by Suzy Turner
A large, family-sized long Oak dining table was the focal point of the room, which made me think of those feel-good American movies, where several generations gather together for Thanksgiving and such. After watching those kinds of films, I'd always wished my family had been like that – you know, six or seven siblings, all happy with kids of their own and all getting together for special occasions to make even more special memories together.
Of course I realise that rarely happens. Families get together and there’s nothing but trouble. Arguments and fall outs. You can’t choose your family but you can choose your friends, I thought. On cue, the others waltzed into the kitchen, all still oohing and aahing about the beauty of the house.
'I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving. Shall we all have a quick shower and then head into the nearest village for a bite to eat?' asked John, patting his stomach.
We nodded, gathered our belongings from the jeeps and rushed upstairs to wash and change. The others waited for me to choose my bedroom before the excited madness of getting ready began. The room I chose sat directly above the main sitting room and had a large terrace that looked out across the ocean. Inside was a simple, yet massive, four poster bed. Other than that, and a large free standing dark wooden wardrobe, the room was quite bare. The walls were painted white and simple white drapes hung from the windows. A door next to the entrance revealed a large en-suite bathroom with a walk-in shower made from cream and white mosaic tiles. It was beautiful in its simplicity.
Less than an hour later, Tony and I were first out and waiting down in the main sitting room.
'You look very nice,' he complimented as I walked in wearing a new white linen maxi dress. I smiled, did a little twirl and said 'It’s new. From eBay!'
He laughed and shook his head as I twirled.
'I’ll never stop buying clothes from there,' I giggled as we heard the others rushing downstairs, ready to head out to get some food.
We piled into the jeeps and headed to the nearest restaurant in the nearest village. It was a traditional Portuguese place, with tiled walls indoors and out, that served all kinds of fresh fish and meat dishes.
'Benvindo. Welcome,' nodded the waiter as we walked in and asked for a table for eight. The man, who was in his mid fifties, smiled brightly and led us onto a terrace with a fabulous ocean view, to the best table.
'This is a beautiful restaurant you have here,' I said, sitting down and ogling that breathtaking vista.
'Thank you, madam. It has been in my family for many years. You are English, no?' he asked with a warm grin.
I nodded.
'You are the young lady who has inherited Samuel Simões house, no?'
I laughed; clearly this was a small community.
'I am,' I answered, smiling, 'I'm Kate. It's a pleasure to meet you.'
Delighted, he clapped his hands together with excitement. 'I am Paulo. Welcome to the Açores. It is a beautiful house. Is so sad about Samuel. He was a wonderful man. Everybody here loved him. We miss him,' he said sadly. But before he could dwell on the thought, he clapped his hands again and said, 'You must please allow me to serve you our finest dishes this evening...' and he continued to explain the day's fresh fish and seafood dishes.
After he'd finished and taken our orders, he returned with another young man, both carrying glasses of port. 'Please accept some white port... on the house, for you all,' he said.
'Oh, thank you. Thank you so much,' said Anna, 'That's really very kind of you.'
The man nodded and smiled. 'This is my son, Filipe. If there is anything you need, please, just ask Filipe or myself, okay? You enjoy your evening.'
Carly blushed as the attractive young man handed her a fresh orange juice as the rest of us held our glass of port up to him and Paulo. 'Cheers.'
'Thank you, Paulo,' I added before he left us to continue serving his other customers.
Hours later, we headed back to the villa. It had been a wonderful day. One that had ended on a high, with us eating and drinking like kings, thanks to Paulo and his family-run restaurant.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
For the next few days, we relaxed like we'd never relaxed before, spending hours and hours dozing by the fabulous infinity pool. It was the most beautiful swimming pool I’d ever seen, with its deep blue water seemingly cascading off into the softly glistening gentle waves of the Atlantic Ocean below.
But, on day five, we decided to stop being so lazy and chose to do a bit of sightseeing. Not before a quick swim after brunch, though.
