Page 64 of Modern Romance January 2025 1-4

‘Greece has countryside too, you know.’

‘You know what I mean. TheEnglishcountryside.’

The way she said it reminded him of how much she’d loved Cropley Hall. She’d been a country girl at heart.

Their footsteps crunched loud on the frozen ground as he let the silence lengthen, considering.

He’d been a country boy. He’d been just a toddler when he and his mother had moved in with her uncle. As a child, Lex had loved the place. The adventures to be had. The animals and birds. The freedom.

It was only as he grew older and bore the brunt of disapproval and suspicion for being different that things changed. He’d chafed at the restrictions of living in such a small community, longing for opportunities that beckoned elsewhere. Longing for a chance to prove himself.

He would have left earlier, but for Portia.

They stopped at a summerhouse overlooking a small lake and he felt a tug of pleasure.

They’d grown up several counties away from here but the rolling hills, frost-edged forest and view across the water towards a nearby village held both beauty and familiarity.

Yet it had been easy to turn his back on England, believing it had nothing to offer him.

‘I’ve been too busy to feel homesick. Besides, Greece is my home now.’ It still surprised him, how easily he’d adjusted to life there. How Greek he felt.

As if reading his thoughts, Portia said, ‘I think it’s remarkable. You didn’t even speak the language. How did you evenknowyour father was there? You said your mother never spoke about him.’

He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. ‘She didn’t. She refused to discuss him. As I grew older I wondered if he’d treated her badly and that’s why she wouldn’t talk about him. Or if she’d even known who he was.’

Portia moved closer, slipping her arm through his and staring at the scene. Their breaths were visible plumes in the frigid air that mingled before disappearing.

Being with her after all this time, talking with her, was far easier than he’d believed possible in the days when he’d thought she’d betrayed him.

It was incredibly easy being with Portia like this. No strings, no expectations.

This was supposed to be nothing more than sex yet it felt like therewassomething more. He supposed it was their shared past, their knowledge of each other.

For whatever reason, Lex found himself revealing what he’d told no one apart from his father.

‘I went to Greece on a hunch.’

It hadn’t been his original plan. When he’d thought he’d have Portia with him the idea had been to stay in the UK, find somewhere they could both find work.

‘It must have been based on something.’

Lex shrugged. ‘I found something a long time ago, at the back of a cupboard. Just a paper bag, printed with what I thought at first were mathematical equations, because I’d just started learning algebra. Then I realised I was looking at Greek letters making words, not maths.’

He’d stood there puzzling over the letters until his mother discovered him and snatched the bag away. He’d never seen it again. She’d blustered about him prying but refused to meet his eyes and her mood had been bad for weeks afterwards.

‘My mother’s reaction made it obvious it was something she didn’t want me to know about. So I set about trying to learn more.’

Most people he’d known then would have made some comment about him always seeking out trouble. Portia simply nodded. Had she guessed how incomplete he’d felt, not knowing who his father was? How deeply he’d felt the sneers and jibes about his mother and himself, though he’d taken pride in never showing weakness?

‘I’d memorised some of the symbols and researched them with a bit of help at the library. I remembered just enough to translate one word. Athens. I’d assumed she, or someone she knew, had bought something at a shop in Athens.’

‘And you thought that someone might have been your father.’

‘It was an incredibly long shot.’ But as a kid he’d been desperate to find out the truth about himself. To find his father. ‘But it was the only possible lead I had.’

He cleared his throat. ‘One of the library branches had an old teach yourself Greek book. I borrowed it so often over the years that when it grew too tatty to stay in circulation, the librarian gave it to me. I used to read it at night in bed.’

Portia’s hand squeezed his arm. ‘You never said.’

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