Greek Island Fling to Forever

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Good. That’s good.’ She let out a breath and got to her feet. ‘I should make a start on lunch. Is there anything that Jonas doesn’t like?’

  ‘He’s at the stage where he’s beginning to like trying new things.’

  ‘Jonas...’ she called over to the boy. ‘What’s your favourite food?’

  ‘Fingers and chips,’ he answered straightaway.

  ‘That’s fish fingers and chips.’ Ben grinned, beckoning to his son. ‘Happy to try something different?’

  ‘Yes.’ Jonas’s dirty hands found their way onto his father’s knees. ‘Dad says it’s okay if I try something and don’t like it because he eats it.’

  ‘But if you have fingers and chips, your dad goes hungry?’

  Jonas nodded solemnly and Ben chuckled, pulling a face of exaggerated dismay.

  ‘I’ll go and see if I have some fish fingers in my freezer then.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  IT HAD SEEMED almost inevitable that they should find something to bring them together again. Sun, sand and sea had done its work yesterday, and Ben had stayed longer at Arianna’s than he’d meant to, the two of them talking on the veranda until it was time to hurry down to catch the last ferry.

  And today it would be their work. Ben’s questions about Arianna’s practice had finally led her to laugh, shake her head to catch the sun in her curls and tell him that he could see for himself. A visiting doctor could observe, even if the necessary paperwork to allow him to practice wasn’t in place. It had been approximately fourteen hours since Ben had seen her last, and already he’d started to miss her.

  She was a mass of inconsistencies. Vulnerable and yet capable, impulsive but measured. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground, yet she was capable of dreaming. Arianna’s beauty was the only thing about her that wasn’t tempered by an opposite balancing force. His fascination with her was getting to be much the same, never wavering in its intensity.

  Maybe that was to be expected. It was as if they’d been fused together that day on the ferry, and then both spent twenty-five years wondering what had become of the other. That twenty-five years hadn’t been as straightforward as either of them might have hoped, but Ben had realised that the one constant thing in his life had been his wish to find Arianna again.

  ‘There!’ Jonas had been playing a game with Ben’s sister, Lizzie, pointing out every young woman with dark hair who entered the hotel coffee shop and trying to make Lizzie guess whether it was Arianna or not. This time the word was accompanied by a chuckle, and Ben looked up.

  Arianna’s dress was a mixture of reds and pinks today, and she wore a pair of red deck shoes. She shone, as she always did, and his heart lurched in response. As it always seemed to whenever she was around.

  She gave Jonas a wave, and the boy ran to her for a hug. Arianna’s awkward delight showed on her face. What kind of fractures had split her own family that she was so unused to the normal ebullience of a child? Ben set the thought aside and smiled up at her.

  ‘You’re early. Do you have time to join us for coffee?’

  Arianna looked at her watch and sat down in the empty chair next to his. ‘Yes, I think I do.’

  He left Jonas to introduce her to Lizzie, her husband, James, and their three children, and signalled to the waiter. By the time everyone had decided what they wanted, Arianna and Lizzie had already started chatting.

  ‘It’s a shame we didn’t get a booking for the hotel on the island.’ Lizzie turned the corners of her mouth down. ‘Ben wouldn’t hear of it, but now it’s a bit of a trek backwards and forwards for you both.’

  Arianna turned her gaze onto him. ‘It would have been a lot more convenient.’

  ‘As things have turned out. I didn’t know whether you’d even want to see me, let alone if you’d want me staying on the island for three weeks.’

  ‘Perhaps we could get a swap. I think this hotel’s run by the same group as the one on the island,’ Lizzie interjected helpfully, blithely unaware that she was sitting with the daughter of the man who owned both hotels. ‘What do you reckon?’

  James nodded, obviously happy to go with the flow, and suddenly all eyes were on Ben. The idea of moving to the island had occurred to him as well, but he’d far rather have spoken to Arianna about it alone first.

  ‘I’m...um... Perhaps it’s better to stay where we are.’

