‘That did you a favour too. He was going to call our parents in. Yours would have gone ballistic.’
‘True. Anyway, that’s not the point. You may have been able to bamboozle him, but you haven’t answered my question.’
‘I’m asking for a lunch recess, m’lud. Shall we order a couple of club sandwiches with chips between us to keep us going until dinner?’
Charlotte conceded defeat this time round, much to Sofia’s relief.
‘Don’t know where you put it all, but why not?’
Maddie put her book down.
‘Sounds great. Let’s throw in a couple of those Greek beers you introduced me to at the airport, as well. What were they called? Mythos?’
Charlotte raised her eyebrows and shot a look at Sofia.
‘Not for me. I’d never be able to climb those steps later. And I really want to see the monastery set into the cliff. Apparently, it has some lovely paintings and exquisite religious icons.’
Maddie grunted under her umbrella.
‘You sound like you’re fronting a travel show, Char.’
‘Well, art is how I make my living.’
No one spoke. Charlotte had long suspected that her friends thought what she did was some sort of hobby. Not a realjob. They assumed that it was Doug’s business that kept their lifestyle going. Little did they know. Another secret she was keeping from her friends.
Maddie wasn’t giving up.
‘Sof? Beer?’
‘No, not for me either, thanks. I’m going to save myself for this evening.’
‘Spoilsports. OK, just one for me then.’
Sofia flagged down the pool guy, who they’d discovered was called Dimitris.
Maddie watched to see if he could keep his eyes off Sofia’s body. Men really did adore her friend, and she did plenty of adoring back. Younger guys were her thing, with no ties, no long-term relationships.
Sofia had been badly burned by her parents’ divorce and her father’s betrayal, something she hid from most people. But they’d been there; they’d seen the devastation first hand; they’d held her as she sobbed. The experience had made their friend fiercely independent, and the steady stream of gorgeous guys who paraded through her life never lasted, even if they thought they were in with a chance.
Maddie couldn’t imagine being with someone so much younger. She couldn’t imagine being with anyone else, full stop. But especially not with the way she felt about her own body at the moment. She’d bought two swimsuits with tummy control panels, but she was planning to wear her kaftans over the top most of the time.
Ironically, of the three of them, she’d always been the fitness freak, the one constantly in the gym, walking for miles, watching what she ate and drank. Until… Tony’s smiling face flashed before her eyes, but she couldn’t give him a seat at the table right now.
The ice-cold beer was placed on the table, its green bottle dripping with condensation, a very welcome distraction. The glass to accompany it was iced on the outside, turning it opaque. Maddie nodded her thanks and poured out a full glass, desperate to get her hands on the liquid gold and feel it cooling her throat and snaking its way down to her stomach to give it a hug. It certainly helped take the edge off.
Sofia tried not to watch Maddie drinking with such relish as she washed off her suntan oil in the open-air shower at the side of the pool. The woman was entitled to drink what she liked after what she’d been through, and they were on holiday after all.
She forced herself to look away and stared down at the shower tray inlaid with grey and white pebbles in star shapes, which matched the floors and terraces throughout the hotel, while all the doors and woodwork were painted a pastel blue.
It was the same décor in their rooms. The three of them were next to each other in a row on the second floor, with their own little terraces complete with concrete bench seats and plunge pools. It was major luxury, and although she thought Charlotte had worked it out for herself, she’d confess to her later that she’d told a little white lie to Maddie about the price and subbed it herself.
Charlotte was like a bloodhound. Once she got a sniff of something, she wouldn’t let it go. Sofia pulled her dark bob into a ball on top of her head with the band she wore round her wrist.
‘Time for a swim. The food’ll take ages. I know that from bitter experience after staying with my friend Grace on her island in the Cyclades. It’s the same all over Greece. They prepare everything properly with fresh ingredients, but the one thing it isn’t is quick.’
She turned and dived into the deep end with a flourish, kicking up spray that managed to splatter both of the others.
‘Urgh! You monster. Go away.’ Charlotte stirred on her super thick grey sunbed cushion, tastefully edged in cream, before closing her eyes again and turning onto her stomach.
