The Olive Tree (10 page)

‘One way or another, I think we’ll need her,’ answered William wearily, turning to Alex. ‘So, what do you think of Pandora? Like it?’

‘The pool’s legend,’ Alex said with a nod.

‘And the house?’

‘Yeah, it’s okay.’

‘England won the test match against the West Indies, did you know?’

‘No. The TV here only has Cyprus channels.’

William gave up. When Alex was in non-communicative mode, it was best to surrender.

Thankfully, the food arrived swiftly and the children dug in hungrily.

‘This meze is excellent,’ said William. ‘Try some, Fred?’

‘Plaeeuuuaa!!’ Fred covered his mouth and shook his head vehemently.

‘I hope he’s not going to live on chicken nuggets and chips for the whole holiday, darling,’ William commented primly to Helena.

‘Well, if he does, it won’t kill him, will it?’ Helena retorted, shovelling another forkful into her son’s mouth.

‘The Irish lived only on potatoes for years,’ put in Alex.

‘And they died in their thousands,’ replied William.

‘That was actually during the famine, when the potatoes were diseased and they starved. And half the world lives mainly on rice, you know,’ Alex continued pedantically. ‘Which
is basically carbohydrate, with some fibre.’

‘Mummy, I need the toilet and I want Alex to take me,’ Immy broke into the conversation.

‘Lucky me,’ muttered Alex. ‘Come on then.’

‘Me too!’ Fred climbed off his chair and trotted after his brother and sister.

A moment of calm descended on the table, and William poured them both some more wine. ‘So, has Alex been okay?’ he enquired.

‘Yes, fine. Or at least, normal, for him.’ Helena gave William a small smile. ‘You know how he is.’

‘I do. So, how has it been to be back here after all these years?’

‘Lovely, yes, really lovely. I—’

‘Mummy! Look who’s here! It’s your friend!’ Immy appeared behind Helena. ‘I told him he had to come and meet my daddy.’

Helena turned round and looked up into the deep blue eyes of Alexis.

‘Hello, Helena,’ he said, obviously uncomfortable. ‘I am sorry to disturb your family, but your daughter insisted.’

‘Of course you’re not disturbing us, Alexis. This is my husband, William.’

Alexis managed to release his hand from Immy’s iron grip and held it out across the table. ‘I am glad to meet you, William.’

‘And you. Alexis, is it?’

‘Yes.’

There was a long pause, during which Helena desperately trawled through a hundred different ways to break the silence, none of which she felt were at all suitable.

‘Alexis took us to Paphos in his big van, Daddy,’ Immy piped up. ‘He came shopping with us and he’s been helping Mummy make the house nice for you and Fred.’

‘Has he now? Then perhaps I should say thank you for your help, Alexis,’ replied William evenly.

‘It is no problem. How do you find Pandora?’ he asked.

‘I think it’s a wonderful house, in a beautiful location.’

‘Alexis’ family owned the house before Angus bought it, and Alexis owns the vineyards that surround it.’ Helena had finally managed to find her voice.

‘You make wine?’ enquired William.

‘Yes.’ Alexis pointed to the jug on the table. ‘You are drinking it.’

‘It’s good, very good. Can I offer you a glass?’

‘No, thank you, William. I must go back to my guest. He is a wine merchant from Chile, and I wish him to buy from me.’

‘Then come round to Pandora and have a drink with us there,’ William suggested.

‘Thank you. I would like that. It is good to meet you, William.
Adio
, Helena, Immy.’ He nodded and left the table.

Alex had spotted Alexis as he came out of the toilet with Fred, and hung back until he’d gone. ‘What was
he
doing here, Mum?’ he asked as he and Fred sat back down at
the table, his voice dripping with animosity.

Which told William everything he needed to know.

When they arrived back at Pandora, Helena put the little ones to bed, then ran a bath. She felt exhausted; last night, she hadn’t slept. Perhaps it was simply the tension of William and
Fred arriving that had caused it.

‘The DVD player is set up in the drawing room.’ Alex wandered in to the bedroom without knocking, a habit Helena knew irked William.

‘Good,’ replied Helena. ‘I’m just going to have a bath. You off to bed?’

‘Yes. At least I’ve got a few books to choose from in my new library. Night, Mum.’

‘Sleep well, darling.’

‘Night, Alex.’ William appeared in the bedroom as Alex was leaving.

