Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Looking at her friends sitting across from her at breakfast, Maddie was struck by how changed they were from the women she’d met at the airport in London on a grey Thursday morning only three short weeks ago.
The pale, stressed faces that had been holding on so tightly to their secrets were gone. In their place were relaxed smiles, enhanced by golden tans. She glanced across at the mirror, where a healthy-looking redhead with freckles all over her face smiled back. She barely recognised her either.
The secrets that had weighed her down too hadn’t disappeared in a puff of smoke, but at least there was hope and love in her son’s response. Living without Tony would still be an uphill battle, but stepping out of her life for a while had done so much to move things along.
‘Penny for them?’
Charlotte’s kind face looked into hers. Her friend had confided last night that she’d been worried to tell her about her decision to end things with Doug, given Maddie’s own loss, but Maddie hoped she’d been able to reassure her that Charlotte Trent was the only one who really knew what the inside of her marriage looked like and what was right for her.
‘I was just thinking that we all look a damn sight better now than when we were standing in that departures hall.’
Sofia glugged down her glass of freshly squeezed orange juice with ice.
‘Too right we do.’
‘We were all at a crossroads back then, and we didn’t even realise it.’ Maddie pointed at Sofia. ‘And don’t even think about singing that Beyoncé song…’
‘As if!’
‘I know you were.’
‘“I am alone at a crossroads…”’
‘Stop. I’m trying to be serious here. And you know the actual title of the song is “Listen”, don’t you, which is highly appropriate in your case.’
‘If it’s good enough for Queen Bey…’
‘As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, we were all at a crossroads in our lives. But together, we’ve helped each other make tough decisions and act on them. Your friendship means more to me than you’ll ever know.’
Sofia sniffed.
‘Enough. I can’t do tears before coffee.’
‘OK, I’ll stop being nice. It’s obviously disturbing you.’
Charlotte wiped her own eyes with a serviette.
‘I think it’s lovely. And I feel the same. I’m not sure I’d have been as brave at confronting Doug if I hadn’t known you two were back here waiting for me, whatever I decided.’
Sofia covered her hands with her eyes.
‘You’ve set me off now.’
Charlotte delved down into her beach bag.
‘And to say thank you to you both … and as you’re leaving this morning, Mads, just a little something from me, to remind you of our time spent together.’
Charlotte handed them two tissue-wrapped parcels.
Sofia ripped the paper off hers straightaway.
‘Wow!’
She held up the watercolour of the terrace at Adonis’s hotel, framed against a clear blue Greek sky, with the town ranged below it and the flowers on the tables picked out in bright pinks and yellows.
‘This is amazing, Char. So gorgeous. Adonis will be chuffed when I show it to him.’
Maddie had pulled the paper off hers too and was sat staring at the picture with tears in her eyes.
Sofia reached for the frame.
‘Show me. What’s it of?’
Maddie slowly turned the picture round on her lap and a vision of Thanassis as they’d first seen him stared back.
He was sat on the metal chair next to his fish stall, smoking a cigarette with his boat behind him.
His brilliant blue eyes held a note of promise, and his battered cap was slightly off at an angle.
‘Stun…ning. You’ve captured him to a tee, Char. You’re really good at this.’
‘Thanks.’ Charlotte looked over at Maddie with concern. She still hadn’t spoken. ‘I couldn’t sleep last night, after getting about fourteen hours the night before, so I got up and painted these. They’re only simple watercolours, but it felt so good to be painting again.’
She leant over to touch Maddie’s knee.
‘Mads, what do you think of yours?’
Her friend’s teary eyes were smiling at last.
‘It’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s just so lifelike it gave me a shock.’
‘That’s the biggest compliment you can pay an artist. I tried to paint something big enough to mean something, but small enough to fit it in your case.’
‘This certainly means something. I’d leave clothes behind to get this in.’
Sofia snorted.
‘You did, didn’t you? Leave your clothes behind?’
‘Funny.’
Charlotte tried out a cheeky smile. ‘I was thinking you could put it up somewhere in your house and maybe look at it every once in a while. No one will ever know it’s anything but a painting of an anonymous fisherman. Only we’ll know when we visit what it really signifies.’
Maddie gave the picture a last stroke before wrapping it up again.
‘You crafty mare!’
‘You’re welcome.’
Maddie clasped the picture to her body.
‘OK, my car will be here in a few minutes’ time, so the only thing left to discuss is you, Sof.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘This thing with Adonis. How can you pretend to yourself it’s not serious?’
Sofia’s hand froze on her coffee cup.
