The Touch of Aphrodite

by Joanna Mansell

  They stayed a little longer at the villa, with Nikolaos and his aunt talking together easily but Emily taking! very little part in the conversation. And when they J finally left she was still slightly flushed and breathir rather unevenly.

  She was also in something of a panic. If Aunt could so easily guess her feelings, how long would it be before Nikolaos also noticed? Also, she didn't seem be very good at keeping things secret from him. What if she just blurted it out? Emily gave a small shudder. She could just imagine what Nikolaos's reaction would be. Or perhaps, even worse, he would simply laugh, think the whole thing an entertaining joke. But Emily was already learning that there wasn't anything in the least funny about falling in love with Nikolaos Konstantin.

  She had come to Aphrodite's island, the island of love, never suspecting that its magic could ever touch her. And now that it had she was astonished, oddly exhilarated and completely terrified.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I'M S UR E I haven't fallen in love with him, it's just an infatuation; it can't be love.

  Emily spent half the night feverishly denying something which should have been very obvious to her a long time ago. And when she had given up trying to deny it she tried something else.

  All right, I might —like him a lot more than I should, but it isn't going to get me anywhere, so I'd better forget about it.

  That worked a little better. She was good at forgetting things. She had forgotten — almost forgotten — the violence that had marred her childhood. Surely she could forget that she had developed a childish infatuation for her cousin, Nikolaos?

  Emily gave a small sigh and closed her eyes. It would be so much easier to forget if he had never kissed her. never triggered that hot ache in her body that had since never quite gone away. She told herself that she had to get some sleep. She had a very full workload planned out for tomorrow, and she was never going to get through it if she was asleep on her feet. She finally managed to doze fitfully for a couple of hours before dawn. She woke up again just as the sun was rising, and padded over to the window on bare feet, heavy-eyed and yawning.

  She had chosen a room for herself that looked out over the small harbour at Paphos. Now, as she stood at the window, the early morning light glinted on the water in the harbour, and she could see men already moving around on the fishing boats, checking the nets and equipment. Tables were being set out on the waterfront, ready for anyone who wanted to eat breakfast outside in the warm sunshine. Beyond the harbour, the sea was very calm, and already a startling blue as it reflected the clear azure of the sky. Its surface was rippled only by a couple of passing boats that left thin trails of gold in their wake as their bow-waves caught the first rays of the sun. Emily felt the tranquillity of the scene slowly relax her frayed nerves. On a sudden impulse, she quickly showered and dressed, then left the hotel and walked down to the harbour.

  It was still early, and few tourists were about yet. She sat down at one of the tables and ordered a cup of coffee, then stared rather dreamily out to sea. She finally drank her coffee and reluctantly decided she had to make her way back to the hotel. She had so much work to get through, she couldn't sit here and daydream all day.

  She was about to get up when she became aware that someone was looking at her. And looking very intently. Emily half turned her head, to get a better look at the person who was subjecting her to this intense scrutiny, and found herself staring at a dark-haired, middle-aged but still very handsome woman, sitting several tables away.

  For some reason, Emily was absolutely certain that it was the same woman who had been staring at her and Nikolaos in this same spot, on the night of her arrival in Paphos. Who was she, though? And what did she want? Emily decided that, this time, she wasn't going to give the woman a chance to run away. She was going to walk straight over and demand to know what was going on.

  Before she had the chance to get out of her chair, though, the woman herself got up and walked over to Emily's table.

  'May I sit down?' she asked in a low, beautiful voice.

  'Yes —yes, of course,' Emily said, wondering what this was all about.

  'You're Emily Peterson, aren't you?' asked the woman.

  'How do you know my name?' Emily asked suspiciously.

  'I asked someone at the hotel. They told me who you were. You're Dimitri's stepdaughter, and you've come here to Paphos to run his hotel.'

  By now, Emily was beginning to get a little ruffled. She didn't like the idea of a stranger prying into her private life.

  'Why are you interested in me?' she asked with a small frown.

  'Because I've seen you a couple of times with —with Nikolaos. And I want

  —I need— you to help me.'

