Greek Island Fling to Forever

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Thank you for calling me, Arianna.’

  * * *

  The helicopter swung low over the sea, and landed on a piece of scrubland to one side of the house. The engine cut out and the pilot ran towards her, bending low to avoid the still turning rotor blades. He took her bag, guiding her to one of the doors behind the cockpit.

  Her father was sitting inside the helicopter. The shock almost made Arianna stumble backwards and he stretched out his hand, helping her into the empty seat next to him.

  Arianna didn’t object when he leaned forward to fasten her safety belt. If this was turning into National Surprise Arianna Day, then the world was making a fine job of it so far.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘In my own helicopter?’ Her father shot her an innocent look.

  ‘On Ilaria. You said you wouldn’t set foot on Ilaria again.’ Arianna frowned at him.

  ‘Technically, I haven’t...’

  ‘You’re going to rely on technicalities, are you?’

  Her father smiled. ‘Only you, Arianna. Everyone else allows me to talk them down, but you never did. Even when you were a child.’

  Something about the fondness in his face reminded her of the way that Ben looked at Jonas. Warmth curled around her heart.

  ‘I meant it. What I said the other day, about not wanting it to be another two years before we talked.’ Saying it face to face seemed to cement Arianna’s determination to repair whatever could be salvaged of her relationship with her father. To believe that some part of her relationship with Ben could be salvaged as well.

  The lines on her father’s face melted into a regretful smile. ‘I made many mistakes, Arianna. I told myself that grief had pushed us apart, but it was my job to stop that from happening. I abandoned you and I would give anything for the opportunity to be there for you now.’

  Arianna reached forward, taking her father’s hand, realising that he was trembling.

  ‘I need to go to England alone. But when I return I’d like to come to Athens, so we can talk. And I’d like you to come back here with me, so I can show you what I’ve done at the health centre.’ Maybe that was a little too much to ask, but if miracles were possible then she might as well think big.

  ‘I would like that. Very much...’ The pilot had settled himself into his seat, and the helicopter’s rotor blades began to quicken in readiness for take-off. Her father had to shout so that she could hear his final words.

  ‘I’m so proud of you, Arianna.’

  Arianna squeezed her father’s hand. ‘I’m glad you’re here. Thank you...’

  The helicopter swung out, across the darkening sea. The journey ahead of her, from the private airfield on the mainland to London, seemed very long and lonely. All she could do was hope that Ben would be there for her when she arrived.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MAYBE HE SHOULDN’T have sent the text. Ben had been considering the matter all night, before dragging himself wearily out of bed to take Jonas to the day-long play date for a friend’s birthday. The other mothers there had taken one look at him and sent him home, telling him to come and pick Jonas up at six. He worked hard all week and he should take a day off.

  In truth, a day off was the last thing that Ben wanted, because it gave him even more time to think. Had he worded the text right? Would Arianna understand that he wasn’t expecting her to do anything about his great proposition, but that he just wanted to let her know where he stood? If she did know where he stood, what would she do about it? And if she rejected him, could he accept that decision, or would he just stubbornly keep loving her?

  It was a lot more complex than just grabbing a couple of apple cakes. And the only thing that Ben knew for sure was that he’d never give up hope.

  Now wasn’t a day for hope, though. Whatever Arianna’s reaction, he wouldn’t be hearing from her just yet. If she deleted the text then he wouldn’t be hearing from her at all, and if she replied she’d probably take a little time to consider what she wanted to say.

  The weeds that had started to grow in the garden when he’d been away in Ilaria, and had continued untouched since then, were threatening to take over. He’d work for a while, until he was truly exhausted, and then take a siesta... No, he’d take a nap. Far fewer memories attached to a power nap than there were to a siesta, even if the two were largely similar.

  He worked for an hour and then began to carry piles of weeds through to the front garden, tipping them into the garden waste wheelie bin. A limousine was travelling slowly past the house, and he wondered if someone in the street was getting married. If he’d been in Ilaria, then he’d have known exactly what everyone in the street was doing...

