* * *
‘Hurry up, Mommy.’
For the second time in so many minutes Teddie felt George’s hand tug at the edge of her shorts.
‘I’m trying, sweetie. Just let me check this one last pocket.’
Fumbling in the side of her suitcase, she smiled distractedly down at her son, who was sitting on the floor of her dressing room.
Her hat was great when she was sitting on the sun lounger, but it was difficult to wear in the pool and she was trying to find the hairbands that she’d packed—or at least thought she’d packed—so that she could put her hair up to protect her head.
‘Mommy, come on!’
‘Darling, the pool will still be there—’ she said soothingly,
But, shaking his head, George interrupted her. ‘I don’t want to go to the pool. I want to see the pirate boat.’
Pirate boat! What pirate boat?
Giving up on her search, she pushed the case back into the wardrobe and turned to where George was sitting on the floor beside a selection of toy vehicles, his upturned eyes watching her anxiously.
‘What are you talking about, darling?’ Gently, she pushed a curl away from his forehead.
‘The pirate boat.’ He bit his lip, clearly baffled by his mother’s confusion. ‘Aristo—I mean, Daddy...’
He paused, and her heart turned over as he looked up at her. The word was not yet automatic to him.
‘They left it behind and Daddy said he’d take us to see it.’
Teddie frowned. She had some vague memory of Aristo talking about pirates when they were eating breakfast that morning, but she’d been only half paying attention, she thought guiltily. Most of her head had still been spinning from that almost-kiss they’d shared last night.
‘Okay—well, we can do that. I was just going to tie my hair back.’ Leaning forward, she gave him an impish grin. ‘But I’ve had a much better idea!’
Ten minutes later she was walking through the villa with George scampering by her side. Both of them were wearing blue and white striped T-shirts and Teddie had drawn a moustache and stubble on their faces.
‘Shall we scare him?’ George whispered, accelerating into a little run.
He seemed giddy with excitement at the prospect, and Teddie nodded. But as they crept out onto the terrace the giggle she’d been holding back subsided as she saw that the pool was empty.
‘Where is he?’ George’s hand tightened around hers and instinctively she gave it a squeeze.
‘He’s probably getting changed.’ She gave him a reassuring smile.
Ten minutes later, though, they were still waiting by the pool.
‘Do you think he’s forgotten?’ George whispered.
He was starting to look anxious, and she couldn’t stop a flicker of uncertainty rippling down her spine.
She shook her head. ‘No, of course not,’ she said firmly. ‘Why don’t we give it another five minutes and then we’ll go and look for him? I’m sure he’ll be here any moment.’
But Aristo didn’t arrive. Finally, Teddie took George’s hand, and they walked back into the villa just as Melina came rushing towards them.
‘I was coming to find you! I completely forgot Mr Aristo said that he was going to be in his office. He has a very important work call.’
Nodding, Teddie pinned a smile on her face, but inside she could feel a rising swell of angry disappointment as she asked Melina to take George to the kitchen. Disappointment and relief—for hadn’t she been expecting this to happen?
She bit down on her misery. An important work call! No, scratch that, a very important work call, she thought bitterly. Her throat tightened. Had she really thought that things could be different? Or that Aristo could change? She should have realised how this holiday was going to pan out that first morning, when she’d spotted his laptop crouching like some alien in the blazing Mediterranean sunshine. But, idiot that she was, she’d assumed it was a one-off.