  The woman seemed to stumble a little over Nikolaos's name, as if she found it difficult to say it out loud. Emily's heart immediately sank. Her first guess must have been right; this woman, although so much older than Nikolaos, must be an ex-lover. Did she think that Emily was stepping in to take her place? Was there going to be an unpleasant scene?

  'Look,' said Emily very firmly, 'I don't know what you want, but I'm sure that I can't help you.'

  'But you must,' said the woman with fresh urgency. 'Someone must help me. I really can't go on like this for very much longer.' Then, to Emily's alarm, she began to cry, not making a sound, but just letting great tears roll silently down her face.

  Emily hurriedly fished a clean handkerchief out of her pocket and offered it to the woman. She wiped dry her big, beautiful dark eyes, then looked back at Emily.

  'I'm sorry —I didn't mean to do that. It's just that I'm desperate to find a way of getting to Nikolaos, and I was hoping so much —that —well, that you would —'

  'No,' Emily interrupted, with a small shiver. Right now, she just couldn't cope with one of Nikolaos's ex-lovers. 'No, I can't —I won't do it. If you want to see Nikolaos, it's perfectly simple. Just go to the hotel and ask to make an appointment with him.'

  'He won't see me,' said the woman in a dull voice.

  'Then I'm sorry, but I honestly don't see what I can do.'

  'Talk to him,' she said with fresh intensity. 'I've seen you together, and I could see just from watching you that you were close to him. Try and persuade him to see me, even if it's just for a few minutes.'

  'I can't interfere in his personal life,' Emily said a little helplessly, wishing that this woman would just go away, leave her alone. 'He hates that. If you've had some kind of quarrel with him, if you want to try and get together again, then you'll really have to do it yourself.'

  'Oh, God, who do you think I am?' said the woman despairingly. 'An old girlfriend? I'm Eleni Stanton. I used to be Eleni Konstantin — I'm Nikolaos's mother!'

  Emily just stared at the older woman for a while, totally stunned. 'His —his mother?' she finally managed to get out in a completely shaken voice. Eleni looked directly at her with dark eyes that Emily now realised were unnervingly like her son's. 'You doknow about me, don't you? You know that I walked out on Nikolaos and his father nearly twenty years ago?'

  'Yes,' Emily said in a very low voice. Then she said in a sudden rush, 'How could you do something like that?'

  'I didn't have any choice,' Eleni said simply. 'I met Alex, I fell in love, and I was lost. Nothing else mattered; I was completely obsessed with him, I'd have given up anything, gone anywhere, just to be with him. The way I felt about him made the love I'd once felt for Dimitri seem almost childish, and I knew that I'd never actually loved my husband at all. I should never have married him; I made both of us completely unhappy.'

  'But —Nikolaos,' Emily said almost accusingly. 'You must have loved him.'

  'Of course I did. He was my only child. I wanted to take him with me, but Alex wouldn't let me. He said that it would be bad enough for my husband to lose me, it would kill him to lose his son as well. Making the decision to leave Nikolaos behind was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life, but I knew that Yannis, Nikolaos's father, needed him more than I did
.' Eleni's mouth twisted into a painful line. 'I've certainly paid for that decision over the years,' she said bitterly. 'I knew that Nikolaos would hate me for a while, but I always hoped that, once he was an adult himself and knew what it was like to experience such an overwhelming love for someone, he would understand, perhaps even forgive me. But he still hates me, still refuses to have any contact with me.'

  'Of course he does,' Emily said almost pityingly. 'Your son doesn't know what it's like to love like that; he's completely cynical about love. He saw it wreck his own family, he sees it only as a destructive force. He himself only intends to marry because he eventually wants children; he doesn't want a wife he can love.' She stopped short there, realising that she had already said far too much.

  Eleni had gone very white. 'I didn't know that I had done that to him,' she whispered.

  Emily's own heart twisted in sudden sympathy. "Look,' she said awkwardly,

  'I really don't think there's anything I can do. But if I do get a chance to help in any way, then I will. That's really all I can promise you.'

