it; I was squashing it. And it will have died.’
She grinned. ‘God, you are a softie when it comes to animals, aren’t you? Is that when this whole conservation thing started?’
He laughed. ‘Maybe. I hadn’t really thought about it.
I’ve always just – you know, I grew up in the country and I used to stay up to sneak out and watch all the animals at night, foxes and rabbits and hedgehogs.
Intelligent, you know, and just trying to go about their business, and we blunder around, destroying their habitat and . . .’
He was flushed now, leaning forward in the chair, his gaze locked on hers. Ice cream forgotten for the moment.
‘Sorry,’ he said, running his hand through his hair and smiling ruefully. ‘I’m boring you.’
‘No you’re not,’ she said softly.
He smiled, sat back. ‘I get carried away.’
‘You care, that’s all. It’s good.’ She took another bite of ice cream, savouring the sweet, creamy flavour. ‘I don’t know why you got a reward, you weren’t a good patient.’
‘Ah but I was a good nurse.’
‘Can’t argue with that.’ She cleared her throat. ‘I did talk to Baba. About the hotel and the turtles and everything.’
He nodded.
‘He’s going to check in with the buyer, make sure that they’re not going to do anything that threatens the wildlife, so . . .’
He nodded, looking sceptical. ‘Well that’s something. They’re just not – they’re not always a hundred per cent honest, though, so watch out, is all I’m saying.’
‘I get it. We’ll be careful. I was sort of thinking about talking to Baba about running it ourselves instead. Like a little guest house. I don’t know.’ She waved a hand, embarrassed suddenly that she’d voiced this ghost of a thought aloud. ‘Stupid.’ She laughed.
‘No, it’s good. Great idea!’ He was leaning forward in his seat again, his expression bright with enthusiasm. ‘I bet you’ll do a brilliant job.’
‘Well, it’s just, I studied interior design, I’m a buyer for a department store in my real life, and I keep getting these ideas about how I’d like to decorate it, with the blue theme running through and white walls and rugs and – and lamps and things.’
‘And turtles!’ he said.
She laughed. ‘And turtles maybe, why not? And Baba’s a really good cook, and I could –’
‘And you’re learning from Yia-Yia.’
‘And I – yes, exactly, so we can do amazing Greek food and . . . you really think it’s a good idea?’
He smiled, sitting back and pushing his now-empty bowl away. ‘Great idea. And it would keep you here.’
Nina glanced at him. He held her gaze for a moment.
He cleared his throat, wiped his mouth with his napkin and placed it in the bowl. ‘Well, I’d better be going. Promised I’d help Yia-Yia with dinner; I don’t dare be late. Want to do some climbing? Saturday, maybe?’
Nina nodded, unable to speak, and watched as he sauntered away, waving at Eirini, who was hovering in the doorway. She made a beeline for Nina as soon as he’d gone.
‘What’s going on with you two, then?’ she asked, sitting opposite and staring at her eagerly.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be working?’
Eirini shrugged. ‘What are they going to do, sack me? Come on, tell me everything.’
Nina laughed and glanced away, embarrassed. She pushed her hair from her face. ‘There’s nothing to tell. I was just doing a bit of bouldering and he was there and it was hot so he bought me a drink.’
Eirini nodded, her eyes bright with enthusiasm, placing her arms on the table and leaning on them. ‘And?’
‘And what? That’s it.’
‘And when are you seeing him again?’
‘Saturday, but that’s not –’
Eirini smiled knowingly, nodding slowly as she stood up and cleared the plates.
‘No, it’s really not anything, we’re just . . .’
Eirini bent so that her mouth was close to Nina’s ear. ‘If you say so. He is handsome though, isn’t he? Gorgeous George!’
She had gone, giggling at her own joke, before Nina could protest.