Chapter 34
CARRIE
Carrie hadn’t had time to respond to Eliza’s cute email about her and Jez kissing – or the more sombre one before that, about her ex-husband.
She was home late Sunday night and yesterday Nana had texted her early and said she had the day off, so did Carrie fancy a trip to Naoussa, on the northern coast of the island?
Carrie had been easily sold on the idea with the words ‘picturesque fishing village’ and ‘winery’, and it had been so relaxing to simply visit without feeling obliged to take Instagrammable shots of the harbour, winding streets and beaches.
As for the architecture… Carrie rubbed her forehead and smiled, surprised she remembered everything.
They’d gone on the bus so that they could enjoy a few drinks at the Moraitis Winery.
The tour had been fascinating with the friendly staff members’ knowledge of production procedures and viniculture history.
After that there’d been a tasting session with cheese and Carrie had bought a bottle of red to have with dinner with Dimitrios, at her place, tonight.
However, the best part of yesterday had been that sense of friendship with another woman that had been missing for so long now.
The shared looks when the waiter had flirted with Nana – and when one of the white wines had smelt like paint stripper!
Carrie had also run a fundraising idea by her that she’d had for the cat rescue centre that would involve Boosalis.
On getting back to the villa, the warmth of the day’s sun and wine had left her exhausted, yet she’d picked up the guitar that Dimitrios had left and had played until one in the morning.
All the favourites she and Mum had loved – ‘Goodbye to Love’ by the Carpenters, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ by ABBA, ‘Dive’ by Ed Sheeran.
And, of course, a selection of Lenny Switchblades songs.
Carrie had questioned her mum about her love of that rock singer once.
His band’s peak was in the late seventies and early eighties, before Mel’s time and before Lenny had struck out as a solo artist. She’d discovered the music in the early years after Carrie was born, when the radio and television were cheap entertainment for the single mum.
She’d been a huge fan of his family’s reality show.
It made her laugh and the chaos made her own life feel a little more normal.
Both she and Carrie loved Lenny’s guitar hit ‘Burning Sunset’ and found it haunting.
Carrie had played it, a tear trickling down her cheek.
Lenny died unexpectedly a few weeks after Mum, last year.
She liked to think he was entertaining her in heaven.
By the end of the song, before heading to bed last night, she had been longing for a shower, gasping for a drink – but her heart wanted for nothing.
* * *
A distant foghorn sounded now, out at sea, and she looked at the time on her phone, due at the cat rescue centre in an hour, at nine.
Hi Eliza,
Firstly… thanks for sharing with me about your husband.
I can’t imagine how difficult and scary that must have been.
But look at you now. It’s quite incredible.
I’ve so much respect for you. I had no idea you had a child and am sorry your husband made things difficult between the two of you, I hope things have improved.
Jez. Wow! You kissed! That’s amazing! I would ask how it was, but ew, Jez is like the dad I never had! Was ‘I’m Your Man’ or ‘Kissing a Fool’ playing in the background?!
I guess it’s only fair then to share that… Dimitrios and I have kissed as well! Several times! I’m so happy when I’m with him, despite our rocky start. It’s like he’s awoken a side to me that I’d given up on. Romance never featured much in my or Mum’s lives.
I suppose I’ve found it hard to trust. When your grandparents so completely cast out the child they’ve brought up for seventeen years, you wonder about hidden monsters who act as if they care but then ditch you.
I’m so glad I never met them and never will.
What a fake relationship that would be. Women, especially, are supposed to look out for one another.
Imagine having to sit in the same room as someone who abandoned her daughter when she needed her most.
No thanks.
Blood isn’t any thicker than water. Nor is it magically protected against being toxic.
Sorry. A bit deep there! But I also feel like I can trust you, like you said you trusted me. I never thought I’d end up becoming friends with the person who bought my life! The birthday party sounds great. I will need photos!
Hope Boo is okay still. I’m off now to do a shift at the local cat rescue centre!
Carrie x
She pressed send. It would be nice to post Eliza a special birthday gift in time.
She searched online, and it was possible if she used the express service.
It wouldn’t be cheap, but then Eliza had given Carrie two thousand pounds over the asking price for her life.
Carrie would go into town after her volunteering shift.
Asking Nana if she had any ideas of what to buy was also an excellent excuse to go to Boosalis and sample her dad’s latest baking.
Carrie texted Dimitrios quickly and asked if he wanted her to pick up any ingredients for dinner, then she hurried into the shower.
As the time turned to five to nine, Carrie went into Dafni’s office.
She had passed the black cat she’d befriended, Nyx, on the way, and stopped to feed her cheese chunks as usual, pleased to see her slightly plumper these days.
Dafni was on the phone, flustered. She gave Carrie a broad smile and pointed to the main building.
Carrie understood. There was going to be no time for pleasantries today.
As she left the office and headed along the dusty ground to the large door of the main building, Carrie squinted in the sun as Drago sauntered into view.
