“Maybe.” Skye stared at the stony ground.
“And you reckon she’ll be quite happy to spill her guts to you—a complete stranger?”
Skye puffed air into her cheeks.
“ ’Cause I wouldn’t,” Joy added. “Especially not when I was in the middle of leading a tour. And you know what I’d do the minute you walked off with your tail between your nethers? I’d be straight on the phone to Andreas.”
Skye conceded that she had a point.
“Just ask him yourself,” Joy said with mild exasperation.
“But he’s been acting so cold toward me.”
“And you reckon going behind his back to gossip about him with his ex will help that?”
“Stop being so reasonable,” Skye said, groaning her way into a helpless laugh. “You’re supposed to be the naughty one, remember?”
“Yeah, I know. But now it looks like I’ll be handing over that crown to Andreas.”
They did not linger long in Chora. The early-afternoon ferryhad docked, bringing scores of daytime tourists along the road from Karavostasis.
“We’ll never get a bloody taxi,” Joy said. “Shall I give the girls a call, see if one of them will come and get us? I don’t much fancy the walk, do you?”
“It’s far too hot,” Skye agreed.
Joy dug her phone out, trying first Dusty and then Louisa.
“No answer,” she said.
“What about Mia?”
“She’s working today. I could try Andre—”
“No,” Skye interrupted. “I’ll ring Victoria.”
Twenty minutes later, they were buckled into the 4x4, the leather seats cool against the heat of the day.
“I’m glad you called,” Victoria said. “I know things have been…that I’ve been a bit quiet. I want you to know, it’s not on you. I just have some stuff going on.”
“No need to explain,” Skye assured her. “I hope we didn’t pull you away from anything important?”
“Fat chance of that.” Victoria leaned over the wheel, checking for oncoming traffic. The indicator clicked in the quiet. In the passenger seat, Skye caught the edge in her voice and wondered at the sudden shift in tone.
“You look nice,” she said. Gone were the leggings and sneakers, replaced by a dress the color of sunlit sea. Her dark blond hair was loose, brushed smooth, and gold shimmered at her ears, throat, and wrists.
“We were supposed to be going out for lunch,” Victoria said, pressing her foot to the gas pedal with enough force to make the tires screech. “But then Adam had an emergency at work.”
The way she saidemergencymade it sound like anything but.
“We could all go for lunch?” Joy suggested. “Why don’t we stop at the taverna on the way back?”
Victoria flipped down her sun visor.
“That’s kind of you,” she said in a brittle voice. “But I wouldn’t be the best company. I’ve been a bit up and down since— Well, since what feels like forever, to be honest. I guess I’m just homesick or something.”
“Are you sure it’s only that?” Skye asked gently.
Victoria drummed her fingers.
