‘It’s such a relief that we got here in time,’ Manolis said, taking her hand again in what seemed to have become a natural instinct. ‘It could have been otherwise.’

In the moonlight she could see his eyes shining with happiness as he looked down at her. ‘We could be such a good team you and I—I’m talking professionally, you understand,’ he added quickly. ‘It felt so right working together just now. We seemed to sense that…’

‘Yes, I felt the rapport between us was…natural,’ she said quietly.

He lowered his head and kissed her gently on the mouth.

Oh, those lips—those sexy, wonderful lips. She’d never thought she would ever feel them on hers again. She’d cried with frustration when she’d realised how much she wanted him, and he was never coming back.

But here he was.

Margaret Barker has enjoyed a variety of interesting careers. A State Registered Nurse and qualified teacher, she holds a degree in French and Linguistics, and is a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music. As a full-time writer, Margaret says, ‘Writing is my most interesting career, because it fits perfectly into family life. Sadly, my husband died of cancer in 2006, but I still live in our idyllic sixteenth-century house near the East Anglian coast. Our grown-up children have flown the nest, but they often fly back again, bringing their own young families with them for wonderful weekend and holiday reunions.’

Greek Doctor Claims His Bride

Margaret Barker

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

CHAPTER ONE

TANYA hurled the mop with the spider still clinging to it straight out of the window. It was a trick she’d learned from her grandmother when she had been very small and absolutely petrified of the giant spiders that had scurried along the floor of her bedroom.

“Just pick up a mop, dangle it over the spider and it will cling on, thinking it’s found a friend,” Grandmother Katerina had told her all those years ago, and it was still a good solution.

“Ouch!”

The sound of a deep masculine voice muttering a few choice Greek expletives rose up from the courtyard below her window. Tanya leaned out so that she could see the swarthy man beneath her and for a brief moment she thought she might be dreaming. It couldn’t be…no, the low evening sunshine was playing tricks with her eyes…Manolis Stangos was in London, not here on the island…wasn’t he?

“Tanya?”

“Manolis?”

“For a moment I thought you were Grandmother Katerina moving back into her old house.”

He was speaking rapidly in Greek as if to a stranger, none of the smooth, silky tones he’d used when they had been together all those years ago. Tanya ran a hand over her long auburn hair. She was sure her afternoon cleaning session had done nothing to help her jet-lagged appearance. A cobweb was still clinging to her hand but thankfully the large scary spider was now scuttling away across the courtyard.

“Thanks very much! I know it’s a long time since you saw me but I can’t have aged all that much. Anyway…” Tanya swallowed hard as she rubbed a dusty hand over her moist eyes “…Grandmother—Katerina—died a few months ago…”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that you were the last person I expected to see here.”

His voice was softer now. Tanya took a deep breath as she tried to remain calm. This unexpected encounter was playing havoc with her emotions.

“Considering it’s now my house, I feel I’ve every right to be here.”

“I’m getting a crick in my neck looking up at you. Aren’t you going to come down and check if you’ve fractured my skull with that mop, Dr Tanya?”

He smiled, and she could see the flash of his strong white teeth in his dark, rugged face.

“News filtered through to me in London that you’d qualified. I always knew you would in spite of…in spite of everything that might have stopped you.”

She looked down at Manolis and found herself relaxing.

“I’ll come down and check you out, although you could surely do that yourself, Dr Manolis,” she said as she turned away from the window, taking her time to negotiate the narrow wooden staircase.

By the time she’d reached the tiny, low-beamed kitchen, Manolis had come in through the open door. Nobody ever closed their doors on this idyllic island of Ceres where she’d been born. Doors were closed when you went out. That was to make sure a stray goat or donkey didn’t wander in and help itself to the food in the larder, but the key to the house was always left in the lock on the outside so that friends and neighbours would be able to get in if they needed to.

Meeting up with Manolis again after six long years had almost taken her breath away. She’d forgotten how handsome he was. Eight years older than her, he must be…what? Quick mathematical moment…thirty-six, because she was twenty-eight.

She remembered them celebrating her twenty-second birthday together. She’d just told him she was pregnant. She remembered how shocked he’d looked, how confused she’d felt.

“OK, are you going to check whether you’ve cracked my skull?”

“Sit down, Manolis. You’re too tall for me to check it when you’re towering above me, and you make me nervous.”

“Nervous?” Manolis laughed. “When were you ever nervous of me?”

He pulled a chair out from under the check-clothed table and sank down, spreading his long legs out in front of him. She remembered that as a child when the impossibly tall Manolis had come into her grandmother’s tiny kitchen he’d seemed to fill the whole room. She’d tried so hard to get his attention in those far-off days but he’d barely seemed to notice her.

“Keep still, will you?”

Her fingers were actually trembling as she smoothed back the thick black hair that framed his dark, rugged face. How many times had she run her fingers through his hair? And yet her reaction had always been the same. That sexy frisson she got from simply touching him. It travelled all the way down through her body and before she knew it her legs were turning into jelly, and as for her insides—well, that was almost impossible to cope with at such close quarters.

She sat down quickly on a chair. Her eyes were almost level with his.

“I can’t see anything wrong with your forehead. Not a mark on it. You’re just making a fuss about nothing.”

If she continued using her bantering tone she could cover up the fact that she was so deeply moved she wanted to give in to her impossible desire. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. She wished she could turn the clock back to the time when they’d been so deliriously happy, so madly in love.

Manolis stirred on the small hard chair, unable to believe that he was so close to Tanya again. He had to clench his hands to stop himself reaching out and pulling her into his arms. Desire was rising up inside him, that familiar stirring in his loins that wouldn’t cease until they’d made love again. But that would never happen. He’d known when she’d turned down his proposal of marriage for the second time that he would never try again. She was lost to him for ever and they couldn’t go back.

“I think you’ll live,” Tanya said as she resisted the temptation to place her lips on his forehead in the pretence that she was kissing it better.

For a moment she wondered how he would react if she gave in to temptation. She could try…but he had a hard look on his face now. The moment had passed.

“I’ve got to go,” he said evenly.

“Does your mother still live on the end of the street? Are you visiting her?”

He hesitated. “She still lives there. But actually I bought the house next to yours when I came back to Ceres a couple of years ago.”

“Next door? In Villa Agapi?” She drew in her breath. Agapi was the Greek word for love. She had just come to live in Villa Irini, which meant peace. Love and peace next door to each other.

“Manolis, are you here on holiday?”

“I work here on the island again. I wanted to return and it was better for…”

He broke off as the sound of a child’s voice came from the street.

“Papa, Papa? Where are you?”

Manolis hurried through the courtyard and stood by the open door that led to the street.