‘Night, Dad.’

William shut the door firmly behind him, then followed Helena into the bathroom. As she climbed into the tub, he sat down on the edge of it. ‘Peace,’ he said with a smile, running
his hands through his dark hair and yawning. ‘I think I’ll sleep well tonight.’

‘Five hours on a plane with Fred is enough to knock anyone out for the duration,’ Helena agreed. ‘He fell asleep halfway through his story. I just hope he sleeps in tomorrow,
otherwise he’ll be a nightmare for the rest of the day.’

‘I think that’s some hope,’ William sighed. ‘So, how do you know Alexis?’

‘I met him when I was last staying here.’

‘He’s a handsome man.’

‘I suppose he is, yes.’

‘He must have been a knockout when you first knew him,’ William probed.

Helena concentrated on soaping herself in the bath.

‘So, come on then.’ William gave up trying to be subtle. ‘Was there ever anything between you?’

‘Can you pass me the towel?’

‘Here.’ William handed it to her, marvelling at the way neither age nor childbirth seemed to have left their tell-tale marks on his wife’s body. With the water running off her
skin, she reminded William of a nymph, her small breasts still high and full and her stomach flat. William felt a stirring in his loins as he watched her climb out and wrap herself in the towel.
‘So? You haven’t answered the question.’

‘We had a holiday romance whilst I was here, that’s all.’

‘And you haven’t seen him since?’

‘No.’

‘So it was . . . innocent?’

‘William,’ Helena sighed, ‘this was twenty-four years ago. It’s not important, is it?’

‘Is Alexis married?’

‘He was, but his wife died.’

‘So he’s a widower, then.’

‘Yes.’ Helena roughly towelled her hair dry, then reached for her robe.

‘Did you know he was going to be here?’

‘I had no idea. I haven’t spoken to him for twenty-four years.’

‘Yes, you’re right. It was a long time ago.’

‘Yes, it was. Now, how about you jump in before the water gets cold? I’ll go and close up downstairs. And speaking of downstairs, I was thinking that first thing tomorrow, I’d
like to run into Paphos and pick up some plants for those lovely old urns on the terrace and that little flower bed next to the pool. Angelina’s here, so she can babysit the little ones for a
couple of hours. Will you come with me?’

‘Of course I will.’

‘Great. See you in a minute.’

William undressed and sank into the bath, berating himself for his questioning. He was being paranoid and unfair to Helena. As she rightly said, whatever had taken place nearly a quarter of a
century ago had no bearing on
now
. But the way Alexis had looked at his wife earlier in the taverna . . . William knew instinctively it was the gaze of a man still in love.

14th July 2006

To Dad: ‘Hello, dahh-ling.’

To Immy and Fred: ‘No! darrrlings!’

To me: ‘Oh, darling!’

So, we are all here and back to Peter Pan Land. We are the ‘Darling’ family and my mother is Mrs Darling. I’m amazed she hasn’t employed a dog yet as our
nanny, but give her time. Why did she bother naming any of us individually, when she uses one noun for all?

It’s especially difficult when she calls out a collective ‘darling’ from the kitchen and all of us respond from everywhere in the house, and stand there in the
kitchen while she decides which ‘darling’ it is she requires. On the whole, I think she’s a very good mother, but this ‘D’ business drives me nuts. It must be a
hangover from when she was working on the stage as a ballerina. It’s the kind of thing ‘theatricals’ say.

We are a family of five, soon to be six when this Chloë person arrives, which is quite large by today’s standards. Inside that family group, surely we need to maintain
our individuality? And what is more personal to us than our names?

Fred has started copying her recently. I worry he’ll get a seriously rough ride at school if he thinks it’s okay to call the resident class bully
‘darling’.

Anyway, as long as she doesn’t start including Mr Fix-it on her ‘D’ roster, I can just about cope.

Of course, I was Number One ‘Darling’, once. I came first, before any of them.

And if I’m honest, sometimes I find it difficult to share her. She’s like a soft, round cheese and when I was born I had the whole lot to myself. Then she met Dad, and a
great big piece was sliced off, though I reckon I still had half left. Then along came Immy, who got a big chunk, then Fred, who got another. And I’m sure she’ll need to cut off another
sliver for Chloë, so my piece keeps getting smaller and smaller all the time.

