Maddie sighed. They’d pushed Charlotte as far as they could for now. She knew how it felt when people tried to force her to talk about Tony and how she was coping without him.
‘Just as long as you know we’re here for you, anytime. All for one…’
‘And one for all’ her friends chorused back, although Charlotte’s voice was barely above a whisper.
‘Now let’s tuck into these fabulous-looking ice creams. The waiter already thinks we’re insane.’
It wasn’t a stretch for Maddie to get on board with the best ice creams on the island slogan. The goat’s milk gave the ice cream a slightly savoury tang which complemented the pistachio flavour well.
‘Mmmmm, these really are gorgeous.’
Charlotte’s smile didn’t convince either of them.
‘Yes, the strawberry is lovely too.’
Sofia cast around for something to lighten the mood.
‘Oh God, I never told you, did I?’
‘Told us what?’ Maddie was up for some double-headed role play, anything to cheer Charlotte up.
‘I managed to flash Dimitris the pool boy at the last hotel! I gave him the Full Monty.’
Maddie grimaced.
‘Poor guy. When? And how?’
‘He was out there, cleaning the plunge pool early one morning. But he was so quiet, I had no idea he was outside. I hadn’t bothered with the shutters, so I pulled back the thin curtain, naked as a baby, and we just stared at each other for a moment before I yanked it shut again and waited until he’d gone. I was worried that he’d think I’d done it on purpose.’
‘How embarrassing.’ Maddie would have been completely mortified if it had happened to her. The thought of any man other than Tony seeing her naked was a no-no. And that was never going to happen with her husband again in this lifetime.
‘Even if itwasdeliberate, he wouldn’t have been interested anyway.’ Charlotte’s dead pan delivery gave nothing away.
‘What do you mean?’ Sofia’s look of confusion was comical. ‘Are you saying I’ve lost whatever it was I had?’
Charlotte smile was real this time.
‘No, silly. You’re still gorgeous. But Dimitris is gay. That’s what we were talking about that morning in the garden. I was telling him about my son’s experience, and he was explaining that things weren’t quite so simple in Greece, particularly on the islands. Plus, he was terrified of his mother finding out. She’s very religious.’
Maddie winced.
‘Yes, I can see Maria might be a bit tricky.’
‘But now we’ve left the island, and we’re probably never going to see them again… I do have some stunning gossip.’
The twinkle in Charlotte’s eye was unmistakeable.
Sofia grabbed her friend’s wrist.
‘You? Gossip?’
‘Yes, me.’
‘What? What is it? Tell us, or we’ll have to kill you.’
‘His boyfriend, who I saw creeping out of his room at dawn was none other than… the hot priest from the monastery!’
‘No!’ Maddie wouldn’t have picked him as Dimitris’s lover in a month of Sundays.
