Chapter Twenty-Six
Nina was stiff as they walked back to the car, her hands throbbing. But she was still euphoric, the sense of being so high up and the thrill of leaping into the sea still soaring through her.
‘That was amazing,’ she said. ‘Thank you for bringing me.’
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I haven’t had anyone to belay me for a while so I’ve just been bouldering. This was fun.’ He turned to smile at her, his eyes light in the sunlight. ‘Let’s do it again soon.’
‘I’d love to.’ She grimaced, groaning at her protesting calves as she sat in the car. ‘Might need some recovery time, though. And my friend’s coming over so I might be busy with her for a while.’
‘Oh?’ He waited patiently for a family to walk past before reversing out of the spot.
‘Yes, my friend Heather.’
‘Your BFF?’
Nina laughed. ‘What are you, eight? But yeah, we’ve known each other forever.’
‘That’s nice. Well, just let me know when you want to climb again. You know where I am.’
She smiled, knowing she wouldn’t be able to wait too long. ‘Heather’s not an early riser, at least not in the holidays; she’s a teacher so she spends most of the summer recovering. So I’m sure I’ll be able to sneak out one day.’
He nodded, concentrating on the road. They were silent for a while. George pressed play on the CD player, and Nina found herself quietly singing along to ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.
Trying to, at least. She wasn’t a natural singer, and those notes were really high.
She cleared her throat, and broached a subject that had been playing on her mind for a few days.
‘So will you be going back? Now Maria’s better?
’ She found herself holding her breath as she waited for his answer.
She had no idea what life he’d left behind.
What job, what friends. What wife or girlfriend.
Every time she’d tried to ask him something personal he’d been vague or changed the subject.
‘Ah – maybe. Haven’t really decided.’ His shoulders stiffened and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. ‘I – well. Things back there are kind of – up in the air, right now. So.’
Nina nodded, although this really didn’t answer her question. And certainly wasn’t the answer she’d been hoping for.
They were stopped at a light. He turned to her, speaking softly. ‘I don’t know. It depends on – I don’t know. There might be . . . if there was – another reason to stay.’
She found herself, in that battered car that smelled of oil and the warm fragrant air drifting through the open windows and the tang of George’s sweat, staring back at him. Those bright blue eyes, framed by long pale lashes. The freckles that smattered his lips.
The car behind blasted its horn, making them both jump, snapping them out of the moment. The lights were green. George cleared his throat and waved an apology in the mirror as he pulled away. Nina stared out of the window, trying to catch her breath, trying to ignore the burning of her cheeks.
Pull yourself together, she thought. Whatever that moment was, it had gone and she was glad. This was a friendship, pure and simple, and that was exactly what she needed; she didn’t have the capacity to deal with charged moments between them right now.
‘So,’ George said, his voice straining to sound carefree. ‘You want to come in to see Yia-Yia? Or would you like me to drive you to your doorstep, milady?’ He put on a fake cockney accent. It was terrible.
‘Wow,’ she said, laughing. ‘I hope you don’t have any ambitions to go into acting.’
He grimaced, blushing. ‘God, I know, sorry. I don’t know what I was trying to do there.’
She was still laughing. ‘Don’t give up the day job.’
As she said it, she wondered what his job actually was. She knew he did conservation work, but that was voluntary, surely. She suspected he was a workaholic, spending all his free time focused on conservation work, leaving nothing spare for relationships. Like Sam.
‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘Thanks, but I’m going to go to the café. There’s something I need to talk to Eirini about.’
Eirini glanced at Nina over the dirty plates she was collecting from a table, taking in her flushed, makeup-free face, hair coming loose from the ponytail she’d hastily tied it into, and old gym clothes. She gave Nina a knowing smile.
‘You’re settling in,’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’ Nina picked up some empty glasses and carried them into the café with her.
Alex took them off her, smiling. ‘Thank you, you don’t need to do this! Go sit down, you’re a customer.’
Nina watched as he and Eirini shared a warm glance, and he placed his hand briefly around her waist. She tried not to feel wistful.
‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘It’s the least I can do, what with your dad giving me free food all the time.’
Alex just laughed, and went to take an order for a family sitting outside.
‘You seem – I don’t know. More yourself.’ Eirini shrugged. ‘More relaxed.’
Nina smiled. She couldn’t disagree. These last few weeks she’d felt more comfortable in her own skin than ever before. ‘You due a break soon? I want to talk to you about something.’
