Page 56 of One Hot Summer

“Good morning, campers!” Miranda came out to the patio. In her white shorts, blue blouse and straw hat, she was ready for a girls’ day out. “Zacky, don’t let your father sit inside watching the telly with Stan all day. He needs some vitamin D. Make sure he sits outside for a while. In fact, get them both cleaning up, the storm has caused a bit of a mess.” The pool was full of floating leaves and the cushions from the loungers had scattered.

“Will do, Mum.”

“Are you all right, Jenny? You look quite pale.”

“She doesn’t look right, does she? I’m worried. Are you sure you’re up for it today?” Zack looked really concerned, but I didn’t feel up to talking about it just now. It would have to be tonight.

“I promise I’m okay.” I stood up, brushing the crumbs from my breakfast onto my plate. “It was a rough night, what with the noise of the storm on the roof, but a girly day is what the doctor ordered.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” She genuinely looked happy to be heading out with me. I guess with having only a son, she missed out on these things.

“I thought we were going to Elounda?” I asked as we took the short trip in a taxi down the road to Agios Nikolaos instead, winding around the compact roads and over the little bridge.

“Oh, I changed my mind, is that all right? There are more shops here, so I thought it’d be more fun for us.”

“That’s fine.” I could finally look in all the little shops and spend some money. That would take my mind off things. “I love looking at all the handmade jewellery.”

“Well, let’s see what we can buy to fill up our suitcases. We have all day. Zack will be busy getting things ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Oh, didn’t he tell you? He’s useless sometimes, that boy.” She laughed, shaking her head. “It’s our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary today.”

“Oh wow, congratulations!” I beamed. They’d been married for longer than I’d been alive. What a crazy thought that was.

“Yes, we thought we’d have a special dinner tonight. We planned it last night, while you were upstairs. Very last minute.” My stomach flipped. Another dinner with Beverley the drunken witch, and Chloe her trampy daughter, and the husband who sits quietly and lets it all happen. Just what I needed. “It’ll only be the four of us, so a little bit more intimate.”

Phew.

“That sounds lovely. Well, if it is a special occasion, we have a lot of shopping to do.”

We got out of the taxi and linked arms as we set off on our trip. It was already brightening my mood, and once again, I was doubting myself. Was Zack really being that inappropriate? Was it all actually only one-sided? Was I getting paranoid because I had finally found a guy I loved and wanted to spend my life with, and I was worried I might have chosen badly, just like my best friend did?

Two hours into our shopping trip, I had bought myself some gorgeous Greek jewellery, a mini statue of a minotaur, a new handheld fan (which I couldn’t wait to show Zack) and I even got Sarah a little gift as a thank you. Even if our relationship was on the rocks, she had been looking after my cat, although I suspected this would be the last time she ever offered to cat-sit the demon feline.

“I just want to go back into that boutique before we eat, is that all right?” Miranda asked.

“Of course, go ahead. I’ll wait outside.” I sprung open my fan and began cooling myself. Alistair had been right about the heat returning. The boutique had no air conditioning and I couldn’t face going back inside.

“Okay, I’ll be two minutes. I might buy that dress after all.”

I watched as she went in and was welcomed back by the shop assistant who spoke perfect English. I pulled out my phone. There were no further messages from Sarah, so I decided to see what was happening in the world of social media. Curiosity got the better of me so I searched for my new favourite twenty-something.

Her Instagram profile was public, as she was clearly a budding influencer, so it was easy to find her. I just went into Zack’s list of followers and chose the only one whose username contained anything close to ‘Chloe’. I scrolled through her recent posts, most of which were of her in suggestive poses, wearing a barely-there bikini. Each photo had nearly a hundred likes.

I did a double take and scrolled back up to the top. The latest post, from today, twenty minutes ago, was a selfie of Chloe and my boyfriend. The same boyfriend who clearly lied to me and told me he would be at the villa all day, with his dad. My mouth went dry and I felt a ringing in my ears as I looked at their faces, grinning and pressed together, and read the caption.

Day out with Z, exciting things to come. x

What the… is he spending the day with her? Where are they? What are they doing? Why wouldn’t he have told me about it? He actively lied! Why did he even bring me on holiday if he was just wanting to spend the days with her? Was he splitting his time between us?

I was fuming. My new fan almost crumpled under my rageful wafting. I didn’t know whether I wanted to scream or cry.

And then I saw them.

As I looked up from my phone, there they were, linking arms, walking down the road, totally oblivious. But, of course, Zack had no idea we were going to be coming here today. Even I’d thought we were going to Elounda, which was in the opposite direction. They would have thought they’d be free from being discovered here. No girlfriend, no judgemental parents, they could do what they liked.

I watched from behind my fan as they walked into one of the shops. Zack held the door open for her, always a gentleman, and she stepped inside.

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