‘I might have to stop you if you order another sixsouvlakia,’ Faye said, sipping at her Coke Zero.
‘Why? Maddie and I did so much swimming today!’
‘That’s great. So, she’s enjoying Corfu. Is it her first time here?’
‘Yes, she usually goes to Crete, but I think she likes it here better.’ She bit off a succulent square of meat and chewed. ‘But just tell me already what you want to tell me.’
Faye took a breath.Always lead with good news. ‘So, I might have found a little house to buy.’
‘What?’
‘Yes, Saff, it’s so cute, you’re going to love it. I mean, I haven’t seen the inside yet but I know exactly where it is. It’s on Almyros Beach, footsteps from the sand and?—’
‘But you live at the hotel.’
Faye looked at her daughter. She seemed to be frozen mid-mouthful, eyes dewy. This wasn’t the reaction Faye had been expecting. Saffron appeared a bit like she would before an anxiety episode.
‘I know, but I told you someone is interested in buying it and?—’
‘And you need to wait,’ Saffron said. ‘Because you don’t know what the person will want to do with the hotel yet. There is more chance of them needing someone to manage the hotel just like you are now, than anything else.’
‘I know, let’s hope so, but, Saff, you know I was always looking for somewhere more permanent to live. Somewhere to really call my own.’
‘You always said the hotel was your home.’ Saffron dropped the finishedsouvlakistick to her plate.
‘I think I always said Corfu is my home,’ Faye told her.
‘You said you love the hotel.’
‘Yes, of course I do, but Saff, this could be a really great change and I want you to come and see the house with me because you’d have your own bedroom, no more sofa bed for either of us.’
‘I don’t want to see it,’ Saffron stated.
‘What? Why?’ This was not the reaction Faye had been expecting. She’d imagined Saffron being super-excited about being even closer to the sea than she was at Hotel Margaritári, helping her pick out some paints, choosing curtains and cushions, relishing their own space…
‘I need to call Dad.’ Saffron got up from the table.
‘Why? Saff, come on, we haven’t finished dinner yet.’
‘He called me earlier and I said I’d call him back and I haven’t yet so…’
‘Saff, you can call him after dinner.’
‘I think I need the walk.’
And without saying anything else, Saffron left the table and stepped out onto the street, heading to the right towards the taxi rank and the beach.
Faye picked up her drink again and took a swig, wishing it was something more than Coke Zero. How had that gone so horribly? She knew that Saffron wasn’t the biggest fan of change, but this could be a good change. Faye had always felt quite dependent on Dimitria and the hotel – those things had been part of her safety net – but she knew she was capable of standing completely on her own two feet now if she wanted to. She reached for her handbag and took out the property details. She smoothed the papers down and looked at the photos again. Could she see herself there? Sitting on that terrace with a book and a glass of wine? Listening to the waves hit the shore? Lighting a citronella candle to ward off the mosquitos? It wasn’t Avlaki but it wasn’t far and maybe paradise could be found in more than one place…
She looked out at the Roda high street, tourists walking to and fro, sun-kissed in bright ‘holiday’ clothes, some with souvenir purchases in their hands, others with doggy bags from the generous Greek portions they couldn’t finish. That had been her once and now she got to walk these streets every single day, in the heat of the summer like now, and in the winter, cooler, calmer, chilled. But then someone else caught her eye. Saffron. She was heading back towards the grill room and Faye could see from her daughter’s demeanour and expression that whatever had happened in those short minutes away from her was not good. Faye stood up as Saffron arrived.
‘Is everything OK?’ Faye asked.
‘No,’ Saffron snapped. ‘Everything is not OK. Dad has just sent me these!’
Saffron thrust her phone at Faye and Faye knew immediately what she was going to see. The Corfu News page. Those photographs.
‘Saff, please calm down, I was going to tell you but?—’