“Papa!” The little girl flung herself at him. He lifted her high into the air. She was laughing and screaming with delight as he lowered her into his arms.

Tanya remained absolutely still as she watched the joyous reunion of a little girl with her father. Her hands were clenching the side of the table to steady herself as she listened to the rapid non-stop Greek words that flowed from the child as she told her father she’d had the most exciting day. It emerged that she’d brought her papa a picture she’d painted at school but she’d put it down on a stone at the side of the path as she’d bent to take her shoes off because she hated wearing shoes when it was hot and the wind had blown it away and she wanted to paint another one now as soon as they got home because…

The story came out in one long breath. As she listened to the chatter, Tanya felt tears prickling behind her eyelids. This child, this beautiful little girl, couldn’t be much younger than the child she’d lost. Their child. She and Manolis should have had a child like this one but…

“Chrysanthe, agapi mou,” Manolis said, setting his excited daughter down on the cobbles of the courtyard. “Come inside and meet an old friend of mine. Tanya, this is Chrysanthe.”

The little girl hurried across the small courtyard and through the open door of the kitchen, smiling, friendly, totally trusting.

Tanya tried to swallow the lump in her throat. This wasn’t what she’d thought would happen today. It was all too poignant. Her confused emotions were draining her strength away. She reached out a hand towards the child.

Chrysanthe smiled as she placed her hand in Tanya’s. A pretty little dimple had appeared in the adorable child’s cheek. Who did she get that from? Must have been from her mother. The unknown woman who’d obviously taken Tanya’s place so soon after they’d split up. How could he have met up with someone and conceived a child so quickly?

“Do you live here, Tanya?” Such a lovely lilt to the lisping childish tone.

Tanya cleared her throat. “Yes. I’ve just moved in today.”

“I like your hair.” The little girl took her hand out of Tanya’s and reached up to stroke her auburn hair. She looked up at her father. “Daddy, why couldn’t my hair have been this colour?”

Oh, no, please don’t say things like that!

Tanya heard Manolis’s swift intake of breath.

“It’s very…unusual,” he said quickly. “You can’t…er…choose which colour your hair will be when you’re born. Sometimes the colour comes from your daddy and sometimes from your mummy.”

“My mummy’s got blonde hair but she says it’s out of a bottle. Could I get some of this colour out of a bottle, Tanya?”

“You probably could, but I prefer your hair the colour it is.”

“Like Daddy’s?”

Tanya swallowed hard. “Yes, like Daddy’s.” Her eyes met Manolis’s and she turned away to avoid the poignancy of this discussion.

“Did you have a good journey, Tanya?” Manolis said quickly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“I’m always relieved when I get here because it seems to take for ever.”

“Where did you come from?” Chrysanthe asked.

“Australia.”

“Australia? My daddy used to live there, didn’t you, Daddy?” The little girl had started to speak English now. “He told me all about it. It’s a long way from here, isn’t it? It’s got lots of croccy…What are they called, Daddy?”

“Crocodiles.”

Tanya noticed his voice was husky. He was reaching down and hoisting his daughter onto his shoulder.

“Your English is very good, Chrysanthe.”

“My mummy’s English. Are you English or Greek, Tanya?” The little girl looked down at Tanya from Manolis’s shoulders.

“I’m both—like you. English mummy, Greek daddy. But I was born here on Ceres.”

“I was born in England but I like living here best. Daddy used to bring me out to stay with Grandma Anna and all my cousins. I love being in my grandma’s house. It’s such fun playing with my cousins. Look, I can touch the ceiling! Daddy, I can touch the ceiling!”

“Tanya, I’ll take Chrysanthe away and we’ll leave you in peace. I’m sure you’ve got lots to do still.”

Peace! How did he ever think she could be at peace when there were so many questions to be answered? She’d come back here to escape her stressful life in Australia but had never imagined she would have to face the turmoil of the past. Yes, she’d come to find peace but that wouldn’t happen now, not while she was living next door to Manolis.

Manolis cleared his throat. “I know you’ve had a long journey, Tanya, but would you consider coming out for supper with me this evening?”

She’d never heard him sound so nervous. As if he was expecting her to squash the idea as impossible. Well, she had turned him down just before they’d split, only to bitterly regret it when it had been too late to change things.

“That would be after I’ve settled Chrysanthe with Mother. She stays with her when I’m on call. My mother has a huge bedroom—with plenty of room for her grandchildren—and they all love to stay there. We’re a very close family, as you know, and…”

His voice trailed away. He was looking down at her, his eyes betraying how much he wanted to see her again that evening.

“Yes, I’d like that. There are so many questions I want to ask.”

“Me too. So, I’ll call in about eight. We could go to Giorgio’s.”

“How is he?”

“His health isn’t too good but he sits in the corner and watches the rest of his family do all the work.” He turned away, one hand still holding onto the child on his shoulders. “Bend your head, my darling, as we go through the door.”

“Goodbye Chrysanthe. Come again to see me.” She meant it wholeheartedly.

“Ooh yes, I will. Daddy, I’m still taller than you. When I’m grown up I might really be taller than you. When you’re an old man I’ll put you on my shoulder and…”

The voices became indistinguishable as father and daughter made their way down the street. Chrysanthe was a beautiful little girl, but Tanya had never imagined that Manolis could have moved on so quickly after they had split up.

He’d moved on. She mustn’t dwell on it. She would remember only the happy times. She found herself wishing that little Chrysanthe was her child but stopped herself as soon as the thought occurred. No regrets. She had to move on with her life and not spend time wishing for the impossible.

Upstairs again, she ran hot water into the half-size hip bath in her tiny bathroom. As a child she’d loved to be bathed by her Grandmother Katerina when she’d been staying with her. She’d never dreamed that her grandmother would leave this house to her. Katerina must have realised how much Tanya loved it.

Tanya stripped off and stepped into the warm water. Mmm, it was bliss to lie back with the bath foam she’d bought in the airport shop in Sydney only yesterday. It hadn’t occurred to her that today she would be preparing to go out for supper with Manolis. Once more she had to remind herself that nothing had changed between them. And now that Manolis was a married man, the gap between them must remain wide.

She closed her eyes and smoothed some more foam over her skin as she leaned her head against the back of her bath…

* * *

Tanya woke with a start and her arms flapped around in the cold water as she heard someone calling her from downstairs. Above the bath she could see moonlight shining through the tiny little window.

Manolis stood downstairs with his hand resting on the wooden banister. “Tanya, are you OK up there?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” She hauled herself out of the bath, spilling water onto the tiles. “I must have fallen asleep.”