  Arianna’s face fell. He’d said the wrong thing.

  ‘Or we could move.’

  ‘I think it would be better to move, if we can.’ Lizzie was committed to the plan already. ‘What do you think, Arianna?’

  ‘I know the manager of the hotel on the island. I’d be happy to ask if he can arrange something and you can go from there.’

  The idea was agreed, but Ben decided he would find out how Arianna really felt about it later. Because she had already moved on, asking Lizzie where they’d been and what they were planning to do today, and the conversation lasted until their coffee cups were empty.

  Ben looked at his watch. ‘Should we be going?’

  ‘Oh.’ Arianna looked at hers. ‘Yes, I think we should...’

  She stifled a yawn as they walked out of the hotel and into the bright sunshine, and they walked silently towards the hotel’s marina. Suddenly she seemed tired, and Ben remembered that she’d asked him about nightmares. He wondered if the question was a little more personal to her than he’d supposed, and how much she’d slept last night.

  She stopped by the neat blue and white boat that she’d pointed out yesterday in the harbour as belonging to the health centre. Something was clearly on her mind.

  ‘If you don’t want to stay on Ilaria...’ Her lip quivered almost imperceptibly, but Ben had now become used to watching everything about her.

  ‘I just didn’t want you to feel crowded.’

  Right answer. She smiled again, the lines of fatigue disappearing from her face.

  ‘I don’t. It’ll be nice to have you and your family there. The hotel has a lovely beach, which isn’t as busy as the one here. It’s a little more orientated towards relaxing, while this one is better if you want to go sightseeing.’

  He reached for her, and suddenly the world around them faded into the background and they were alone on the jetty. His fingers skimming the warm skin of her arm were the only thing that seemed to matter.

  She felt it too. Arianna let out the merest hint of a gasp, looking up at him. Locked in the warmth of her eyes, it felt like an embrace. A kiss. The very sweetest one imaginable.

  ‘Lizzie and James can relax, and the kids can play on the beach. What I’d really like to do is spend more time with you.’

  Her reply was in her eyes. Warm and bright, with the hint of a tear. Someone brushed against her back, and as Ben stretched out his arm instinctively to protect her the moment was shattered.

  ‘I’ll...um...give the manager a call, then. I’m sure he can sort out something.’

  ‘You’re sure? You’ve worked hard to make sure that everyone on the island sees you for what you are, and not who your father is. We’re not asking for any favours.’

  Again, that warmth in her eyes made Ben want to lean in and hold her close. Protect her from all the hurt she seemed to carry with her.

  ‘That’s okay. I’ve never asked the manager for anything before. I imagine he’ll be relieved that he has something to report back on to my father.’

  Ben raised his eyebrows. ‘People report back on you?’

  Arianna shrugged. ‘I’m sure it’s not written into his job description, but my father does always seem to know what I’m up to. It’s his way of caring... From a distance.’

  She turned suddenly, stepping confidently onto the boat before Ben could extend his hand to steady her. Arianna handed him a life jacket and smilingly refused his help in slipping the mooring lines, before she carefully manoeuvred
away from the dock.

  ‘How often do you visit Kantos?’ The island was visible on the horizon already, as the boat sped across the blue water.

  ‘I have a surgery there on Mondays and Fridays, and Andreas goes across every Wednesday. And there’s a full-time pharmacist on the island as well; he often deals with day-to-day problems. I don’t have too many people to see this morning, so maybe we’ll have a chance to go up to the Lava Lake afterwards.’

  The famous Lava Lake of Kantos was on Ben’s list of places to see. Seeing it with Arianna put it firmly at the top of said list.

  She steered the boat into the little harbour at Kantos, mooring it. Ben picked up her medical bag and they walked together through the narrow sun-baked streets.

  ‘Here we are...’ She unlocked the door of a stone-built house which stood some way back from the road. Inside, the rooms were shaded and cool and a little old-fashioned.

