Page 37 of A Midlife Gamble

‘Whose house are we talking about,’ Marianne said, frowning.

‘The casino, I suppose,’ Caro said.

Marianne pursed her lips. ‘The only house I know about, is mine back in Cyprus, gathering dust and getting dirty, because if there’s one thing I do know the odds of, it’s that my lazy son won’t be lifting a finger to clean it. Any other houses,’ she waved her hand, ‘I don’t want to know about. One is enough!’

Kay turned to her. ‘So, it’s safe to say you’re not going to play?’

‘No!’ Marianne exclaimed. ‘I didn’t come all this way to play games! If I wanted to do that I could have gone into Kyrenia and joined all the old men, sucking their teeth and wasting their lives, playing backgammon!'

‘Would you mind if I played with him?’ Kay said, the question popping out like a pip. Easy. Simple. But goodness she wanted to play. More than anything, armed with this new memory, she wanted to try her hand and play!

Marianne shrugged. ‘I want you to do whatever you want, Kay. This is your holiday.’

Beside them, Caro shifted her weight.

‘What will you do?’ Kay asked. ‘It’s a few hours, isn’t it, before we leave for the ranch.’

Marianne lifted her chin. ‘I think I’ll go to the spa. I haven’t been to one since the last century, so yes. I think I can easily go there now.’

‘Caro?’ Kay turned to Caro, whose face was such a mosaic of conflicting emotion that she was almost ready to crumble, and say,Let’s go for a coffee, let’s go and talk, tell me what’s going on.And maybe would have, except Caro got in before her.

‘Go and play, Kay.’

‘Don’t you want to talk?’

‘No.’Caro shook her head, the word vibrating with a sadness that was untouchable. 'What I want,’ she managed, ‘like Marianne, is to see you having a good time. This is your trip.’

‘But—’

‘But nothing, Kay. I’ll work it out with Helen.’ Caro turned and looked across at the crowds of people queueing for tickets, at the crowds of people shopping, at the crowds, just crowding. ‘Or I won’t,’ she added. ‘Besides, I think I just want to find somewhere quiet. To think a while.’

Kay followed her gaze. ‘I don’t know where you’re going to find that.’

‘The spa,’ Marianne said. She put a hand on Caro’s arm. ‘Come with me, Caro. Have a massage and pretend to be asleep and you can think all you want about this proposal. That’s what you need the quiet for? Yes?’

Swallowing hard, Caro nodded. ‘That, and other things.’

‘You really don’t know?’ Kay said.

‘I don’t.’

‘He’s such a good man.’

‘They all are,’ Marianne sighed, ‘in the beginning.’

‘True.’ Kay nodded. She turned to Marianne. ‘Tony seems like a lot of fun.’

‘He is fun,’ Marianne said and looked at Kay sideways. ‘But remember how I met him the first time? He was cheating on his wife. Of course I was too young and selfish back then to understand. But leopards don’t change their stripes, Kay.’

'Spots,’ Caro murmured.

‘Yes, spots. Don’t worry. I have my eyes wide awake.'

'Open,' Caro murmured again and this time smiled. ‘Sorry.’

‘Come to the spa,’ Marianne nudged her. ‘You need to relax. It’s a good idea.’

‘I will,’ she said. ‘I think so too.’ She turned to Kay. ‘And you go and play.’

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