Manolis heard the splashing water and had a sudden mental image of Tanya’s slim, lithe figure emerging from the tiny bath where Grandmother Katerina had often bathed him when he had been a small child and his mother had been too busy to cope as she’d fed the latest baby. He was sorely tempted to ask if he could join her upstairs but he knew what the answer would be. Still, a man could dream, couldn’t he?

He put on his sternest voice so that Tanya would have no idea how much she’d already affected him. “That’s a dangerous thing to do—fall asleep in the bath. You should never do that!”

Tanya was already climbing the narrow wooden steps up to her bedroom, clutching the towel around her. If it slipped and Manolis looked up through the rungs of the wooden stairs that connected the kitchen with the top floor…She glanced down as she stepped off the stairs into her bedroom but couldn’t see him below her.

“I know it’s dangerous but the bath’s so small my knees were up to my chin so it’s unlikely I could have slipped under the water,” she called breathlessly, as she searched for something to put on. Not the smelly travel clothes…how about these trousers? She pulled them out of her case along with new, lacy black knickers. They were to make her feel good, nothing to do with the fact that she was going out with the sexiest man on the island—in the world.

It took her barely five minutes to emerge from her room fully clothed in three-quarter cut-off denims, white T-shirt and flip-flops. She’d spent a lot of time swimming and running at the beach near the hospital just outside Sydney and rarely used make-up for a casual night out. She would blend in with the tourists in Giorgio’s taverna. And she knew for a fact that Manolis preferred a natural-looking face—not that it was any concern of hers!

He turned as she came down the stairs and in spite of his resolutions he whistled. “Mmm, you scrub up well, Tanya!” he said in English.

She laughed. “You haven’t lost the Australian accent you picked up, Doctor. Are you trying to make me feel at home?”

“Something like that.” He moved to the bottom of the stairs, placing his hands, which seemed to have a mind of their own, on her shoulders. For a brief moment he hesitated before pulling her gently against him and kissing her on both cheeks.

“Welcome home,” he said in the sexiest, most unplatonic tone. He hadn’t meant to inject all that warmth and innuendo into his words but spending five minutes waiting for Tanya, knowing that she was first naked, then semi-naked then…well, it had played havoc with his intentions.

She tried to move backwards to escape his arms but she was pinned against the end of the banister.

She took a deep breath as she prepared to ask the big question. “Manolis, is your wife with you here on the island?”

“We’re divorced. My ex-wife is in London,” he said evenly.

She pushed her hands against his chest, making it quite clear that she wanted to escape this potentially dangerous embrace. There were too many questions that needed answers before she could begin to relax with him. But the fact that he was a free man made the situation a little easier…no, it didn’t! Her emotions were already in turmoil.

“Let’s go,” she said quietly. “I’m looking forward to being back in Giorgio’s.”

She stepped out into the narrow cobbled street, terribly aware of Manolis’s huge frame close behind her. She wasn’t small by any means—her legs were long but she was quite short—so she’d always felt that Manolis towered above her. Glancing up at him as they walked together over the uneven cobbles, she missed her footing. He put out a hand to prevent her falling as she stumbled.

“Careful!” He took hold of her hand. The touch of his fingers unnerved her completely. “This part of the street is so dark,” Manolis said as he waved his other hand upwards towards the light at the bend in the street. “There! That’s better.”

White light flooded down over them. “I know every stone along this street. You’ll soon get used to it. How long do you intend to stay, Tanya?”

She gave a nervous attempt at a laugh. “Good question. The shortest answer is I don’t know. It all depends…”

“On what?”

“On how I feel after I’ve had some time here.”

There was a comfortable silence before Manolis spoke again. “The only thing is, if you didn’t have any plans to return to Australia in a hurry, I was going to put a proposition to you.”

She took her hand out of his. No! He wouldn’t propose to her again, would he? The clock could never be turned back.

As if reading her mind, Manolis said, “That was perhaps an unfortunate phrase to use. This is a professional proposition. You see, I’m medical director of the hospital here and we need another doctor because it’s the beginning of the tourist season.”

He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “There is a hospital board of governors who have the final say when a doctor is appointed but I’m the one who assesses the medical credentials of a candidate.”

She was still listening, even appearing slightly interested. Well, he could but ask. “Would you like me to put your name forward?”

Tanya remained silent as she reviewed all the implications. Manolis walked on beside her, making absolutely sure that he didn’t touch her. He wanted to tell her that he would never propose marriage to her again. Two proposals, two rejections from the love of his life was more than any man could suffer. But they did need a good doctor at the island hospital and he did want to have her near him as much as possible while she was here. He had no plans beyond that.

CHAPTER TWO

THE emotional warmth given out by the revellers, tourists and islanders in Giorgio’s Taverna welcomed and wrapped around Tanya as if she’d never been away. As a small girl she’d been carried in here many times by her parents, elder brother, uncles, cousins and had often fallen asleep on somebody’s lap, the music lulling her to sleep as the evening progressed. She would wake up in her own bed either at home with her parents or at Grandmother Katerina’s, wondering how she’d been transported there.

Her brother Costas, who like his friend Manolis was eight years older than she, would sometimes tell her the fairies had carried her home in a special coach that ran over the cobbles without a sound. She’d liked to think that was true and whenever she found herself falling asleep at the table she’d made an effort to stay awake so that she could enjoy the journey home. But, however she’d tried, sleep had always got the better of her.

Manolis was trying to guide her to a table, one hand gently in the small of her back, but many people wanted to talk to them as they passed by.

“Dr Manolis, come over here! There’s room on my table.”

“Thank you…I’ll see you later on…” Manolis was smiling as he repeated his friendly phrase and moved on between the tables.

“I’m heading for that table in the corner,” he whispered as he stooped down towards her.

Tanya was aware of the many glances in their direction. One middle-aged lady put out a hand to detain her.

“It can’t be!” she said in Greek. “You’re Katerina’s granddaughter, aren’t you? You’re the absolute image of her when she was young and beautiful like you. Apart from the colour of your hair. You got that from your lovely mother, didn’t you? I remember when she arrived here from England. Very soon she was going out with your father, our young Dr Sotiris. Ah, he was such a handsome man.” She giggled. “All the girls fancied him. Including me!”

The giggle turned into joyful laughter.

Tanya smiled, wanting to give the lady her full attention even though Manolis was making his impatience to move on very obvious

“How is your father? Still living in Australia?”

Tanya swallowed hard. “He died of cancer five years ago.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. How’s your mother?”

“She’s married again to an old friend. She’s happy.”

She felt Manolis’s hand putting pressure on her to escape if she could.

“Lovely to see you again!” Tanya moved away, still smiling as she and Manolis finally reached the corner table.

Giorgio’s son had seen them making their way through the crowded taverna and was already standing over the table they coveted, fending off potential occupants.

