Page 29 of Footprints in the Sand
She leaped into the water after Nico and emerged laughing. His eyes danced.
“I like your suit,” he said.
She thanked him. They circled one another, catching one another’s eyes frequently. Eva felt like someone else—a more adventurous woman eager to take on the world. What had changed?
“How is it working with Jean-Paul?” Nico asked. If Eva wasn’t mistaken, she thought she caught a hint of jealousy in his tone.
“It’s nice,” she said. “He really needed help.”
“Aphrodite says that you turned his business around,” Nico said. “You could probably help a lot of people in Aliki. Tourists want to make the most of the island, but I don’t know if all the villagers know what to make of them. There’s money to be made, but not everyone knows how to find it.”
Eva treaded water slowly, sweeping her hands back and forth. “Do you really want the village to be swarming with tourists?”
Nico raised his shoulders out of the water. “You’re from a touristy place, no? You know what it’s like. We have to make money where we can.”
Eva said she understood.
“Jean-Paul is handsome, yes?” Nico asked, pushing her a little bit.
“I don’t know. I guess so,” Eva lied.
“You guess?”
Eva shrugged.
“He came to the island to be alone,” Nico said. “He isn’t Greek. He doesn’t have a sense of our community. He would just be in his marble workshop all the time, avoiding the world if he could.”
“But he knows your sister pretty well,” Eva said.
“He knows all the women,” Nico said playfully. “That’s true.”
Eva wasn’t sure how to read him. A moment later, he swam to the ladder and pulled himself back on board. Eva followed him, sitting aboard and watching as he grabbed a bottle of wine from a cooler and filled two glasses.
“It’s the Fourth of July,” Eva said, raising her glass to his.
“Ah. I’m sorry, I don’t have any fireworks for us,” Nico said. He sat down on a cushion and patted the seat beside him.
Eva wondered why he’d pestered her about Jean-Paul and decided he was jealous. She sat down beside him and took a sip of wine. “What kind of work were you doing the past few weeks?” she asked.
“Did you miss me while I was gone?” he asked.
Eva laughed. He was so presumptuous. It was annoying and alluring at once.
“I do odd jobs for people all over the island,” Nico explained. “I go where I’m needed. Now that you’ve lost your job, I suppose you get it. You will do whatever you have to do to survive.”
Eva tilted her head. “Like home improvement stuff? Deliveries? What kind of stuff?”
Nico raised his eyebrows. “You’re curious.”
“I’m just trying to get a better picture of your life,” she said.
“Why are you so interested in me?” he asked.
Eva laughed nervously, flirtatiously. “I mean, of course I’m interested in you. I’m interested in who you are, what you’re about. We’re becoming friends. Aren’t we?”
“I’d like to think so,” Nico said, shifting gently closer to her.
Eva’s heart began to pound. The bright turquoise water, Nico’s penetrating gaze, and the sun above felt almost like too much. She reached for her water bottle and felt beads of sweat form on her upper lip.
