The following morning, they breakfasted in style on the enormous hotel terrace decorated with palm trees and statues, and were waited on hand and foot. The food was spectacular, butMaddie couldn’t help comparing it with Thea’s simple repasts made with love. She knew which she preferred.
‘We’re being taken to our new hotel after you’ve both finished here.’ Sofia leapt up out of her seat to pick up a dropped serviette, but a waiter got there first and was treated to a smile.
‘You won’t get the five-star service we’re getting here…’
‘Good.’ Maddie said under her breath. She’d had enough of lurking waiters who appeared at every turn.
‘But the setting is stunning.’
Sofia was true to her word, and the much more manageable family-run hotel to one side of the port gave them vistas all round the town and out past the harbour to the majesty of the Aegean.
Again, they had three rooms in a row, this time on the ground floor, with little blue tiled terraces jutting out over the water, and sturdy ladders to climb down into the sea if you wanted to indulge in a spot of early morning swimming. There was also a substantial pool to one side of the hotel, which Sofia was keen to point out.
Adonis’s cousin, Petros, and his wife, Artemis, were their hosts this time, a sweet couple in their thirties with a couple of toddlers at their heels.
‘This is so cute.’ Charlotte waved at her friends on the terraces either side. ‘I think it’s my favourite one so far.’
Maddie’s heart was still with Theo and Thea’s unpretentious warmth, but this came a close second.
Sofia shouted from her terrace at the end.
‘You two need to get unpacked, pronto, as we’re going on a cliff walk from here to the next village and back to get our stamina up for clubbing tonight.’
Sofia skipped back into her room after making her announcement.
‘Are we?’ Maddie pulled a face at Charlotte. ‘She’s like the Duracell bunny. Spending time with Adonis seems to be making her even more hyper, rather than calming her down.’
‘There’s no point resisting. And it might be fun.’
She’d hardly describe it as fun exactly, but the breeze blowing in off the water as they followed the coastal path to the unnamed village was refreshing in the heat, Maddie had to admit.
There were plenty of things to look at out at sea, everything from cruise ships to fishing boats, not that she wanted to dwell on those too much. And looking down occasionally gave her glimpses of hidden hollows with the golden skirts of their beaches fanning out into the water. Maybe they should try another boat trip, preferably without a major incident at the end of it. Surely Adonis would know someone who could take them. Everyone on a Greek island had a relative who did something useful.
Maddie was aware she was keeping up with the others a lot more easily now. She’d deliberately cut back on the drinking too, after realising quite how much she was putting away compared to Sofia and Charlotte.
It didn’t take a genius to work out the two things were probably connected. She was glad they hadn’t said anything about the booze or tried to stop her. That would have probably encouraged her to drink even more, just to put two fingers up to being told what to do. The only person who could change her life was her, something it had taken a long time to work out. The peace of the islands had given her the space to think, along with a helping hand, or rather two helping hands, from a passing fisherman.
She smiled at her own joke, before promising herself she’d get back out on the moors when she returned home. A memory of striding out over rough grass with her son, little Elsie strapped to his chest in a sling, hit her right between the eyes. How muchher granddaughter must have changed in the last three months. What sort of grandmother was she if she didn’t fight for the right to be involved in her life?
She was probably never going to be best mates with her son’s wife, Hayley, but surely, she could put her anger and grief aside to be civil and make it work somehow?
A bus trundled past them, packed with holidaymakers heading for one of the big beaches at the other end of the island.
‘How much further?’ Maddie shouted ahead to Sofia.
‘Not much.’
She could swear she’d seen a secretive look pass between her and Charlotte, who was directly behind.
‘Where exactly are we going?’
‘You’ll see.’
Another couple of kilometres in and they seemed to be no closer to any villages. She was hot and thirsty and fast getting fed up.
‘Where is this bloody village? What’s it called?’
Both Sofia and Charlotte looked at the ground.