  ‘Waiting room...’ Arianna pointed to a large room at the front, decorated with dark wooden furniture and seats arranged in groups. ‘My surgery...’

  The surgery was at the back of the building. A large mahogany desk and a heavy bookcase gave it an air of gravitas, and when Arianna opened the heavily shaded doors at the back, the light streaming in and her own bright dress added a note of exuberance.

  ‘You’re sure you want to sit in on my surgery? You are on holiday, and there’s a nice taverna in the harbour...’

  ‘If you don’t mind. The holiday part is that I’m not responsible for any of your patients.’

  ‘I don’t mind at all.’ She pulled a heavy leather upholstered chair across the room, positioning it next to hers. Ben grinned at her, pulling the chair back into the corner, and she laughed. ‘Okay. Be a fly on the wall.’

  It was both the same and different. The differences were immediately obvious. There was no receptionist and when Arianna rang the buzzer to usher a new patient into the surgery, the waiting room just produced the next in line by consensus. She smilingly explained that everyone knew everyone anyway, and that those who couldn’t wait were given priority by the others. Jumping the queue was out of the question, and anyone who did that would never hear the last of it.

  She knew everyone. Ben couldn’t follow the conversations, but she greeted everyone by name without looking at her notes, and when she tilted her head, obviously asking each new person how they were keeping, the long replies seemed to include information of a social nature as well as medical details. Some patients were given stern instructions, accompanied by a look that implied Arianna would be checking up on them afterwards. Others were quietly reassured. In his own practice, and with the best will in the world, Ben couldn’t even recognise all of his patients, and only knew their names and some very basic personal details by scanning the computer while they were on their way to his surgery. His approach was necessarily reactive, while Arianna’s was more proactive.

  One elderly man saw Ben sitting in the corner and insisted on directing his explanations of his medical condition at him instead of Arianna. She waited, arms folded, until he’d finished speaking and gesturing at his left arm, which appeared to Ben to have limited mobility. Something told him that she was well in charge of the situation and that there was no need to intervene, and her murmured words seemed to set things straight. The man turned to her and went through the gestures all over again.

  ‘What did you say to him?’ Ben asked while the waiting room was deciding on the next patient.

  ‘I said that you were assisting me today, and that you didn’t know everyone’s medical history. If he wasn’t careful you might try to get him to raise his arm above his head.’ She grinned at Ben and suddenly the world seemed to tip a little, as if he were being sucked into the mischief in her dark eyes.

  ‘Ouch. Frozen shoulder?’

  ‘Yes. Do you mind my saying you were my assistant?’

  Not in the slightest. Arianna’s way of managing her patients was both efficient and charming. He’d be her assistant any day.

  ‘It’s a promotion from fly-on-the-wall. I’m extremely happy with it...’

  He settled back into his seat as the next patient arrived. For all the differences and personal touches, Arianna’s practice was much the same as his. She was thorough and capable, the kind of doctor that everyone aspired to be. But, unlike him, she wasn’t one part of a greater machine that provided him with support and backup. She’d achieved all of this by herself.

  * * *

  Ben’s Greek extended to ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and he clearly didn’t understand the word sýzygos. That was a relief, because it had passed the lips of more than one of her patients this afternoon. Yes, he was undoubtedly good husband material. And no, his name wasn’t on her list of prospective husbands because, believe it or not, and most people didn’t, she didn’t possess such a list.

  It was nice having him here, though. He had obviously divined what ailed a number of her patients, just from watching her examinations, but he didn’t interrupt with any of his own observations. Compared with her father’s constant questions about whether she knew what she was doing with her life, it was a welcome show of respect.

  ‘So.’ She turned to him as the last patient closed the door of the surgery behind her. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I think you’re making a difference.’

  ‘It’s not exactly cutting-edge medicine.’ Arianna wondered how he would respond to her father’s assertion, that if she was going to work for a living she should choose something a little more high-profile. Or at least somewhere a little more high-profile, like the city.

