One Last Greek Summer by Mandy Baggot

Author:Mandy Baggot [Baggot, Mandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2019-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Three

Rovinia Beach was one of the most serene places Beth had ever visited. It wasn’t a large expanse of sand and pebble, it was more like one of the Greek gods had delicately, yet deliberately, slid an ancient spade into the rock and stone of the mountain and hand-carved this U-shape of perfection. Rocks topped with green sheltered them, grassland dotted with pretty wildflowers caressed the area between woods and seashore. It was somewhere with the ability to seep into you like life-giving elixir.

Lying on her stomach, on a thick patterned throw Alex had lain down, Beth had assaulted the dips, bread, cheese and salad with more aplomb than a stag party round a beer keg. Every delicacy was hitting the right note, the flavours speaking of good times, new starts and moving on. The wine was also helping her unwind and here, in the evening sun, Beth was as far from a portfolio of ‘A’ and ‘B’ options than she had ever been.

‘You would like some more wine?’ Alex asked, proffering the bottle.

‘It’s delicious,’ Beth replied. ‘What is it called?’ She passed him the small tumbler she had been drinking from. It was old and heavy, nothing like the dainty, over-valued items in the awful cocktail glass cabinet in her lounge. She had always been terrified her lips might snap the fragile rims. She couldn’t remember her mum ever having used them either…

‘Glykos,’ Alex answered. ‘In Greek this simply means “sweet”.’ He filled up her glass. ‘It is not expensive but… well, I like the taste.’

‘I like the taste too,’ Beth said, taking another sip. ‘But I expect, being a high-powered businessman, you get to drink champagne all the time now.’

There was an elongated pause that Beth actually felt between them and when she studied Alex, his expression was giving off ‘very uncomfortable’. He was cupping both his hands round the tumbler, eyes staring into the pale liquid.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘Nothing,’ he answered quickly. ‘I just…’

‘I get it,’ Beth said, interrupting. ‘Business is difficult. It’s a changing time and… apparently even Debenhams are struggling quite badly… which I’m glad my mum isn’t here to witness because she adored their make-up counters. And if a company like that is struggling then…’

‘Beth, I haven’t been honest with you,’ he admitted.

She held her breath. He was married. Why was that the first worrying thing she had thought of? There were far more and worse things he could have lied about. Maybe he was seriously ill. Did seriously ill people attempt parasailing or drive quadbikes like they stole them? Only if they were carrying out a bucket list of things to tick off before they passed. A bit like her mum and the visit to the model village at Wimborne…

‘I don’t have a successful kumquat business, not yet at least.’

‘What?’ That wasn’t what she had expected at all and it didn’t make sense. She had tried the juice and it was good. Unless it was something he hadn’t produced and had bought from the supermarket.

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