‘Go back to sleep. I’m right here, and I’ve got you. You’re safe.’
* * *
It had been so long since she’d gone to sleep, wrapped in someone’s arms. And Lawrence had never made her feel safe, the way that Ben did. She’d never felt that he could find his way into her dreams and help her fight off the monsters that were waiting for her there.
Arianna hadn’t dreamed again that night, and she woke to find herself alone. Lighter, somehow, as if she’d shed some of the weight of guilt that the nightmares always brought with them. She’d thrown off the quilt at some point during the night, and she could still feel the warm thrill of the touch of his skin against hers. Maybe that had been a dream, but she didn’t think so.
She could hear Ben moving around, and the smell of coffee was tempting her awake. Picking up the quilt from the floor, she wrapped it carefully on top of the sleeveless vest she wore and walked out onto the veranda.
‘Coffee! Now!’
Ben’s head popped through the open kitchen window. ‘Wait! It’ll be ready in two minutes. Then we’d better get moving, or Jonas will be wondering where I’ve got to and you’ll be late for work.’
Not a word about the dreams. That was because he’d been there and held her, driving them away. Ben had found two pastries in the bread box and he brought them out with the coffee, sitting down next to her on the long settle so they could both look out at a crisp, clear morning.
‘What are you and Jonas up to today?’ Arianna took a sip of her coffee.
‘We’ll probably all go to the beach in the morning. Then we’ll take a siesta and I thought I might check out the little museum in the village.’
‘Go for three o’clock. It’s Andreas’s day off today; he’s been covering at the health centre this weekend. His father runs the museum and when he has a free day Andreas organises trips down to the harbour, and they teach the kids how to fish. Jonas might enjoy that.’
‘That sounds great. I’ll take Lizzie’s three kids as well, so that she and James can have an afternoon to themselves. My dad’s a fisherman and he’d be very impressed if all of his grandchildren come back from holiday knowing how to fish. Do you want to do something this evening?’
Arianna had been hoping that Ben would ask. It would be something to look forward to all day.
‘Shall we meet up for dinner at the taverna? About eight?’
‘Sounds good. Greek time or English time?’ He grinned at her.
‘Doctor’s time. I’ll give you a call if I can’t make it.’
* * *
That evening Arianna declined the invitations from other diners to join them and they sat alone, under the fairy lights that illuminated the canopy over their heads.
‘How was your day?’ Ben asked, after Jonas had finished recounting his fishing adventures with his cousins and his new friend Andreas.
‘Busy. I was at the hotel this afternoon, but you’d already left to go down to the village.’
‘Lizzie said that the manager called her to ask about the children’s MMR vaccinations. Was that anything to do with your visit?’
‘Yes. There’s a case of measles in the hotel, a little girl from England.’ Arianna quirked her lips down. ‘The parents gave me a bit of a hard time, actually.’
‘How so?’
‘Well, they insisted that she couldn’t have picked it up in England and that she must have got it here in Greece. They’re asking the hotel for compensation.’
‘What? How long’s she been here?’
‘Ten days.’ Arianna knew what he was thinking, but the incubation period for measles was between ten and fourteen days. ‘She could have picked it up at home, or on the plane, or here. I doubt very much it’s here because I haven’t had any other cases on the island.’
‘Could have been anywhere. What about the other kids at the hotel?’
‘I asked the manager to make a list of those who haven’t been vaccinated, and I’ll be going back tomorrow to see if they have any symptoms. Meanwhile, they’ve moved the family to one of the separate bungalows in the grounds where they can isolate more comfortably, and deep cleaned their old room.’
Ben nodded. ‘That’s pretty decent of them. Did you point out to the parents that if they’d had their child vaccinated then she might not have gotten measles in the first place? It’s hardly the hotel’s fault.’
‘That’s the thing. I can’t really say anything because everyone knows that my father owns the hotel. I can be as even-handed as I like, but that doesn’t stop anyone from accusing me of trying to get the hotel off the hook. Andreas is coming with me tomorrow, but he’s not exactly impartial either. His wife works as an accountant at the hotel, and he works at the health centre my father built.’