As I stood beneath the shower, rinsing off the remnants of chlorine, I reached for the shampoo and lathered my long brown hair while letting my mind wander to old memories. Or should I say an old memory. It had been some time since I'd thought of Fred and, as I pictured his face (how I thought he would look now, not then), I was reminded of my not so memorable evening with Marc. I sighed and tried to push the thought from my mind as I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off.
It wasn't as easy as that though (pushing Marc aside, not getting dry). All I could see was his face. The more I tried to obliterate it from memory, the brighter and more appealing it became. That gorgeous face. Those blue eyes. The black hair. I sighed again.
Why couldn't I be normal? Why couldn't I just forget about all that nonsense and just move on with my life? I mean, come on, my life was certainly changing at an alarming rate, surely I could change my love life as well. Find someone decent to settle down with, perhaps? Someone who didn't 'fit the bill'. The Fred bill.
'Are you ready, Kate?' shouted Anna from the bottom of the stairs. 'We're all waiting for you.'
'Almost!' I yelled back before rushing to get dressed and apply a little make-up.
A few minutes later, I put on a pair of cut off jeans and a pink vest top, grabbed my Fit Flops, cardigan and handbag, and rushed down the stairs as fast as I could.
'Sorry,' I said as I climbed into the jeep before we set off to check out a little more of the island. As we began a slow drive along the coast, Julianne was almost hyperventilating with excitement.
'Oh my goodness, it's stunning. Just stunning. Stop.... stop now!' she yelled.
As John slammed on the brakes in a panic, Tony narrowly missed hitting us up the back.
'What? What's wrong?' he asked as he turned to look as she jumped out as quickly as she could with her camera in hand.
'It's just so beautiful. I need to take some shots,' she said.
'You do realise we nearly crashed, Julianne?' I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.
'Oops,' she said simply, before ignoring the rest of us and continuing to take the photos as if nothing had happened.
Tony's raised eyebrows and John's shrugged shoulders proved how relaxed they were. Had we been back in London, it would have been a different story. It was then that Carly began to giggle. A giggle that spread like wildfire among us. Before long, we were all laughing. Deep belly laughs, that gave us stomach ache.
Julianne stopped taking photos of the spectacular views and turned to look at us with furrowed eyebrows.
'What?' she asked. 'You guys are crazy,' she muttered with an embarrassed smile before graciously climbing back in and letting us continue our drive.
There'd been a number of signs dotted along the road indicating that a volcanic crater was nearby and, from what I'd read in a leaflet I'd picked up from the airport, the location was known to be one of the most spectacular spots on the whole of the island. None of us wanted to miss it so we continued to drive all the way up, excited as to what we would see at the top. The temperature began to cool a little on our ascent.
Arriving at a rather large car park, we jumped out and surveyed the scene around us. It was certainly breathtaking, there was no doubt about it. Armed with cameras, baseball caps and even a towel (John had an odd thing about going everywhere on holiday with a towel around his neck) we wandered to a nearby information point which clearly showed how the crater had been created, thousands of years bef
ore. I very carefully leaned on an old, rickety wooden handrail and let out a deep, happy sigh. The others joined me as we took in the view beyond. The vast hole in the ground was surrounded by a massive amount of shrubbery in varying hues of green. The depth was difficult to gauge from our position, but it was certainly a long way down to the bottom which was filled with twinkling bluey green water. Although beautiful, it did scare the living daylights out of me.
'Why don't we have a walk around the edge of the crater?' suggested Anna, 'It would be good to get some exercise.'
My distaste for anything remotely higher than a few feet put me off immediately. I can't even climb a stepladder without coming over all dizzy.
I was clearly the spoil sport of the bunch, but it didn't bother me. I preferred to wait in the safety, and the comfort, of the jeep than risk a potential fall to my death.
'Oh, Kate, you're such a coward,' laughed Jo. 'But we love you for it.'