“Efharisto. Thank you, Michaelis,” Tanya said, as she sank down on to the seat that was being held out for her.

“Good to see you back, Tanya. Have you come to work with Dr Manolis in the hospital?”

She hesitated. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. First I need some holiday and then…who knows?”

Manolis smiled. “I’m trying to get her interested in applying for the newly vacant position.”

Michaelis shrugged his shoulders. “What is there to think about? Tanya, you would be ideal as an island doctor. We have a beautiful hospital now. Not like the old days when your father had to cope with a small surgery and not enough medical help. Come into the kitchen to decide what you want to eat. Mama has got everything laid out on top of the ovens. The chicken in mataxa brandy is very good!”

“Did your mother make it?” Tanya asked.

“Of course!”

“Then I’d love to have some.”

“Me too!” Manolis said. “And bring us a small selection of meze to start with, parakalor.”

The sound of Giorgio playing on his accordion drifted over the happy voices. In spite of the general clamour, as she looked across the table at Manolis she felt as if they were the only two people in the room. It was almost as if they were back in their favourite Greek restaurant on the outskirts of Sydney.

A bottle of wine was placed on their table. “On the house,” Michaelis said. “It’s from my father to welcome Tanya back to where she belongs.”

Tanya looked across and mouthed her thanks to Giorgio. He raised a hand from his accordion.

“What a welcome!” Manolis said as he poured the wine. “Does it make you want to live here permanently?”

“As I told you, I have no plans at the moment,” Tanya said. Her words came out more sharply than she’d intended.

Manolis reined in his enthusiasm. Tanya had always had a mind of her own. “I didn’t intend to upset you,” he said evenly.

“I’m not upset. I just need time to think. I came here for a holiday and I don’t want to have to make any decisions while I’m still jet-lagged.”

“Of course you don’t. It was just an idea. Take all the time you need regarding the vacancy at the hospital. The post has already been advertised and we’ve had a couple of applications. The current doctor is returning to England to take up a post in London. He’s not going until the end of the month but we’re expecting an influx of tourists very soon.”

Michaelis poured wine into Tanya’s glass. Manolis put a hand over his. “I’m on call tonight, Michaelis, so would you bring me a bottle of still water?”

Michaelis called the order to a young waiter who threaded his way through the tables and poured a glass of water for Manolis.

Manolis was anxious to return to their discussion about the vacant position but he waited until they were alone before continuing.

“We particularly need someone who knows the islanders and someone like you who was born here is absolutely ideal. In the past we’ve had outsiders who didn’t really understand what working on Ceres involved. So, at the last meeting of the hospital board it was decided that if we could find an islander with good medical qualifications, that would be the candidate we would take. As I say, you would, of course, be ideal but it has to be your decision. I know you have a mind of your own.”

He gave her a wry smile as he said this. For a few moments neither of them spoke. Tanya knew what he was referring to. She remembered that fateful day when she’d turned down his second proposal. How different her life would have been if she’d said yes.

She looked across the table. He lifted his glass towards her. “Here’s to your stay here on the island, whatever you decide.”

She raised her glass and took a sip. “I would have to be approved by the hospital board as well as you, wouldn’t I?”

“Of course. We now do more operations than we used to. We’re licensed to perform emergency operations when it would be counterproductive to try to get the patient over to Rhodes. And we do some elective surgery as well. So I’m still able to make use of the surgical skills and qualifications I needed in my previous London job as head of surgery. Our hospital grew from a very small surgery not so many years ago, as you will remember, so our rules here have to be more fluid than on Rhodes or on the Greek mainland.”

He could feel his hopes rising as he saw the expression of increasing interest on her face. “But knowing the excellent grades you got in your finals and the fact that you’re an islander born and bred, I know—”

“You know an awful lot about me.” She looked across the table, her gaze unwavering. “Did you check my exam grades?”

He leaned back against his chair. “I contacted Costas around the time I knew you should have finished your finals. I wanted to make sure that…you were OK after…after everything that had happened. I knew you wouldn’t have dropped out of medical school altogether but you might have needed to take some time off.”

“I didn’t take much time off.”

“I think it would have been a good idea. Your health had suffered.”

“Yes, yes.” She looked around her. Nobody could hear what they were saying because of the noise. “You were probably right when you advised me to take a year off.”

She swallowed hard as she remembered how confused she’d been after the miscarriage. She’d realised too late that her hormones and emotions had been all over the place. Still feeling that a baby was on the way and yet having to come to terms with the fact that she was no longer pregnant.

“I chose to continue and, of course, I didn’t drop out of medical school. It had always been my dream to qualify as a doctor. All my life. Especially when I was very young and you and Costas were making fun of me or ignoring me completely. I thought to myself, One day I’ll show you big boys and my dad I’m not just a silly little girl who enjoys playing with her dolls.”

Manolis stared at her. He’d never heard her say anything like that before.

“I didn’t know you felt like that.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Were we awful to you, Costas and I, when you were growing up?”

Tanya attempted to shrug it off, wishing she hadn’t been quite so vehement about something that had bugged her for years.

“Oh, you were OK,” she said, lightly. “You were behaving like boys do when girls are around. Trying to be macho. Sometimes you even noticed me.”

“We were only teasing you, Tanya,” he said gently. “When you came out to Australia to begin your medical training I could see you were a force to be reckoned with. Ambitious, clever, full of potential. Wow, I wouldn’t have dared to tease you then.”

She smiled to try and lighten the mood she’d created. “Oh, you were wonderful with me—really supportive. I never felt patronised by the fact that you were a qualified doctor and I was only a student. It was just something I wanted to do for myself at that point in time. I suppose I was ambitious. I was one of the generation of girls who wanted everything. I didn’t want to miss out on anything.”

She lowered her voice. “When I found out I was pregnant I still wanted to continue with my studies. As I told you at the time, my mother had agreed to help me. You probably remember she was actually delighted at the prospect of her first grandchild.”

Her voice cracked as she reached her final heart-rending words.

He leaned across the table and took hold of her hand. She remained very still but she could feel the prickly tears at the back of her eyes waiting to be released.

“I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t take time off,” he said gently. “Why you wouldn’t let me take care of you, why you turned me down when—”

“I think my hormones were jumping around too much. I wasn’t sure if you were proposing because…well, because you thought it was the dutiful thing to do.”

“Was that why you turned me down for the second time?”

“Manolis, let’s defer this discussion, shall we?” she whispered. “I can see people looking at us.”

“Of course.”

She knew now she’d been mistaken to turn down his proposal. In the agonising weeks after they’d split up she’d realised how stupid she’d been. She’d destroyed the most essential part of her life. The love of the person she’d admired as a child and desired when she’d become an adult. And by the time she’d come to her senses it had been too late.

