Page 20 of Greek Island Fling to Forever

‘Pie and chips is fine. I used to live in London too, remember? Or do you do sausages and mash?’

‘Definitely. With homemade onion gravy.’

Arianna grinned and sat down at the table. ‘I’m going to need to try that before you go.’

They spent a lazy hour, talking and eating, as the sun went down. Ben had reminded Arianna not to move while he cleared away the plates and made coffee, and he was stacking the dishwasher when his phone rang.

‘That was Lizzie,’ he called to her from the kitchen door after he hung up. ‘She says that the manager of our hotel has arranged for us to move across to the island first thing tomorrow morning.’

‘That’s good.’ Arianna didn’t seem much surprised by the news.

‘Yeah. I don’t suppose you had anything to do with our being upgraded to a suite, did you?’ Ben felt slightly uncomfortable about that.

‘It was what they had available. There’s a similar suite in all of my father’s hotels, which is used for family and friends. It’s usually empty. And you’re my friends.’ She said it with a touch of defensiveness and Ben relented. A suite would be nice and Arianna had clearly broken her own rule about expecting no special treatment because of who her father was.

‘It’s great. Thank you.’

The matter was closed. Arianna went into the house, returning with a backgammon set, and he made coffee, taking the two cups out onto the veranda.

It all felt so natural. So unremarkable, and yet so very delicious. Drinking coffee and playing backgammon to the sound of the sea. Watching Arianna’s face as she pondered her next move.

He had to be here for her. He’d been there on the ferry, and swum with her away from the treacherous undertow that threatened to pull them both down. Now she needed him again. Ben had never had the chance to go back and save Emma, and saving Arianna now seemed all the more important because of that.

But he mustn’t get too involved. She needed to find her own way, and Ben’s instinct to overprotect the people he loved would only hinder her. It was a fine line, made all the more difficult by the attraction he felt for Arianna. But this was an opportunity he’d never have again.

Before it was time to think about heading down to the harbour to catch the last ferry, Arianna had already begun to yawn. That was exactly what Ben had planned on.

‘I should be going. Lizzie wants to leave early tomorrow morning and we’ll be on the eight o’clock ferry, so I need to repack everything tonight.’

Arianna got to her feet. ‘I’ll give you a lift.’

‘No, I’ll walk.’ Arianna opened her mouth to protest and he silenced her with a stern look. ‘You think I went to all this trouble just so you could wake yourself up again by driving?’

She thought for a moment, and Ben hoped that she was seeing sense. ‘I do feel a bit tired. Would you like to take my car? You can leave it at the harbour and then use it to drive to the hotel in the morning. Then bring it back here.’

‘I’m coming back in the morning?’ Ben teased her, knowing full well that he couldn’t keep away. If Arianna wanted him around, he’d be there for her.

‘Are you?’ She called his bluff and Ben gave in.

‘I’ll be back. What time tomorrow?’

He was expecting her to just wave her hand, in the way that many people here seemed to do when time was referred to, but Arianna seemed to want something more precise.

‘About ten? Or later if you have things to do.’

Ben wondered if she’d be counting the moments, the way he already was. ‘Ten’s fine. See you then.’

She dropped her car keys into his hand, and followed him outside. As he drove away he saw her standing in the light from the open front door.

Ben had been careful to curb his expectations when he’d come to Ilaria. He hadn’t taken it for granted that they’d be friends, or that she’d even want to see him again. But what he’d found here was beyond anything he could have imagined. They’d just clicked together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Being there for her was a challenge, one he wasn’t sure he was equal to. But everything depended on getting this right. It was his second chance. The one he’d thought he’d never have to be the man that he wanted to be, and if he let Arianna down now that man would be lost for ever.

* * *

Last night, Arianna had watched Ben drive away and then walked, yawning, to her bedroom. She’d gone to sleep, curled up with her memories of him, and then woken again at three in the morning, taunted by her nightmares. Wrapping a quilt around her, she’d gone outside to sit on the veranda. The sun had risen, and she’d had breakfast. And the last thought she’d had was that she must take a shower and get dressed...

Now she was being woken by the brush of fingers against her hand. Nice. She shifted a little on the wide settle, then stretched, and then realised that the touch was real and not part of a dream.

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