  The limousine stopped and then backed up. Ben winced as it drew closer to a small blue run-around that belonged to his neighbour, and wondered whether going out into the road and waving his arms around to help the driver park was going to be necessary. But it seemed that not blocking the road wasn’t his first priority, and he got out of the car and opened the back door.

  Arianna got out of the car.

  Wearing a pair of slim chinos, flat pumps and a striped T-shirt with a wraparound white jacket and standing next to the car, she looked somehow rich. She waved the driver back into his seat and banged impatiently on the front passenger window when he failed to draw away quickly enough, turning to smile and apologise to the driver in the car behind. Then she turned and saw him staring at her.

  The car behind her shot forward, almost hitting her, and she jumped out of the way. Ben ran down to where she was standing, in between two parked cars, stopping before he got close enough to touch her.

  ‘Not much of a rescue, if you’re going to stand in the middle of the road.’ He knew that he was smiling. Whatever she was here to do, whether it was to sink a dagger into his heart or take him into her arms and save him, he’d accept his fate because it would be at Arianna’s hands.

  ‘No. I could have planned that a lot better.’ Her eyes were that mix of warmth and fire that made Ben hope against hope that she didn’t have any daggers in her handbag.

  ‘Come in.’ Ben backed away from her so that she could step onto the pavement and kept his distance, leading her around to the back of the house. Arianna gave him a smile, picking her way around the weeds that were piled up on the path.

  She stepped through the patio doors into the sitting room, looking around her. ‘I like your house.’

  Each one of the books in the bookcase, the toys collected up in a basket by the wide hearth and the chairs, a little faded with wear but still comfortable, took on a new lustre in Ben’s eyes. If Arianna liked his house, then he liked it even more.

  ‘I got your text.’ She turned on him suddenly. ‘So I came straightaway.’

  ‘How...?’ She didn’t look like someone who’d been up all night, making her way through a busy airport and then spending five hours on a plane. She looked wonderful, like all of his dreams rolled into one.

  ‘I called my father and asked for his help. He came to the island with a helicopter to pick me up, and then put me on his private jet to London.’

  That was a story that Ben wanted to hear. Later...

  ‘Do you need to call him to let him know you’ve arrived?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, he’ll know that by now. The driver who brought me will be parked up around the corner, reporting back to him.’

  Parked around the corner. Ice began to trickle into Ben’s veins. Maybe Arianna wasn’t planning on staying for more than a few minutes. She had a large leather bag over her shoulder that could contain a change of clothes, but on the other hand, it might be full of things to read on the plane home.

  ‘Arianna. I’m sorry to drop this on you so suddenly. But I love you. Whatever you want to do with that is fine—’

  She stepped forward, putting her finger over his lips.

>   ‘You made me feel that I’m worth your love, Ben. I want to accept that gift, and love you back.’

  She’d changed. Maybe as much as he had. The Arianna who felt that she had no business being saved when her brother hadn’t been was accepting his love. Ben almost fell to his knees as hope tugged violently at his heart.

  ‘I meant it when I said I needed you to save me. I can’t promise that I won’t want to protect you, because I love you, but Jonas doesn’t need a superhero and neither do you. I’ve hung up my cloak, and all I want is for you to love me...’

  ‘I always have.’ She smiled. ‘So what do you think? You reckon that we will break each other, or that we’ll be stronger together? I can’t let you go a second time, and so you’ll be stuck with me. We’ll have to face whatever comes, together.’

  ‘That sounds wonderful. You’ll be stuck with me too.’ He reached forward to touch her, and then realised his hands were covered in grime and his T-shirt had grass stains all over it. Wondering if he could break away for long enough to clean himself up a bit, so that he could feel the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips, was the most delicious of conflicts.