She swallowed hard, very aware of the big hand holding hers.

One of the young waiters put more meze on the table. Taramosalata this time to add to the kalimara and the Greek salad, all of which remained largely untouched.

Manolis held out a plate towards her. “Try some of these Ceres shrimps. You used to like them when your parents invited me for supper, I remember.”

She removed her hand from his and took some of the tiny pink shrimps. “Delicious as always.” She chewed slowly. “Some things never change.”

“And some things do. You, for instance,” he said gently.

She leaned back against her chair. “How have I changed?”

“Well…you always were stubborn but—”

“Stubborn? I suppose you mean when I didn’t agree with something you wanted?”

He smiled. “Possibly.”

She nodded. “I have to admit that some of the ideas I had when I was younger have changed. I don’t think I would be quite so…well…stubborn, as you put it, now.”

He wondered if he was in with a chance now with this older, wiser woman. No, of course not! If they were ever to become close again and he was to raise the question of marriage she would dash his hopes again. What did she mean when she’d questioned if his proposal had been merely dutiful? When the time was more convenient he’d quiz her further.

“So, you got all your information about me from Costas?”

“Mostly. We rather lost touch when he went to South America to work in that rural area. He hasn’t answered any of my letters for ages!”

“He’s chosen to live in a remote hospital near the Amazon. Sometimes he doesn’t get his mail for weeks, months or at all. Often he can’t get his letters sent out of the area. He’s very dedicated to his work and doesn’t have much spare time to worry about the outside world. My mother worries continually about him, of course, but she’s adamant that he’ll tire of this difficult life when he’s had enough deprivation.”

“He had a relationship in Australia that went wrong, I believe,” Manolis said, quietly.

“Yes.” She sighed. “These things happen.”

Their eyes met and Tanya saw the moistness in Manolis’s gaze before he looked down at his plate and began crumbling a piece of bread.

“You haven’t drunk your wine.”

Tanya took a small sip. “The jet-lag is getting to me. I’d better not drink it. It might make me sleepy and I want to stay awake. I feel that we…well, we’re getting to know each other again.”

“I was completely surprised when you turned up here today. I’d had no news of you for ages.”

The people on the next table had now gone. He waited before he dared to broach the subject of their disastrous break-up again. He’d been so unhappy, so completely devastated and depressed that he couldn’t imagine how Tanya had suffered when her physical health had been at an all-time low and she’d had to cope with the emotional confusion as well.

“I was so proud that you coped by yourself after I left Australia. It couldn’t have been easy after…”

“After I’d lost the baby?” she said quietly.

“Yes. Costas said you went straight back to medical school.”

“I was still in a state of shock, I think. As I said, I now know I should have taken some time off but I was very confused. Keeping busy kept me sane—or so I thought. You must have done something similar when you went off to England and almost immediately married.”

She tried but failed miserably to disguise the bitterness in her tone of voice.

“Tanya! I…”

The young waiter was placing the main course plates in front of them, having removed the scarcely touched meze dishes.

“Tanya, it wasn’t like that!” he continued when they were alone again. “You’d made it clear that you didn’t want me. My old tutor in London had already contacted me about a newly created post as head of surgery which he said would be perfect for me. I was holding off discussing it with you because I wouldn’t have gone over to London without you. When you virtually sent me away I decided to go for it. There was nothing to keep me in Australia any more. Victoria and I were old friends and we just happened to meet up again.”

“How convenient!” She couldn’t hold back the jealous anguish she’d experienced when she’d heard that he’d gone straight into the arms of another woman.

She took a deep breath. “And then married and had a baby very shortly after.”

“On the rebound, I suppose,” he said quickly, regretting how much she must have been hurt when she’d found he had a child. “But in mitigation…I’m not trying to sound as if I’m in the dock being tried for something…”

She watched him, anguished about what he’d done but still unable to crush her feelings for him.

“Go on, Manolis, tell me why you’re hoping to be forgiven for jumping from one bed to another in double-quick time.”

His eyes flashed. “You’d turned me down, told me to go away, said I was making things worse for you by staying, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did,” she said quietly.

“So, Victoria being an old friend helped to salve my wounds. Somehow the comfort she gave me turned to sex. She fell pregnant. We married in haste and repented at leisure, as the old saying goes. It didn’t take us long to realise that we would drive each other mad if we stayed together. We split up when Chrysanthe was six months old. Victoria was busy with her career and agreed with me that Chrysanthe would be brought up well on Ceres with the extended family here. My mother was overjoyed to add another granddaughter to her brood, and I came over as often as I could. I was on a long-term contract at the time so I had to wait before I could give in my notice. When a vacancy came up here on Ceres I applied and was accepted.”

“They must have been delighted to have you here.”

He nodded. “Yes. After a while I was offered the newly created post of Medical Director. We’ve had to expand in recent years because of the long tourist season from April to November. Better boats, more tourist facilities…”

His voice trailed away. He hoped he’d helped to justify what had happened since he’d walked away from her. She’d asked him to go, but maybe, just maybe she hadn’t meant it.

He gave a deep sigh. There he went again, giving himself hope that he could turn the clock back to the time when they’d been so idyllically happy together.

“Dr Manolis.” The young waiter was standing beside his chair. “There’s a lady in the kitchen who wants to speak to you. She’s climbed all the way up the kali strata to find you. Her granddaughter is having a baby in her house and there’s some problem that I…”

The young man paused in embarrassment. Manolis was standing now, his hand on the young waiter’s shoulders.

“I’ll come and see her. In the kitchen, you say?”

Tanya was also on her feet. She’d heard what had been said and her medical training was taking over. She was holding her jet-lag in check as she followed Manolis up the three worn old stone steps that led from the main restaurant part of the taverna into the ancient kitchen with the moussandra platform in the high ceiling where Giorgio and his wife had first slept when the taverna had been their home before the six children had arrived.

The agitated elderly lady was sitting on a chair sipping a brandy that Giorgio had poured for her.

It took only a couple of minutes to elicit the medical information they needed. Manolis ascertained that there was someone with the woman who was in labour before telling the grandmother to stay where she was. Someone from the hospital would come to collect her later. Yes, he knew the house where she lived.

As they hurried down the kali strata, Manolis was on his mobile phone, speaking to the hospital maternity section, giving them instructions, telling them to send a midwife, a stretcher with a couple of porters, and have an ambulance standing by at the bottom of the kali strata in case an immediate transfer to hospital was required, as well as the medication and instruments he would require if that happened.

Tanya was trying desperately to keep up with him but the ancient cobblestones beneath her feet were treacherous and slippery and the moon was covered in clouds again. Manolis, sensing her difficulty, took hold of her hand.