He took off his cap and Gucci sunglasses, cat fur on his neatly ironed top already.
Perhaps he’d started his shift earlier. Nana said Dafni was often here at seven.
‘Yassou, English! Great to see you. Don’t tell me, Dafni hasn’t got time to escort you over herself?’ He tutted, and Carrie was surprised he could breathe, so strong was his aftershave. ‘Good organisation is all this place needs.’
They went in and she put her rucksack in a locker, glad of the cool.
Did it ever rain in Paros? Not that she was complaining.
Although back in England, she and Mum had loved the change of seasons.
As soon as Carrie went back to school after the summer, Mum would pull out the pumpkin ornament they displayed every year, and the autumn-themed cover for a cushion on the sofa.
Come November, Christmas decorations would take their place and in the spring, a kitchen tablecloth covered in daffodils and bunnies.
‘I have got a name,’ she said.
He winked. ‘My little joke. No offence meant, Carrie.’
‘And Dafni’s a hero, setting up this place.’
He looked straight at her. ‘Sure, but martyrdom doesn’t pay the bills.
’ He put in the code for the door to the cat communal area and it opened.
‘I always like to check my cats are okay before heading off to clean the pens, even though I’m running to a schedule – I’m working at home today, so I need to get my tasks done here pronto. ’
His cats? Carrie suppressed an eye-roll.
‘We don’t often have medical issues here, like feline viruses,’ he continued, ‘but when we do, it takes you by surprise and requires fast action.’ He walked over to the female grey short-hair he’d petted last time when he’d spotted her watery eye.
He picked the cat up and examined her face.
‘Looks like you’ve been given antibiotic drops, my girl.
It must have been conjunctivitis.’ He kissed the cat on her head and put her back on the floor.
Taking the initiative, Carrie filled a couple of water bowls and emptied two litter trays in the corner.
Drago played with an elderly white cat in the corner that had looked bored before he teased it with the feathered toy.
‘I came up with a fundraising idea,’ she said as they left the communal area and closed the door firmly behind them.
Drago raised his eyebrows. ‘Really? Wow. That’s the first time anyone else has ever shown the slightest initiative.’
She understood Nana not wanting to have anything to do with him. No doubt the paid staff were far too busy simply keeping the place afloat by cleaning and maintaining.
‘Schools on Paros have closed over the last two weeks for the summer, right?’ she said.
‘Yes. Earlier than in England.’
‘So parents are going to be looking for activities. How about a competition? A baking one for children – they have to make cat-themed cakes or biscuits. I’ve asked Nana…
Ariana… if the event could be held outdoors, at Boosalis, right by the bustling marketplace.
The children can sell the bakes and the money goes to the rescue centre.
Nana’s dad could judge which are the best. We’d provide a small prize.
It’s perfect to keep the young ones busy and raise money and awareness at the same time. ’
‘Hmm. We have had bake sales before, but not food made by kids.’
‘We could put posters up around town – and in places frequented by children, such as in that toy shop by the church if they’ll take it, on the beach, and in the library.
We’d see if any businesses on the island are willing to match what we raise, if we advertise them at our event – maybe a pet shop. ’
‘There’s a big one of them in Parikia.’ He passed Carrie a basket of cleaning products. ‘There is only one fly in the cream.’
Ointment, thought Carrie. But unlike Dimitrios who could laugh at himself, Drago probably wouldn’t appreciate being corrected.
‘Not sure Ariana will want it at Boosalis, if I’ve anything to do with it. Does she know I’d be organising it?’
She didn’t flinch.
‘You know then,’ he said, ‘what she and others in the town blame me for?’
Carrie nodded.
‘Yes, well, English, don’t believe everything you hear.
’ A flicker of something crossed his face – genuine, not full of his usual BS.
‘I… I shouldn’t have let Dimitrios’s location slip out.
I got carried away, I admit that, but it was more of an unintended than malicious act.
But either way, I didn’t cause Markos’s accident, his son’s fame did.
The world was going to find out sooner or later where Dimitrios lived.
I’m not the villain people say I am,’ he said, more quietly.
‘Markos was good to me when Dimitrios and I were little. He took us out in a boat once because monk seals had been spotted and he knew I was into animals.’ He shot her a pointed look. ‘Dimitrios is no angel.’
‘I rent a villa from him,’ she said stiffly. ‘He’s been very welcoming.’
‘I bet.’ Drago shook his head, the familiar arrogant veneer returning to his face.
‘Oh, he’s all friendly, the island’s golden boy, but come a tour and he’s off without a thought—’ He shook his head.
‘The proof of that is that he couldn’t even look after his cat, Poseidon, who wasn’t that well when she went missing, or so I heard… ’
An illness? Dimitrios hadn’t mentioned that.
‘Success like that comes at a price, and I’m not just talking about car accidents that get blamed on innocent bystanders. As I’ve found out with the way he’s turned the village against me, Doritos has an unexpected kick, sharper than the strongest chilli tortilla chip. Watch out.’