'We won't be long. We'll be back before you know it,' added Julianne as they ambled off, looking very much like the tourists they were in their flip flops, cameras round their necks and John with his towel over his shoulder.
I chuckled as I watched them wander off into the distance while I settled comfortably down into the seat, rifling through my handbag to pull out the novel I'd recently started reading. It was lovely, sitting up there alone, with that awesome view and a great book to keep me company. I noticed it was 2.45pm.
An hour later, they were still walking and I was still enjoying my solitude.
Two hours later, I looked up from my book and felt a slight chill. Looking around, I noticed it had become a little misty. But I thought nothing of it, assuming they'd be back soon.
However, at 5.30, I started getting rather preoccupied. Where on Earth were they?
A few minutes later, I heard a strange sound. It sounded distinctly like sirens, which seemed to be getting closer.
Sure enough, three cars zoomed past where we'd parked. Each one had a flashing light atop it with the alarming sounds of sirens blaring loudly. I jumped, wondering what was going on. Had something happened? It couldn’t be with my lot, could it? How would the authorities know? No, it must be something else, I figured.
I watched as men jumped out of the vehicles. One ran over to me and spoke to me in perfect English, though with a slight accent.
'We have had a call from a man who has become lost. Are they with you?'
I breathed a sigh of relief.
'No, it can't be,' I said, 'I have five friends out walking. They'd all be together.'
'Okay, thank you madam.'
I watched as he ran back to his colleagues and shook his head. They continued to talk to other people on walkie talkies and mobile phones. Soon their cars were joined by an ambulance and a fire engine.
It was only then that I became fully aware that the mist had become a thick dense fog. Jumping out of the jeep, I wrapped my cardigan around my shoulders and quickly approached the man who had spoken to me.
'Excuse me. I'm really very worried about my friends now. I hadn't realised that it had become so foggy.'
'How long have they been gone, madam?' he asked with concern.
I told him it had been a few hours and he nodded.
'Don't worry. We will find them. You stay close, okay?'
As I stood amidst the chaos, my thin cardigan did little to keep my teeth from chattering. How had I not noticed this cold? And the fog? What if something terrible had happened to them? And Carly. Oh goodness, she was only thirteen. I began to sob quietly when I was approached by a fireman with a very kind smile.
'You no worry, miss. This happen much in the Açores. We find, okay?'
I smiled at his broken English, grateful for his kindness. It was then that he removed his heavy coat and placed it carefully over my shoulders. I took it gratefully and felt instantly warmer.
He led me to the fire truck and opened the door.
'You sit in here. You wait in here. Everything okay, yes. You no worry.'
I did as I was told and climbed aboard. It's funny, most people (okay, most kids) want to sit in a fire truck. It would have been kind of cool had it been under different circumstances. But it certainly wasn't an experience I could enjoy.
Minutes passed and I was just wiping a few more tears from my cheeks when I heard a yell of some kind.
The friendly fireman ran towards me and said 'one person, they have one person.'
Just one, I thought, what about the others?
I watched as a lone figure appeared from the mist. It was Tony. I hopped down from the truck and rushed over to him. He hugged me tightly.
'Are you alright?' I asked, 'I’ve been so worried. You've been gone so long. Where is everyone?'
Tony explained that when the mist had thickened and several hours had passed, the group had become more concerned for me so they'd decided that Tony should split up from the rest and try to come and tell me they were on their way.
However, with the mist developing into more of a thick fog, it had become increasingly difficult to see in front of them.
'I’m so sorry, Kate. You must have been worried sick. We hadn’t intended to go off for so long. I hope the others are found soon. It’s become quite cold out there as well,' he said as we stared off into the distance, not seeing anything.
'I knew that if I just kept walking, that eventually I would come out somewhere... even if it was the edge of the cliffs below,' he said, semi-joking.
Moments later, shouts and voices could be heard. Tony left me momentarily to see what was going on. He returned looking decidedly relieved.