Eirini practically threw the plates onto the counter, turning to Nina with an eagerness that verged on manic. ‘Is it about George?’
Nina tutted. ‘No, it’s not – why would you think it’s about George? It’s nothing to do with George. I’m not even thinking about George.’
Eirini nodded, making no attempt to hide the smirk on her lips or the glint in her eye. ‘Talking so much about this man you don’t even think about.’
‘Well, I – you’re talking about him, I’m not talking about him!
’ Her blushing cheeks didn’t help her attempts to convince Eirini that she had no feelings for George whatsoever.
But really, she had no feelings for George whatsoever.
Did she? She tried to drag her thoughts away from their moment in the car.
‘It’s – I need to talk to you about something else. When you get a break.’
Eirini shrugged. ‘I work for free, I take a break whenever I want. Right?’ She glanced at Yiannis, grinning.
He nodded. ‘Coffee?’
Eirini nodded and took Nina by the arm, leading her to a table in a shaded corner of the courtyard. The children crouched on the ground, pushing toy cars around, barely acknowledging their mother even when she tousled their hair and kissed their cheeks.
‘So, if it’s not the handsome conservationist you want to talk about, what is it?’ Eirini asked, sitting down.
Nina shot her a look, choosing to ignore her mention of George. And that particular description of him. She took a deep breath. ‘It’s Vassilis.’
‘Ah. The handsome builder.’
‘Yes. He – he took my bracelet, the one that was my mum’s.’
Eirini sighed, putting her elbows on the table and sinking her head into her hands. ‘Oh my god,’ she muttered, her voice muffled.
‘I’ve got it back now, but only because I found it and took it; he didn’t return it or anything.
And I just – the bracelet means so much to me and he saw how upset I was, and I’m just – I’m just so angry at him, and at myself, you know.
I really thought he was decent. So stupid. ’ Once again, she thought.
Eirini sighed, looked down at her clasped hands on the table. ‘He is – there have been some . . .’
She stopped as Yiannis arrived with their coffees, and a plate of melomakarona. Nina eyed the biscuits gratefully. She knew from experience that their appearance as little flat loaves of bread was deceptive, hiding a sweet and delicious flavour.
‘There have been a few rumours about Vassilis,’ Eirini said as Yiannis moved away.
‘What, that he’s a thief?’ Nina’s outrage was beginning to show in her tone of voice. ‘You could’ve told me!’
‘It’s – well, yes. I’m sorry. I just – there’s always rumours in a small place and I just didn’t believe them, honestly I thought he was decent too. If I’d known for sure, then I would’ve . . .’
‘Bit of warning would’ve been nice,’ Nina snapped. She picked up a biscuit and took a bite, her mouth flooding with the honey and orange flavour.
‘I know. I’m sorry,’ Eirini said softly. ‘I should’ve warned you, but you seemed so happy I – I just didn’t think, really hoped, it wasn’t true.’ She took a sip of her coffee. ‘But – my god, he really took it? I can’t believe it, I’m so sorry.’
‘He gave me a necklace.’
Eirini’s gaze slid towards her. She waited, saying nothing.
‘It’s a little silver chain. It’s really pretty, actually, I loved it but – I saw you looking at it once and you had this weird expression, and now I know what I do, I’m wondering . . . he stole it, didn’t he? Was it yours?’
Eirini swallowed, placing her cup down on the table, shaking her head. ‘I remember seeing you wearing it. It’s not mine. But I was certain I’d seen it before, and – I did wonder.’
‘So, you know who it belongs to?’
‘I think so. There’s a family he did some work for. The woman, she has a necklace exactly like this.’
Nina sighed. ‘Had a necklace like this. Here.’ She reached into her bag and pulled out the silver chain. ‘Can you give it back to her?’
Eirini nodded. ‘I will.’ She took the necklace.
Nina couldn’t help feeling a pang as it glinted in the sunlight, wishing for a moment that everything really had been as good and sweet between her and Vassilis as she’d thought it was when he gave her this gift.
Before everything became tainted. And she discovered that, once again, she had been betrayed.
‘That man was never worthy of your time,’ Eirini said softly. ‘Now.’ A great smile flashing across her face as she leaned forward on her elbows across the table. ‘Never mind this. Tell me when you’re seeing George again.’
Nina laughed, smacking her gently on the arm. ‘Stop that.’ It wouldn’t be long, though, she knew that.
She was very keen to go climbing again.