“Nearly there,” Tanya said in a breathless, thankful voice. “I know the house where this family lives. My father used to say the houses in this area are in the worst place to get to for an emergency. Neither up nor down.”

“Exactly! And yet nobody around here has a phone,” he said in exasperation as he reached for the old brass door knocker.

The door was opened almost immediately.

“Doctor! Thank goodness you are here. My daughter…”

Manolis and Tanya stepped straight into the living room where the patient was lying on a bed. A low moaning sound came from her as Manolis gently placed his hand on her abdomen.

“It’s OK, Helene. I’m just going to see how your baby’s doing.”

Tanya had immediately recognised Helene as an old friend from her schooldays. Helene smiled through the pain as she recognised Tanya, holding out her hands towards her.

One of the hospital porters arrived shortly afterwards, carrying the Entonax machine that Manolis had ordered. He explained briefly that the maternity unit was very busy and they weren’t able to send a midwife yet but that one would arrive as soon as she was free.

Manolis nodded. “That’s OK. Tanya will assist me.”

While he was examining the patient Tanya fixed up the machine and placed the mask over Helene’s face.

“Breathe deeply into this mask, Helene,” Tanya said in Greek. “That’s going to help the pain. No, don’t push at the moment, Manolis will tell you when. I know it’s hard for you. You’re being very brave.”

Helene clung to Tanya’s hand as if her life depended on it.

Manolis began whispering to Tanya in English. He was totally calm and in control of the situation but she recognised the urgency in his voice.

“The baby is in breech position. I’m going to have to deliver it as soon as possible because it’s showing signs of distress and the heartbeat is getting fainter. Take care of Helene and don’t let her push yet. I’ve tried to turn…No, it’s too late, I’ll have to deliver the baby now. Ask Helene to push now so I can get the baby’s buttocks through…Yes, that’s fine…No hold it for a moment—I’ll need to do an episiotomy. Pass me that sterile pack.” He took out a scalpel and some local anaesthetic injection and performed the procedure.

It seemed like an age as Tanya, almost holding her breath, kept her cool with the patient.

“Manolis has everything under control, Helene.”

Please, God, she thought. Don’t let her lose this baby. She knew the anguish of losing her own baby and wouldn’t wish that on anybody. Helene had carried this baby to full term and she couldn’t imagine anything worse than losing it at this late stage.

“The baby’s buttocks are through, Tanya,” Manolis said. “You can ask Helene to push. One last push should…There, brilliant!”

As he lifted the slippery baby up it gave a faint mewling cry, rather like a kitten that had been disturbed from its warm, cosy sleep.

“Let me see, let me see my baby!” Helene held out her arms.

“In a moment, Helene,” Tanya said, gently. “Manolis will—”

“Tanya, will you cut the cord while I put a couple of stitches in?” Manolis said quietly.

Tanya quickly scrubbed up. Taking the surgical scissors from the sterile pack, she cut the cord and wrapped the protesting infant in a clean dressing towel.

“You’ve got a little boy, Helene,” she said gently as she put the baby in her arms. Tears sprang to her eyes as she saw the wonderful first meeting of mother and son. She dabbed her eyes with a tissue and held back the tears. She had to stay professional and think only of her patient. But she sensed that Manolis was looking at her. He was standing beside her now and had put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up into his eyes and saw they were moist and knew he was thinking of their baby. She swallowed hard. How could she have hardened her heart and told him to leave her? Why had he not understood in the first place what a miscarriage did to a woman? Would they ever recover from what might have been? Would it ever be possible to repair the damage they’d done to each other?

The future was impossible to predict. She would take one day at a time, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to stay here on Ceres for a long time, whatever happened. This was where she belonged.

She looked around the room, which had become rather crowded during the time that she and Manolis had been taking care of their patient. Standing near the door that led straight out on to the kali strata was a midwife, two porters and a young man who now identified himself as Lefteris, the baby’s father. The midwife had held him back when he’d arrived a few moments ago.

“Baby’s father is here, Manolis,” Tanya said. “Is it OK if…?”

Too late! The young father had already sprung forward to embrace Helene and his son.

“We’ll need to do some tests on your baby, Lefteris,” Manolis said gently after a short while. “He had a rough passage into the world and we need to check him over.” He smiled. “Although from the way he’s crying, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him.”

The midwife came forward and said that someone from the postnatal team would do the tests as soon as they got baby and mother settled into the hospital. The ambulance was waiting at the bottom of the kali strata for them now.

* * *

As they emerged from the crowded room into the cooler night air Tanya took a deep breath.

“It’s such a relief that we got here in time,” Manolis said, taking her hand in what seemed to have become a natural instinct again. “It could have been otherwise.”

His hand tightened on hers as he became animated about a subject close to his heart. “It’s so strange here on the island. On the one hand we’ve got the latest technology at the hospital and on the other we’ve got people who haven’t even got a phone living in a difficult place to reach, yet within minutes of help.”

He broke off in frustration at the situation. “Sorry, Tanya. I don’t want to offload my problems on you.” He let go of her hand and turned her to face him.

In the moonlight she could see his eyes shining with happiness as he looked down at her. “We could be such a good team you and I—I’m talking professionally, you understand,” he added quickly. “It felt so right working together just now. We seemed to sense that.”

“Yes, I felt the rapport between us was…natural,” she said quietly.

He lowered his head and kissed her gently on the mouth.

Oh, those lips, those sexy, wonderful lips. She’d never thought she would ever feel them on hers again. She’d cried with frustration when she’d realised how much she wanted him and he was never coming back. But here he was.

He raised his head and murmured against her lips. “So, do you want me to put your name forward as a candidate, Dr Tanya?”

Shivers were running down her spine. “Let’s talk about it later,” she murmured as she looked into his eyes.

She was making it patently obvious that she wanted him to kiss her again…

CHAPTER THREE

FROM somewhere in the distance Tanya could hear a cock crowing. She was hotter than usual. Where was she? She stirred in the strange bed and opened her eyes. Wooden rafters above her…where was the window?

The mists of her mind suddenly cleared. She was at Grandmother Katerina’s, snug in the big bedroom at the top of the house. For several seconds she went back in time. She couldn’t remember the end of the evening. She’d been in Giorgio’s and…It was almost as if she’d been transported back here in the mythical fairy coach. There was a feeling of happiness tinged with sadness in the air.

And then she remembered. That kiss…that wonderful kiss! She’d murmured something to Manolis, held her face ready for another kiss, practically thrown herself at him. What did a woman have to do to make it obvious she would be putty in his hands? Oh, no! How humiliating to be rejected like that. Like what? She couldn’t remember the details. Only the feeling that she’d expected Manolis to take her in his arms and…

She squirmed with embarrassment as she remembered how he’d made it clear that the kiss had been a one-off, the sort of thing that happened between old friends when they met again after a long time. Oh, he hadn’t said that, in so many words. As far as she could remember, he hadn’t said anything apart from suggesting they should get back.