  'I'm grateful for that much,' Eleni said quietly. 'And I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you, and made things difficult for you, by talking to you like this. It's just that, when I saw you and Nikolaos together —saw the way he looked at you —'

  'He didn't look at me in any special way,' Emily broke in quickly. Eleni looked at her a little puzzled. 'I'm sure that he did.'

  'No, you're wrong,' Emily insisted. She pushed her chair back from the table.

  'I've got to get back to work,' she said in a rather flustered voice.

  'Please, let me give you my address and phone number,' said Eleni. 'A friend of Alex's is letting me use his holiday home, just outside Paphos.' She scribbled it down on a piece of paper, and held it out to Emily. After just a moment's hesitation, she took it. Then she looked at Eleni. 'You and Alex,' she said a little awkwardly, 'do you still —feel the same way about each other?'

  'Of course,' Eleni said at once. 'Alex is my whole life; I adore him.' She gave the very faintest of smiles. 'And he tells me so often that he loves me that I have to believe him.'

  Emily felt a small pang of jealousy. What would it be like, to love someone like that? And be loved so completely in return?

  'Then you don't regret giving up so much, to be with him?' she couldn't stop herself from asking, knowing that she shouldn't be asking such personal questions, but longing to know more, because she had no experience of such an intense relationship.

  'Of course 1 have regrets,' Eleni said in a low tone. "I know that walking out on my family was a terrible thing to do; I won't ever forgive myself for that. But I couldn't stop myself from going. I wanted to have everything, of course, my family and Alex, but I couldn't so, God forgive me, I chose Alex. I know that it was a totally selfish decision, and that I've probably alienated myself from my son forever because of it. Nikolaos is very much a Cypriot at heart —his family means everything to him, and I destroyed the closest part of that family.'

  Emily gave a small shiver and hoped that she would never have to make such a choice. 'I'm glad that you came over and spoke to me,' she said at last in a very subdued voice.

  'Please get in touch with me if there's any way you can help me to speak to Nikolaos,' Eleni said urgently.

  'Yes, I will. I promise.' She stood up. 'I'm afraid that I really do have to go now.' She held her hand out to Eleni, who lightly touched it. Then Emily quickly walked away because she found it hard to look any longer into those dark eyes that were so like Nikolaos's, but softer, more anguished, vulnerable in a way that Nikolaos's could never be.

  Emily walked back to the hotel in a daze. This was the very last thing she had ever expected to happen, to meet Nikolaos's mother. And the sorrow in her eyes! Eleni might have found some kind of happiness with Alex Stanton, her American lover and now her husband, but her decision to walk out on her family had obviously killed part of her. And her continued estrangement from her son was something that she clearly just couldn't bear any longer. With a soft sigh, Emily acknowledged to herself that there was probably very little she could do to help Eleni. She already knew how implacable Nikolaos could be about certain things, and she was absolutely sure that included his attitude to his mother. Like all Greek men, Nikolaos had a great deal of pride. He would never openly admit how much he had been hurt by all the troubles of the past. And, added to that, he would fiercely protect his family from anything that threatened it, and shun anyone who had hurt it in any way. Even his own mother.

  She went through the rest of the day with a troubled face and only half her mind on her work. She felt as if she badly needed someone to speak to, and almost rang Nikolaos's Aunt Anna. She was obviously a kind, understanding woman, and she was also Eleni's sister. Then Emily remembered that Aunt Anna was living in Nikolaos's villa, and was clearly very fond of her nephew. She had obviously chosen which side she wanted to support in this divided family, and might not be at all pleased to learn that Eleni was back on Cyprus. Anyway, if Eleni had thought her sister could help, surely she would have got in touch with her herself? A couple of times during the afternoon, Emily found herself heading in the direction of Nikolaos's office, determined to confront him with the news that his mother was here, and wanted to see him. Then shewould come to an abrupt halt before she even reached his door, afraid of his reaction when he discovered that she was trying to meddle in something that he would consider none of her business. And yet she had promised Eleni. . . Emily slept fitfully that night, and got up early the next morning full of fresh determination. She would speak to Nikolaos; he had to know that his mother was here on Cyprus, desperate to speak to him.