It really struck me today, when Immy jumped into her father’s arms at the airport, that I don’t have one. A father, that is. William does his best, but put it this way:
if there was a fire, I’d bet my entire Tintin memorabilia collection he’d save his real kids first. Which technically makes my chunk of the cheese half
again
, as Dad and Immy and
Fred have bits of each other’s.

Dad seemed very happy indeed when I won my scholarship to
that
school. He opened a bottle of champagne, and I was allowed a glass too. Perhaps he was celebrating the fact
that in the future I’ll be away from home most of the time and he won’t have to put up with me anymore.

Why am I suddenly over-obsessing more than usual about this father business?

Perhaps because, up until now, my mother has always been enough. I haven’t needed anyone else.

But just recently – and I read her very well – I’ve felt her slipping away.

She is not herself.

And nor am I.

William and Helena spent the early part of the morning at a small garden centre that Helena had spotted on the outskirts of Paphos.

It was rare these days for them to have time alone together and despite it being a relatively mundane task, Helena enjoyed wandering up and down the sunny rows of plants hand in hand with
William, picking out various brightly coloured geraniums plus several oleanders and lavenders, which she knew would withstand the arid climate. The garden centre owner also had a little stall out
front selling fresh local produce, so they stocked up on fragrant, fat tomatoes, melons, plums and sweet-smelling herbs to take home with them, loading everything into the boot of the car before
heading back to Pandora.

‘Sadie for you.’ William came into the kitchen to hand Helena her mobile as she prepared lunch.

‘Thanks. Hello, darling, how are you?’ Helena used the chin-to-shoulder technique to hold the phone so she could continue washing the lettuce. ‘Oh, no, really? . . . Oh, what a
shit! Are you okay? No, I’m sure . . . Yes, it’s lovely here. William and Fred arrived yesterday and we’re all having an afternoon by the pool, enjoying the peace before the
Chandlers arrive. Hold on two secs, Sadie.’ She turned to William and indicated the tray of plates and cutlery. ‘Can you take them outside, and tell the kids to get out of the pool and
dry off ready for lunch?’

William left with the tray and Helena resumed her conversation with Sadie. ‘Of course you’ll meet someone else. I never thought he was “the one” anyway . . . What? Well,
if that’s what you’d like to do, but I really don’t know where you’ll sleep. We’re already bursting at the seams. Okay,’ Helena sighed. ‘Well, chin up.
Just let me know the time of your flight and I’ll come and get you from the airport. Bye, darling.’

William had returned to the kitchen. ‘The kids are drying off. Anything else to go outside to the table?’

Helena tipped the lettuce leaves into a bowl already half full of chopped tomatoes and cucumber, tossed it deftly with her fingers and handed it to William.

‘So,’ he said as he took it, ‘how’s Sadie?’

‘Suicidal. Mark’s told her it’s over.’

‘Right.’

‘I know you didn’t like him much, and to be honest, nor did I. But Sadie did.’

‘So I gathered from the hours of calls, waxing lyrical in your ear.’

‘Yes, but Sadie is my best friend and I have to be there for her. The thing is—’

‘She wants to come and stay here, get away for a few days to mend her broken heart and cry on her best friend’s shoulder,’ William finished for her.

‘In essence, yes,’ Helena agreed.

‘So, when is she arriving?’

‘She’s calling the airline now to try and book a ticket.’

‘Very soon, then.’

‘Probably. I’m sorry, darling, but she sounds dreadful.’

‘She’ll bounce back – she normally does,’ he muttered darkly.

Helena grabbed a platter of cold meats from the fridge, glancing at William as she did so. ‘I know it seems like an imposition, but you need to remember that Sadie and I are like sisters.
We’ve known each other since junior school and she’s the nearest thing I have left to family. I love her, simple as that, and I just can’t say no.’

‘I know,’ William sighed in resignation. ‘And I like Sadie, I really do, but I’m just worried this so-called holiday is threatening to become a few weeks of hard labour,
with the house turning into a free hotel with me, and more to the point, you, running it.’

‘Pandora was made to be full of people. It certainly was when I was last here.’

‘Yes, and I’d bet it had a full complement of staff to cater to the guests’ every whim,’ said William. ‘I don’t want to see you run ragged, that’s all.
You look exhausted already.’

‘I’ll ask Angelina if she’ll help out more, especially with the catering. She used to cook for Angus, and he was dreadfully fussy, so I’m sure she’s very
good.’