  She saw his hesitation and smiled. ‘I don’t care how dirty you are, Ben. I really need a hug.’

  He pulled her close and she melted into his arms. This was for real. It wouldn’t break apart as easily as their previous embraces, and they both knew it. Ben kissed her tenderly, feeling the hunger in her kiss and letting it flow through him like a healing salve.

  ‘Where’s Jonas?’

  ‘Play date. Back at six.’

  ‘Oh. Good. I mean...not good, but...’ Arianna kissed him again.

  ‘I know what you mean. He’ll be pleased to see you. Right now I’m very pleased to see you.’

  She giggled, drawing back so that she could tug his T-shirt over his head. ‘I’m very pleased to see you too.’ Her fingers moved to the waistband of his jeans and Ben grinned, catching her hand.

  ‘Not so fast.’ He took her bag from her shoulder, putting it down on the sofa. ‘I hope you’ve come prepared.’

  ‘I’m prepared for anything, Ben. Everything.’

  She ran her fingers across his chest and Ben felt each muscle quiver under her touch. This was a strength he hadn’t known he had. He and Arianna, together. He slipped her jacket from her shoulders and then pulled her T-shirt over her head. Her skin was just as delicious as he remembered it.

  ‘Everything is going to take a very long time, Arianna.’

  ‘A lifetime?’

  He kissed her. Any moment now he was going to carry her upstairs, strip her of her clothes, taking a suitable amount of time to admire the fancy underwear that he reckoned she had on, and then maybe they’d take a shower together, before they made the sweetest love that he could imagine. But for now it was enough just to kiss her, feeling all the warmth of knowing that she loved him just as much as he loved her, and that they’d always be there to save each other.

  ‘I’m not sure that one lifetime is going to be long enough.’

  EPILOGUE

  Two years later

  THE CHRISTENING PARTY for Arianna and Ben’s twin baby girls was in full swing. People had spilled out onto the beach, and a good number of them wouldn’t be going home until the sun had set and then risen again.

  Arianna nudged Ben. ‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing?’

  She pointed across to where the obligatory photographs were being taken, in the shade and relative quiet of the veranda. The two grandmothers had already posed, laughing and chatting together and insisting on swapping babies for even more photographs. Now her mother was cradling both babies and her father stood beside her, one hand resting on Jonas’s shoulder and the other arm around his ex-wife, who was wearing a gorgeous red dress.

  ‘Yeah. Your mother and father are looking pretty cosy these days. You think we need to put them under surveillance?’

  Arianna smiled. ‘Maybe. Perhaps Jonas can be our inside man and report back to us.’

  Jonas would be staying with his beloved Pappous Ioannis and Yia-Yia Alexandra for two weeks at their villa in the mountains, along with Ben’s parents. He was looking forward to being the centre of attention of four fond grandparents and it would give Arianna and Ben some time to spend together. After the hustle and bustle of preparing for two new babies, that would be welcome.

  It hadn’t always been easy, and never straightforward. Where to live, what was best for Jonas and where both Arianna and Ben could work effectively had been their first hurdle. Jonas’s love of island life, and the English school on the mainland, where he could learn Greek and transition smoothly onto a Greek high school had been one deciding factor. The fact that there was a lot more left to do on the islands of Ilaria and Kantos, another. And their families got on so well that there was no question of Ben missing his parents or Jonas his grandparents, because they always had at least two invitations to stay for a while from Arianna’s extended family. There was talk of them buying a place on Kantos when Ben’s father retired, so that he and Arianna’s father could spend their summers fishing together. Arianna’s mother had confided in Ben that it was about time he slowed down a bit, and loosened his grip on his business empire.