'They’re all there. They’re all okay, although someone has twisted an ankle. I’m not sure who it is though. You can breathe now, Kate. They’re fine. We're all fine,' he smiled awkwardly.
As the group appeared, I rushed over to them, very much wanting to scold the lot of them for being so silly in the first place, but when I saw them all looking guilty and tired and worried sick, I decided to let them off the hook.
'Where's Liz?' I asked, suddenly realising she wasn't with them.
Carly smiled cheekily, 'Oh she's right behind us and she's not alone.'
Sure enough, Liz appeared in the arms of a handsome young fireman.
Even after everything that had just happened, I couldn't help but smile. I could tell by the look on her face that she was smiling too, inside and out. I looked from Liz to the fireman and I could see that he was smiling too. My, my. Could this be love at first sight?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
For the next few days we barely saw Liz. She and her own personal fireman appeared to have fallen instantly in love. Liz and Jorge, happily ever after. I certainly hoped so.
She'd even travelled back down the ‘mountain’ with Jorge, in the fire truck, because they clearly didn't want to lose sight of each other. Talk about working fast. I’d never seen love work its magic like it... well, unless you count Fred and me, of course.
I wished he were there with me. Would he ever be? I tried not to dwell on it but, seeing Liz and Jorge all loved up just brought that precious memory swimming back, which then led to thoughts of my near miss with Marc, with a ‘C’. It wasn’t even a one night stand, I sighed.
'That was a deep sigh,' said a voice behind me as I lay sprawled on a wooden sun lounger by the pool.
Jo plonked herself down beside me, crossing her long tanned legs.
'What’s on your mind?' she asked, smiling and squinting in the sun.
'Oh, the usual, I guess.'
She nodded, 'Fred’s on your mind again, is he?'
Isn’t he always? I thought.
Shrugging my shoulders, I relaxed and lay back down, shielding the sun from my eyes with my arm.
'You know, there were a few moments when we first arrived when I hadn’t given him all my attention,' I smiled, 'but finally seeing Liz so happy and in love just reminds me of what I’m missing.'
She nodded as she uncrossed her legs and spr
ead out on the sun lounger beside me.
'Well, that I can certainly understand. I miss Charles too.'
We both closed our eyes, not saying another word, just allowing the heat to penetrate deep into our skin, making us sleepy.
But it wasn’t long until we were rudely awakened by the feel of something cold, while the sudden sound of giggling and splashing came from the swimming pool.
'They must be awake by now,' giggled Carly as she, Tony and John doused us in the cold stuff.
'Okay, okay,' I said, jumping up off the sun lounger and throwing myself in at the deep end.
'You got us, and now I’m gonna get you,' I screamed, by which time I'd completely engulfed them in water.
Failing miserably to pretend to still be asleep, Jo moaned and followed suit, narrowly missing us as she dive-bombed into the water.
'Come on in, Anna! You’re the only one left out now,' called her adoring husband.
Muttering to herself, she mumbled and turned on to her back, trying to ignore our cries.
'All right, that does it!' shouted John, 'I’m coming to get you!'
And with that, she sat bolt upright and screamed.
'Noooo!'
But it was too late. He’d picked her up and jumped into the cool water.
'John, you bugger,' she shouted the moment they appeared from beneath the surface.
'Well, well, well...' came a voice from indoors. ‘It sounds like you’re all having a wonderful time.'
Liz and Jorge appeared out of the lounge sliding doors, holding hands and grinning at each other like love struck teenagers.
'Come on, you love birds, come and have a swim,' I shouted, splashing them as hard as I could.
Moments later, they were in the water splashing about with the rest of us. Soon though, we all calmed down, letting the sun dry our faces and shoulders before we immersed ourselves beneath the sparkling surface.
Breaking the silence, John sighed and said what we were all thinking.
'I can't believe we've only got a few days left. We ought to make the most of it. What shall we do this evening?'