‘This is Dr Sam.’ He beamed. ‘He is not a sore tummy doctor. He is an old things doctor. Very old things. Older than Ya-ya.’
This, of course, drew amused laughter—including from Mrs Theakis. She was being—Ann would never have thought otherwise—an exceptionally kindly hostess to her new guests. But what Ann also had to acknowledge was that so was her son. He was as welcoming and as pleasant as any guest could wish. There was no trace of arrogance about him, nothing of the rich man condescending to his employee’s relations.
Ann found herself watching him. She told herself she was merely watching out for him—making sure she kept a physical distance from him, making sure she said nothing that might draw his unwelcome attention to her. But she knew it was more than that. She knew that seeing him talking, smiling—even laughing—his manner relaxed and easy, was doing things to her insides.
Like tying them into knots. Tight knots. Squeezing hard.
Deliberately she stayed at the edges of the company and the conversation, effacing herself as much as she could. This worked until Tina’s mother, directly addressing her, said, ‘Tina says she is so relieved you are here, Ann—to take Ari’s mind off the fact that she is leaving.’
Ann smiled a little ruefully, first glancing to see that Ari himself was out of earshot, his eyes only for the radio controlled car that Tina’s parents had brought for him as a present.
‘Tina must not worry too much. Ari will get used to her absence,’ she said. ‘It may sound upsetting to an adult, but at his age he will adapt very quickly to new circumstances.’
‘I do hope you are right,’ said Tina’s mother doubtfully.
Ann sought to reassure her. ‘Well, I lost my mother at four—Ari’s age. And I have to say I have almost no memories of her—certainly not of losing her. My “memories” of her are really my sister’s. She told me about her. It was much worse for Carla—Ari’s mother. She was nearly nine, and felt our mother’s death very badly.’
‘Oh, how very sad! And for your father, of course.’
‘He wasn’t there any more. He left when I was born,’ replied Ann.
‘Good heavens—how dreadful for you two girls, left alone. What happened to you?’
Ann didn’t really want to answer Tina’s mother’s enquiry, but it was made with concern and sympathy, so she answered briefly. ‘We were fostered. Luckily Carla and I were able to stay together, which doesn’t always happen when children are taken into care.’
Tina’s mother smiled sympathetically. ‘You must have been very close to your sister?’
‘Yes.’
It was all Ann could say. She looked away—and found her gaze colliding, as if with a stone wall, with Nikos’. He was looking at her, his expression strange. She snapped her eyes away immediately, and to her relief Mrs Theakis moved the conversation onwards again.
Tina’s wedding day dawned as another beautifully warm and sunny day, with the villa and its beautiful gardens creating a fairytale setting. With the civil ceremony having been conducted on Maxos, for the Greek authorities, Tina and Sam returned to the villa later in the day for an Anglican blessing, held under a vast gazebo erected on the largest terrace and conducted by Sam’s uncle, a Church of England canon, attended by all their family and friends, as well as the Theakis family.
Ann sat beside Mrs Theakis, with little Ari, very smartly dressed, on her lap. Less happily, Nikos was on her other side. She sat very stiffly, drawing herself away from him, but his presence was overpowering all the same, and she was horribly conscious of it through the ceremony. But not enough to distract her from the beauty of the ceremony itself. Canon Forbes blessed the bridal couple and at the end, as Ann watched Sam’s strong hands gently cradling Tina’s face to kiss it, gazing down with love and happiness reflected like a shining mirror from his bride’s eyes, she felt her own swell with tears. She had held them at bay throughout the service, but now they spilled over. Silently they coursed down her cheeks. Surreptitiously she dashed them away with her finger. Then, a moment later, a large silk handkerchief was pressed silently into her hand.
‘My mother and Eupheme came better prepared,’ said a low, deep voice at her ear.
Ann glanced at the older women, and indeed, as Nikos had indicated, both were shedding unashamed tears of emotion, delicately mopped with lawn handkerchiefs. As her gaze moved back to the bridal couple it brushed past Nikos. For a second she wasn’t sure she could credit what she thought she had just seen in his face as he stared at Tina and Sam. Some strong emotion she could put no name to. Then, as she was still staring, his gaze suddenly flicked back to her.
The same emotion was still in it.
CHAPTER TEN
THE WEDDING RECEPTION was a lavish affair. Everyone was in evening dress, and Ann, though she wished she had another dress to wear, had no option but to put on Carla’s dress. When she did, gazing at herself, her hair dressed in a low chignon at the nape of her neck, she was glad. It was a beautiful dress! And she knew she looked beautiful in it.
If there were dark associations with it, she would ignore them.
Just as she would ignore the man who had told her about them.
As she had been since Tina’s family had arrived, Ann was glad to be unobtrusive, looking after Ari. Glad too that Nikos was spending his time being a highly hospitable host, which kept him well away from her. After the lengthy wedding dinner came dancing under the stars. Ari,
though getting sleepy, wanted to dance, and Ann smilingly obliged, letting him lead her out importantly, and count with great concentration the ‘one, two, three’ of the slow waltz being played as she held out her hands and he lifted his to hers. The steps brought them close to Tina—who was dancing, Ann realised too late, with Nikos, while her new husband bestowed his favours on one of the other female guests.
‘Oh, Ari,’ cried Tina laughingly. ‘Dancing with Auntie Annie and not with me! I’m jealous!’
Immediately Ari let go of Ann. ‘Tina is next,’ he explained to her, and defected to his nanny. Tina disengaged from Nikos and swept off with Ari. Ann made to slip away, but suddenly her wrist was taken.
‘I believe we have changed partners,’ he said.