“If there are any of those mojito Popsicles Joy made for us, can I have one of those instead?”
Louisa paused at the door.
“Remind me what your last slave died of?” she muttered.
“Exhaustion,” Mia replied sweetly.
Skye suppressed a smile as she watched the easy way the sisters teased each other. She hadn’t been lonely as a child, not exactly, just aware of how much she would’ve loved an ally, someone to stand with her when the atmosphere at home became tense. However, the absence of a sibling had left her skilled at diplomacy, and she felt confident enough in herself to approach the warring duo farther down the garden. Andreas was facing away, but Dusty saw her coming and waved.
“Thank God you’re here,” she said to Skye. “You can help me talk some sense into this oaf.”
Andreas blinked irritably.
“Oaf? What is ‘oaf’?”
“It’s you,” Dusty said, folding her arms across a threadbare T-shirt. Her distinctive hair was crammed under a baseball cap, and a spray of mosquito bites dotted one cheek.
“Now, now.” Skye adopted her best teacherly tone. “Let’s not resort to name-calling.”
Andreas thrust a sheet of paper under her nose.
“Building regulations,” he said. “The document contains many references and terms that are specific to Greek law, and she does not understand Greek law.”
“I know how to read a permit,” Dusty said icily.
“This land isagrotemáchio,” Andreas said, his boots agitating the dry ground. “That means the extension must join to the house there”—he pointed—“and be constructed using the same materials. Not this foreign timber and cheap plasterboard.”
“It’s not cheap,” Dusty fumed. “Once it’s up, you’ll never notice the difference.”
Skye watched Andreas, noting the lines carved across his brow, the way he kept chewing at his lower lip. It wasn’t anger she saw but concern.
“Are you saying these stipulations are the law?” she asked.
Andreas turned to her, though he wouldn’t meet her eye.
“Nai,” he said. “There is a danger that if she continues to build in this way, the municipality will find fault, and she will be forced to tear the whole thing down.”
“You’re just cross because I’m doing the work myself instead of paying you,” Dusty accused. “It’s a male pride thing,” she added to Skye. “Men can’t bear it when they see a woman doing a job better than they could.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Skye began, but Dusty wasn’t finished.
“Ever since he found out what I did for a living, he’s been sticking his beak in, looking for reasons to undermine me.”
“You are mistaken,” Andreas said firmly. “I do not want you to get into trouble with the authorities, and—” He broke off as Louisa approached, a tray balanced in her hands. A large jug of water, bright with slices of lemon and cucumber, sat beside four glassesand a bowl of pistachios. Dusty reached across and helped herself to a handful, while Skye poured each of them a drink.
“Here,” she said, offering one to Andreas. He hesitated, then took it, careful to avoid touching her fingers. For a few moments, nobody spoke. Ice clinked against glass, the only other sound the faint crack of pistachio shells being pried open.
“You were going to say something else,” Skye prompted with a glance at Andreas. “No,” she added quickly as Dusty started to interrupt. “Let him finish.”
“What was it you wanted to say?” Louisa asked, her voice steady but her gaze almost too direct. She no longer blushed at the mere sight of Andreas, but something in the way she looked at him still gave her away. Skye took a sip of her water, the coolness doing little to ease the complicated knot of feelings she swallowed down with it.
“The law exists not to be difficult,” he said, “but primarily because of safety. How do you think this structure will survive the conditions on Folegandros? The wind, the winter rain.”
“I’ve built plenty the same in England,” Dusty threw back. “And the weather is far worse there, believe me.”
“Why don’t you just do as Andreas suggests?” Louisa said. “The extension barely exists yet—it’s just a floor and two walls. I don’t see why you can’t make a few changes.”
“I don’t see why I should,” Dusty replied.