At that point, the jet-lag she’d been holding off while she’d assisted at the birth of Helene’s baby came back with a vengeance and she’d found herself agreeing with him. He’d held her hand but only in a courteous way so that she wouldn’t slip on the treacherous cobblestones. As they’d reached Chorio, the upper town, they’d passed the door of Giorgio’s Taverna where the door was closed but the revelry was continuing as always well into the night, and she’d found herself hoping Manolis would suggest they go in and join in the fun.

But they had kept on walking until he’d delivered her to her door and said goodnight. Not even a peck on the cheek! She told herself it was best they hadn’t got emotionally involved. Too much too soon. Yes, Manolis had been very wise and she’d been stupid to think they could turn back the clock. There was too much between them to jump straight into any kind of relationship other than professional.

She began to doubt now whether she’d been too negative in her reaction to the idea of working at the Ceres hospital. She hoped that Manolis would put her name forward as soon as possible because, having worked with him last night and having had time to reflect on the proposition, she realised it would be ideal.

Her thoughts swung back to that idyllic period in her life when she and Manolis had lived together in Australia. The key stages of their relationship came flooding back to her. Their initial friendship when they’d first met again in the hospital, she a medical student, he a well-respected doctor. He’d asked her to have a coffee with him so she could tell him what she’d been doing since he’d last seen her on Ceres when she’d still been a schoolgirl of sixteen and he’d just qualified as a doctor at the grand old age of twenty-four.

She’d looked around her as they’d entered the staff common room she remembered. Seen the envious glances of the female staff as she was escorted in by this fabulously handsome, tall, athletic, long-limbed, highly desirable doctor. She and Manolis had seemed to be on the same wavelength right from the start of their new adult relationship. That evening he’d taken her out to a Greek restaurant near the hospital, wined and dined her, and she’d fallen hopelessly in love.

Four weeks later, at his suggestion, she left her hospital accommodation and moved into his apartment. It was pure heaven! Somehow she managed to keep her mind on her medical studies and clinical work during the day but, oh, the nights! In that amazingly luxurious bed that always looked as if a herd of elephants had trampled over it in the morning!

She never really worked out why the contraceptive pill she was taking at the time failed. Whatever had caused it, she was totally unprepared when she realised her period was late. She remembered the shock as the result of her pregnancy test came out positive.

She experienced the awful conflicting emotions of wanting a baby with Manolis, yet wanting to plough on unencumbered to reach her goal of becoming a doctor as soon as possible. And then she realised that she could have both of these dreams. Many women had careers and children as well. She went to talk it over with her mother, who was truly delighted at the prospect of becoming a young grandmother.

She remembered the characteristic way her mother ran her hands through her still beautiful, shiny, long, auburn hair and pulled a wry face. “Not very good timing, Tanya, with your medical exams to get through, but don’t you dare tell me you’re not going to have my first grandchild! I’ll take care of him or her while you’re studying and working in the hospital. There won’t be a problem…”

She saw the tears of happiness in her mother’s eyes as she hugged her. When they separated her mother dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “You go for it, my darling, and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“What will Daddy say?” Tanya asked tentatively.

“Oh, don’t you worry about your father. I can handle him. He’s a pussy cat really, although he may find it a bit irregular. Now, you run along and get back to that wonderful man of yours and tell him…well, break it gently. Men can be a bit strange at times like this but he’ll come round to the idea if you give him time. I’ve known Manolis since he was a child and he’s a good man. He’ll stand by you. After all, it’s not as if you got pregnant by yourself. It takes two to tango…”

When Manolis arrived back that evening she waited until after supper, having cooked one of his favourites, a chicken casserole. Then she told him the news. Oh, the shock on his face! She told him to sit down because he looked like he might faint. Then she joined him on the sofa. She told him she was definitely going to go through with it.

He said, “Of course you are!” Then he paused as if he was weighing his words. “And, of course, we must get married.”

It was his tone of voice that had made her think he was simply doing the dutiful thing. He was still in a state of shock. She remembered her mother’s words. He’s a good man. He’ll stand by you. Did she really want someone who was simply being dutiful?

“I don’t think we should rush things,” she told him.

“Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?”

She took a deep breath before saying, “It’s not as straightforward as that. I’m going to have a baby. Let’s do one thing at a time. For the moment I want to make my preparations for being a good mother and also I need to get on with my studies.”

But nothing prepared her for the agony of her miscarriage at fourteen weeks. It was all such a blur now. The sudden bleeding, Manolis driving her to hospital, being told she’d lost the baby, rushed into Theatre for a D and C.

She stifled the sob that rose at the back of her throat and looked out at the bright sunshine beyond the bedroom window, breathing deeply to calm herself again.

She had a sudden vision of Manolis standing by her hospital bed, telling her that he wanted to take care of her until she was well again. He was again asking her to marry him, to be his wife so that he could look after her. His voice had been so tender and kind. But she remembered the feeling of panic. Her hormones had been in control of her body, not she. She couldn’t make decisions at a time like this when she was grieving for the baby that had died inside her. Couldn’t commit to anything so life-changing as marriage.

So she’d looked up at Manolis and said she couldn’t marry him. That it was best they separate until she didn’t feel so confused. They’d only been together for a few months and everything had happened so quickly.

She turned her head to look around Grandma Katerina’s bedroom, her bedroom now, and decided that was enough reminiscing for today. Time to get back to the present and continue with her new life.

No time for nostalgic reflection now! It was high time she got herself moving and sorted out her clothes. Just in case Manolis phoned to say she should go down to the hospital for an interview.

* * *

In the house next door Manolis stared up at the ceiling. He couldn’t believe he’d passed up the opportunity of a night with Tanya. How often had he dreamed that she’d come back to him, that they were together again?

She had obviously been aroused by his kiss last night. Or had she just been pretending so as not to hurt his feelings? He could never be sure with Tanya. He’d lived with her for a few months, loved her, conceived a child with her and mourned with her when their unborn child had died in the womb. But he still couldn’t understand her!

He remembered the night she’d told him she was pregnant. The shock of it had almost taken his breath away. He’d felt so guilty at giving her an added burden to the load of getting through her studies and exams. He had been so worried it would all be too much for her that it had only been in the next few weeks that he’d had time to begin anticipating how wonderful it would be to have a child with Tanya. She’d seemed so happy, and so capable of handling the situation that he’d begun to relax with her again.