‘Because it’s not.’
‘Rubbish. He’s in love with you.’
‘Where did you get that from?’
Maddie could see Sofia’s neck going red as she spoke.
‘The way he looks at you, the fact that he’s introduced you to his family…’
‘Yes, and look how that went!’
Maddie smiled at the memory.
‘I admit his mother didn’t seem to be your biggest fan, but she doesn’t know you like we do.’
‘The woman fainted on the spot at the thought that I might defile her precious son. How can I compete with that?’
‘The very fact that you’re even talking about competing with her makes me think that you’re more than a little bit in love with him too.’
Why was her friend saying such rubbish out loud? Yes, she’d like to carry on seeing him, but love was out of the question.
‘That’s crazy.’ Sofia turned away from her friend. ‘Char, you’re the voice of reason, what’s your opinion?’
‘You do seem very good together. He obviously adores you. Not that I’m an expert on relationships’—Charlotte gave a sad little smile—‘including my own. But what I will say is that sometimes it is hard to see what’s obvious to everyone else.’
Sofia put her hands over her ears.
‘No! I’m not listening anymore. Let’s get back to the weeping and wailing at your departure, Mads.’
Maddie carefully wrapped the picture of Thanassis in one of her dresses and put it back in the case.
‘If you want to ignore what we’re saying, it’s up to you. Just think on it, Sof.’
The sound of a car arriving prompted Maddie to get up and pull her friends in for a last hug.
‘We ought to make this an annual event.’
‘Yes!’ Sofia punched the air. ‘Girls on tour. Summers in Greece.’
Charlotte kissed both of them on the cheek.
‘I’m up for it.’
‘And now…’ Maddie pulled away. ‘I really must go.’
They stood waving until the car had disappeared round the corner and Maddie was lost from sight.
Sofia wiped a final tear from her eye.
‘A morning by the pool before we get ready for the wedding?’
‘Sounds great.’
Given that Sofia had allegedly decided on what to wear days ago, she was taking an awful lot of time to get ready, thought Charlotte.
Grace had asked her bridesmaid to wear something simple in red to match the flowers, and had specified bare feet all round. As planned, the couple had signed the civil papers the day before. Neither of them was religious, and both had been married before, so a church wedding was out.
Technically it meant they were already married in the eyes of the law, but according to Sofia, for them the ceremony on the beach was the real wedding.
Charlotte had opted for a slinky pale green number, and after a quick hair wash, a dollop of mascara, and a slick of lipstick, she was ready.
She’d been sat on Sofia’s terrace for a good twenty minutes now.
‘Sof! What are you doing in there?’
‘Coming!’
Sofia stalked onto the terrace like it was a catwalk.
Charlotte’s breath caught in her throat.
There were simple red dresses, and there were simple red dresses.
Stopping six inches above the knee, this one clung to every curve on her friend’s body, the sensuous fabric swooping low at the back but attached to a collar at the neck.
The contrast between the rippling silk and Sofia’s tanned, lithe body was an arresting sight.
‘That dress is bloody sensational!’
‘Char, you never swear.’
‘I do now. I’ve certainly never seen it before, either. I thought you were going to wear something from your already substantial wardrobe.’
Sofia’s shifty look confirmed to Charlotte it was new.
‘I bought it secretly on the shopping trip in town, although I made out to Mads that I’d only got the dress for my visit to scary Momma.’
‘I bet it wasn’t cheap.’
‘Er, no. I’d be embarrassed to tell her how much it cost, which is why I hid it. But as she’s not coming to the wedding, I won’t ever have to.’
Charlotte rubbed the silk between the fingers of one hand.
‘Those stunningly simple dresses are always the most expensive.’
‘I had to have something special, not only for Grace and Will, but because it’s my last night with Adonis for a while.’
Sofia’s face fell.
‘Don’t worry. As soon as he sees you in that, he’ll want to kidnap you and lock you away somewhere in the hotel vaults, rather than let you leave.’
‘Okaaay, not at all creepy then.’
Charlotte laughed and reached for her silver shoulder bag.
‘We can take our shoes off when we get there.’
The path down to the beach was strung with fairy lights, and the small crowd that had gathered waved and cheered every new arrival.
Silver chairs either side of an aisle made of sand were hung with bunches of red roses mixed in with white gypsophila.
They could see Will in the distance, waiting at the end of the aisle, talking to his best man, who could only be his son, so alike were they.
Beyond Will was just blue sea, all the way to the sky.
Sofia had been asked to meet Grace at the house first, and she touched Charlotte on the arm.