Chapter Twenty-Four
‘Ah, at last, I thought you were never coming home, leaving your poor yia-yia all alone,’ Maria said, the grouchiness of her words at odds with her wide smile and hurried steps to greet George. She reached up to pinch his cheeks and then kiss them. He grinned past her at Nina.
‘Still plenty of time, what are you making such a fuss for?’ he said, his tone affectionate.
‘Time for what?’ Nina asked.
Maria turned to her, her eyes bright with excitement. ‘Snorkelling.’
There was a time when Nina would have laughed at the idea of this eighty-year-old woman snorkelling. Now, she barely batted an eyelid. ‘What about your foot?’
Maria looked down at her foot as though she’d forgotten it was there. ‘Pfft. Fine now. All better, eh? Paddleboarding next.’
‘Okay, well let’s hold off on that for a while,’ George said. He placed his arm gently around her shoulder and guided her back towards the table. ‘Not quite that recovered!’
Nina stood. She was aware, as George smiled at her, that her tangled hair was tied haphazardly into an old scarf and the tatty t-shirt and shorts she wore were faded and paint-splattered. Her nails were ragged, the varnish chipped, and she wore no makeup.
And none of it mattered.
The shame that she’d always felt if she hadn’t worked on her appearance, and the associated image of her mum groomed and ready for an evening out, failed to appear.
The sense that she was somehow letting Clare down if she didn’t strive to emulate that glamour had gone, leaving her with a clear, calm sense of knowing who she was, and who her mum had been.
She smiled up at George. His gaze on her was warm.
He focused briefly on her lips, and cleared his throat, his cheeks colouring a little.
She realised that she felt no self-consciousness at him seeing her like this, confident to be her unvarnished self in his presence.
He, in turn, smiled, apparently unable to look away.
An intensity that, from someone else, would make her feel awkward.
But she felt only that she wanted to stay here, in the warmth of his gaze.
Maria’s dark little eyes snapped between the two of them. She lifted her eyebrows.
Nina stood up, suddenly aware that she and George had been looking at each other without speaking for an unusually long time. ‘I’d better go,’ she said.
His smile faltered and he stepped towards her, placing his hand on her arm. ‘No, but – come with us. Yes?’ He turned to Maria, who was nodding enthusiastically, a mischievous glint in her eye. ‘If – if you’d like to?’
He looked at Nina, his eyes momentarily filled with doubt.
‘Oh – great, yes,’ she said. ‘Thanks. If you’re sure?’
A smile exploded over George’s face. ‘Great! Yes. Yes, you should come.’
Nina laughed. This turn of events had drastically improved her mood. She was fizzing with happiness at the idea. She must be very excited about snorkelling.
‘Okay, I’ll just – I’ll go and get ready.’ She slid past George, glancing at him and then dropping her gaze, suddenly very aware of how close to her he was, how taut his chest was under his faded Simon he spoke to the buyers and they have this eco-consultant, so everything’s going to be fine. No harm done to the wildlife.’
George frowned. He stared out to sea, squinting slightly against the sun, and bit his lip.
Nina could feel his disappointment keenly, and she couldn’t understand it; whatever happened, even if they sold to the hotel chain, the turtles were safe.
‘Still, I don’t trust these people,’ he said.
‘These developers are notorious for not being entirely honest.’
Beside them, Maria gave a few gentle and not altogether convincing snores. They both glanced at her, frowning.
‘Well – I think it’s all above board, he spoke to them about the turtles and he said it’s going to be fine, so .
. . I will try to get him to agree to us doing it instead.
It’s just, he really seems to be set on this plan, because he seems to think it’s the right thing for me.
And what with time running out, I don’t know if –’
‘Time running out?’
‘Yes, he said there’s a meeting set up in a few weeks to finalise it all, but he seems to think it’s basically a done deal. He’s seen the plans. You were right about the bar and everything, but they said they can do it without . . .’
George frowned and shook his head. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak Maria lurched to a sitting position, her hair sticking up on one side, scowling.
‘What’s all this? I knew that Theo was doing this all wrong, I knew it, I will give him a piece of my mind.’
She was on her feet, pulling her wrap on, struggling as it snagged on her sandy skin. She pulled her sunhat on and glared down at them.
George rolled his eyes. ‘I thought you were asleep, Yia-Yia. How could you possibly know what we were talking about?’
Maria snorted. ‘Pfft. I was asleep but then I woke up and heard you. No mystery.’ She crossed her arms grumpily and kicked the sand a little with her now-recovered foot.
George stood, offering Nina a hand to help her up. She didn’t need it, but took it anyway.
‘Look, as I was going to say before I got interrupted by Sleeping Beauty here.’ Maria glared at him. ‘It’s worth finding out more . . . getting to the truth of what’s really going on.’
He ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip. He was obviously not convinced and, though Nina desperately wanted to believe that all would be well, she found herself trusting his instincts.
‘Okay,’ she said as they each took one of Maria’s arms and helped her walk the steep path back from the beach. ‘I’ll see if I can find out more.’
And anyway, Nina reminded herself, she had plans of her own. It wasn’t over yet.