  She got as far as the door to his office, then discovered that her legs were beginning to shake. Annoyed at her own cowardice, she forced herself to knock firmly on the door, then marched inside without waiting to be invited. As soon as Nikolaos's dark gaze fixed on her face, though, she felt the last of her courage simply drain away. He looked so very unapproachable this morning, almost as if he knew why she was here, although she knew that was quite impossible.

  'What is it?' he said rather tersely. 'A problem?'

  'N-no —well, that is —not really, b-but —' she stuttered rather incoherently. He put down his pen. 'Would you like to start again?'

  Emily swallowed hard, and knew that she couldn't even say Eleni's name. She just didn't have enough nerve. Instead, she hunted around for some excuse for being here.

  'I wanted to talk to you about —about some plans I have for the future,' she said rather lamely, at last.

  Nikolaos raised one dark eyebrow. 'And do you find me so terrifying that the prospect of discussing those plans with me has reduced you to a gibbering wreck?'

  'I'm not gibbering,' Emily said indignantly, conveniently forgetting that she had been doing precisely that a few moments ago.

  Nikolaos sat back in his chair. 'Then take a seat,' he invited. 'Tell me about these plans.'

  Emily told herself that she would talk to him about his mother soon, very soon, but not today. This morning, she really would discuss her plans for the future.

  'I've been going through the record of hotel bookings for the past couple of years,' she began, 'and it didn't take me long to realise that we're almost completely booked through the summer, but we still have quite a few vacancies outside the main tourist season.'

  Nikolaos nodded. 'That applies to most hotels.'

  'I've been trying to think of ways to attract more people here in the slack season,' Emily went on, with growing enthusiasm. 'And I've come up with an idea which I think might work. A lot of people celebrate their wedding anniversaries by taking a holiday, a sort of second honeymoon. Especially if it's a special anniversary, such as a silver or gold. Well, why can't we persuade them to come here? After all, Cyprus is the island of love, it's the perfect place for a second honeymoon. I thought we could offer a special package, with extras such a flower-filled room with a romantic view, an anniversar
y cake, special attention from the staff, and of course trips to all the local places connected with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. We could advertise it as a week of romance, and do everything we can to make their stay here really special.'

  'We already organise trips to most of the local places of interest, including those connected with Aphrodite,' Nikolaos pointed out. Then, as Emily's face began to fall, he went on, 'But if you think you can put together an attractive package, by all means try. Get it ready in time, and we'll run it as an experiment next autumn, when the summer bookings begin to tail off.'

  •Right,' she said with enthusiasm. "I've already drawn up a list of the things we can offer here, at the hotel, together with a detailed breakdown of the costs. What I want to do next is visit some of the places connected with the legend of Aphrodite. Her birthplace at Petra tou Romiou, Aphrodite's Baths

  —oh, and the Fontana Amorosa, of course, the Fountain of Love.'

  "The fountain of love is little more than a muddy well,' Nikolaos warned drily.

  'Even muddy wells can be romantic, if you're in the right frame of mind,'

  Emily declared firmly. 'And by the time I've finished with them my guests will definitely be in the mood for love!'

  'We'll go tomorrow morning, then.'

  ' We'll go?' she repeated, in surprise.

  'Make sure you're ready to leave early,' he said, ignoring her reaction. 'That way, we should avoid the main rush of tourists who'll turn up later.'

  'Oh —right —fine,' she said, slightly flustered. She wasn't at all sure that she wanted to visit the legendary haunts of Aphrodite with Nikolaos, of all people, but it didn't look as if she was being given much choice. Anyway, at some time during the day she might be able to find a suitable moment to speak to him about his mother —although Emily couldn't think of any moment that would be suitable to discuss such a dangerously personal subject.

  She was up before dawn the next morning, and ready to leave by the time the first glimmer of light was showing in the sky. Nikolaos was waiting for her in the lobby, dressed with uncharacteristic informality in jeans and a crisp white shirt that contrasted starkly with his darkly tanned skin and black hair. As always happened nowadays, the sight of him sent Emily's pulses thumping faster and harder. She fervently hoped that none of her inner turmoil showed on her face, and made herself breathe slowly and steadily as she got into the car beside him.