  They’d had their challenges. Ben had been required to study hard to get his Greek to a point where he could practise medicine on the islands. Arianna had experienced severe morning sickness at the start of her pregnancy, and as it had progressed the workload of the practice had fallen squarely on Ben’s shoulders. Ben had clashed with Arianna’s father over his plans for the large house on the island he was planning to build for them, insisting that the proceeds of the sale of his house in London made him perfectly capable of providing for his own family. Arianna had stubbornly refused to live anywhere else but her own house, and they’d come to a compromise that made everyone happy. The L-shaped extension to Arianna’s house was in the style of the rest of the house, and nestled amongst lemon and orange trees that Ben had planted. Arianna’s father had gifted the shaded open-air swimming pool on the other side of the property for their wedding day.

  Ben had taken over responsibility for the new health centre that was being built on Kantos, which would work in the same way as the one on Ilaria, servicing both the hotel and the village. Now, his morning commute was a walk down the beach to the boat moored at the small jetty they’d constructed, so that he could take Jonas to school before he went onto work.

  ‘How did we ever get to be this lucky?’ Arianna looked around at the group of friends and family, and the idyllic setting of their home.

  ‘I guess...we didn’t rely on luck. Whatever happened, we would have made things work.’ Ben put his arm around her shoulders.

  ‘So what do you put it down to, then?’

  He thought for a moment. ‘A lot of talking. Some arguing.’

  ‘Make-up sex?’ She stood on her toes, whispering in his ear.

  ‘Yeah. I’m particularly fond of that. Watch out, I may have to pick a fight with you later.’ Ben grinned down at her, then fished his phone out of his pocket, answering the call.

  ‘Don’t tell me... Surely no one’s ill, are they? Isn’t pretty much everyone here?’

  ‘Mrs Panagos. Her nephew stopped by to pick her up and she’s not feeling so good. He can’t find her tablets.’

  Arianna rolled her eyes. ‘Well, if she went to the chemist and filled her prescriptions then she’d have them to hand when she needed it, wouldn’t she?’

  Ben nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ll have a word with her nephew and see if he can’t pick them up for her. I’ll be fifteen minutes, tops and I’ll bring them back here with me, so we can keep an eye on her.’

  ‘Okay. Good thought. I’ll be making good use of my time while you’re gone.’

  ‘Interrogating your parents?’ Ben knew how much her parents’ new-found relationship meant to Ariann
a.

  ‘Yes. If Jonas helps me out then fifteen minutes should be more than enough to get the full story out of them...’

  Ben skirted the house, slipping out through the olive trees that bounded the property. Something made him stop and look back, and he saw Arianna. He wouldn’t have thought it possible to love her any more than yesterday, and then today had dawned. Who knew what tomorrow might bring?

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Annie Claydon

  The Best Man and the Bridesmaid

  Healing the Vet’s Heart

  A Rival to Steal Her Heart

  Winning the Surgeon’s Heart

  All available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Night Shifts with the Miami Doc by Ann McIntosh.

  WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM

  Life and love in the world of modern medicine.

  Escape to the world where life and love play out against a high-pressured medical backdrop.

  6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!

  Night Shifts with the Miami Doc

  by Ann McIntosh

  CHAPTER ONE

  SIXTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD MRS. MORALES not only looked unwell, she looked terrified, too. According to her chart, she’d collapsed at home, by all indications from an arrhythmia that caused her to faint. After being examined in the ER, she’d been admitted for further tests and monitoring, but although her heart seemed to be the main concern, Dr. Regina Montgomery had her doubts.

  “Ask her how long she’s been suffering from the swelling in her ankles,” Regina requested of the assisting nurse, who, thankfully, spoke Spanish. “And the abnormal itchiness. And ask again if she’s been experiencing muscle cramps.”

  As nurse Amelia Jackson relayed the questions, Regina took another look at the chart, displayed on her tablet. Some of the test results had come back, all focused on heart function, but, like the emergency room doctor before her, she was wondering if heart disease was Mrs. Morales’s main problem. They’d asked for a cardiology consult, but it was Regina’s responsibility as internist to ensure that if the patient needed additional treatment, it was provided.