  Ben winced. ‘What do you want me to say? I’m a working GP too, so clearly I think that this makes a difference. What I see here is that if I had the ability to know my patients a little better, then I could make more of the kind of difference you’re making here.’

  ‘Okay.’ Arianna held her hands up in an expression of willing defeat. ‘What I actually wanted you to say was that it doesn’t matter where you practice. Now you’re telling me that it does and that I’m doing better than you.’

  He chuckled. ‘Fair enough. It doesn’t matter where you practice, then. You’re still doing more for your patients than I can. Are you ready to go now? I’m looking forward to seeing the Lava Lake.’

  The conversation was turning into a flirtation, possibly because Ben’s smile made everything a flirtation, and possibly because of the warm feeling that his approval gave. Arianna’s phone rang and she picked it up from the desk, watching as Ben turned towards the window, staring outside to the large garden at the back, where Mrs Kyriakou and her daughter Athena were bidding their goodbyes to the last of the children they’d been minding while their mothers were visiting the surgery.

  The message being relayed to her was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. The Lava Lake, along with Ben, started to recede from her immediate future.

  ‘Ben, I’m sorry but the Lava Lake’s going to have to wait. I’ll find someone to take you back to Ilaria—something’s come up.’

  ‘What’s happened?’ He was suddenly alert.

  ‘There’s been an accident on one of the fishing boats. I have to take the boat out to meet them.’

  ‘Can I help? I’m assuming you have no other medical staff available.’

  ‘Are you sure...?’ Arianna swallowed down the objection that Ben was on holiday because she really could use his help. ‘I can’t wait for Andreas to get here; it’ll take him too long.’

  ‘Then let’s go.’

  * * *

  Ben carried Arianna’s medical bag as they both hurried down to the harbour. A young man was waiting for them at the dock, and Arianna translated what he said for Ben as they all climbed into the boat.

  ‘They’re drifting, somewhere over there.’ She pointed towards a clear expanse of sea. ‘They had engine problems and a couple of the crew have b
een hurt, so we’ll need to give them a tow as well. Georgios is coming with us, to help.’

  At the mention of his name, Georgios held out his hand to Ben and the men nodded a hello. Then he turned to stand with Arianna at the helm, obviously giving her directions. When a fishing boat became visible, Georgios took out his phone, obviously speaking to the people on board and then relaying the gist of the conversation to Arianna.

  ‘Well, they’re not sinking, so that’s good news.’ Arianna was staring ahead of her as she steered towards the boat. ‘I think the best thing for us to do is to go across onto the fishing boat and see how badly the men are injured, while Georgios sorts out a towing line.’

  ‘Okay. Just tell me what to do and when to do it.’ Ben smiled at her. Arianna was confident and capable, and there was no trace of hesitation in her manner. Clearly she remembered the panic and confusion of the ferry, but it seemed she’d put it behind her and had no fear of the water now.

  She manoeuvred the boat alongside the fishing boat, a larger wooden craft with a small cabin towards the back and nets tumbled across the deck at the front, as if they’d been hauled in with haste. One man sat alone, nursing his arm, and the other four were clustered around a prone figure.

  He clambered up onto the fishing boat, turning to help Arianna. But she was already beside him, stretching down as Georgios passed her medical bag up to her. Above the clamour of the sea there was no sound other than the moans of the stricken man. Ben’s gaze caught Arianna’s and she nodded in silent agreement. There was a different note to the cries of a patient in crisis, and it sounded as if someone had been badly hurt.

  ‘If you take a look at the man sitting over there...’ She looked around, motioning over to one of the fishermen. ‘Dimitris speaks a bit of English. Best we can do, I’m afraid... If you need splints or a sling, there are some in the long chest on the left, in the cabin of my boat.’

  ‘That’s great, thanks.’ Arianna had given him all he needed, despite the almost unbearable feeling that he should stay with her, be there for her, Ben knew that a division of labour was best for their patients. She’d call him if she needed him. He hoped.