She’d made it quite clear this was what she wanted, a child and a medical career. He’d realised that life was going to be wonderful when they were a family and not just a couple.

Then had come the awful evening when she’d started to bleed. She had been fourteen weeks, he remembered. He’d driven her to hospital, made sure she was admitted immediately but there had been nothing anyone could do to save their baby.

He swallowed hard as the awful sadness of their loss hit him again. His grief had been almost impossible to bear. But he’d forced himself to stay strong for Tanya. He wanted to protect her, to take care of her while she’d been weak and vulnerable. That was when he’d made the mistake—he realised it now—of again asking to marry her. He’d told her that he wanted to look after her, to make sure as a doctor that she had the best treatment until she was strong again. He’d told her not to rush herself with her answer. He would wait until she was stronger.

But she’d looked at him as if he was a stranger. Her eyes had been blank, he remembered. This wasn’t the girl he knew and loved. He’d worked in obstetrics and witnessed how hormonal a woman could be when she’d lost a child. But it would pass—surely Tania would realise that her current situation was temporary.

He looked up at the ceiling as he tried to bring his emotions back under control. He hadn’t been prepared for her rejection of him. She’d asked him to leave her.

He remembered going out through the ward door. Her mother had been coming towards him down the corridor. She’d put out her hand and taken hold of his. “It’s best you leave Tanya alone for a while, Manolis. She’s very confused. We’re going to take her home for a while until she’s strong again.”

After she’d sent him away, rejecting the love he wanted to give her for the rest of his life, he’d felt he would never understand her. Not in a million years!

But last night, as he’d kissed her, he’d felt the desire rising in him as she’d snuggled against him and he’d felt that it might be possible to take this embrace to its obvious conclusion. But the old fears of rejection had nagged him. No, he’d been deluding himself, elated by the successful conclusion of a working partnership when they’d safely delivered Helene’s baby together.

Oh, yes, she might have gone to bed with him. But he wanted more than a no-strings relationship with Tanya. But he could tell she valued her freedom. He could understand that now. She’d worked hard to become a qualified and now experienced doctor. She didn’t need marriage.

Not like he did. As a young man he’d had two ambitions—one, to become a doctor and, two, to raise a family with the woman of his dreams. He’d had several no-strings relationships before he’d gone to Australia to take up a post in the hospital where Costas had been working. Meeting up with Costas’s sister Tanya again when he’d been twenty-eight and she was a promising medical student of twenty-two had been like a bolt of lightning.

He’d been amazed when he had seen her for the first time for six years. The last time he’d seen her had been just before her father had taken the family out to Australia. He’d just spent his first year as a qualified doctor in the London hospital where he’d trained and had come over to Ceres for a short break. Tanya had been with Costas one time when they’d all walked down from Chorio to the harbour for drinks together as night fell.

He’d noticed she was growing into a very attractive young lady. But she had just been his friend’s sister and far too young for him. But when he’d met her again six years later in Sydney he’d realised she was mind-blowing, with her fabulous, flowing, long auburn hair! Beautiful, attractive, intelligent, everything he’d ever dreamed of.

He remembered looking into her eyes, realising that she admired him too. Four weeks later he’d asked her to move into his apartment with him. They’d been idyllically happy until she’d told him she was pregnant. He’d been so worried about her, but he’d come to terms with it and relaxed, finally beginning to look forward to being a father. Then she had miscarried and their lives had changed completely. He had been totally rejected by the woman he adored at a time when he’d wanted to give her all his love and take care of her for ever.

The only way out of the impossible situation had been to start a new life and try to forget her.

“Papa!”

The sound of his daughter’s voice brought him back to the present. She was downstairs, having come from his mother’s house to see if he could take her to school. He always took her to school if he wasn’t already working at the hospital. The school wasn’t far away and the path was perfectly safe, but he liked to go with her.

“Chrysanthe, I’m coming, my love!”

* * *

The pile of clothes Tanya had brought from her suitcase to the bedroom could wait until she’d had some breakfast. She’d hardly eaten any supper at Giorgio’s. She set off to walk round to the baker’s to get some bread. As she stepped into the street, she caught a glimpse of Manolis turning the corner and the sound of his daughter’s chatter. If she hurried she could catch him up before he reached the main street. No, she needed to cool down. She wasn’t sure how she was going to face him today.

She lingered a while to make sure he was well on the way to Chrysanthe’s school. She wasn’t ready to face him just yet. Not until she’d made a cafetière of strong coffee and had some breakfast. He would probably phone later from the hospital and ask her down to discuss the job. At least, that was what she was hoping.

But he didn’t! She spent the entire morning doing more cleaning, organising the kitchen, organising the bedroom, hanging up clothes, neatly placing her pants and bras in one drawer, her T-shirts in another, her swimwear in another…

“He should have phoned by now!”

She realised she’d spoken out loud. Maybe that was what happened to people who lived by themselves. She needed to get out more! The sun was shining outside. To hell with him! She wasn’t waiting around any longer. She knew she really wanted this job now and so if he wasn’t going to contact her she would go to the hospital and ask for it herself. Her father had been one of the founders of the new hospital, for heaven’s sake! She would go in there with her head held high and ask to see the chairman of the board, whoever he might be these days.

Choosing the right clothes when you wanted to impress had always been a problem, because she preferred a casual look. Somewhere in the middle? Her cream linen suit? With a pale pink silk shirt underneath in case the heat got to her? Yes, that looked fine.

She sat down at her grandmother’s dressing table. Looking in the mirror, she smiled at herself to remove the worry lines that had appeared on her forehead. At twenty-eight she needed to take care not to get real wrinkles settling there. The light tan she’d had since she’d gone to live in Australia needed very little makeup. A little foundation cream and a dash of lipstick was all she’d use. There!

Several strokes of the hairbrush smoothed out the long auburn hair and made it shine. She was glad she’d taken the time to wash it that morning. She could, of course, coil it up so that she looked more professional. Yes, that would definitely impress the chairman of the board, the old boy she was going to see. He was bound to be old, wasn’t he? These types always were.

She piled her hair up on top and stuck it in place with several pins and grips. Over the years she’d practised this so often that it wasn’t difficult for her. She immediately felt more efficient, intelligent, a better doctor, somebody that the chairman would take seriously.

“In short, Dr Tanya,” she told her reflection, “you are the perfect candidate we’ve been looking for. The job is yours.”

She smiled. “Thank you, sir. I accept.”

* * *

Outside, the midday sun was stronger than she’d realised and the smart court shoes were hardly conducive to the cobblestones. Still, by the time she’d gone through the upper town and tried to persuade a taxi to collect her it would be quicker and easier to simply make her way on foot down the kali strata.

Halfway down, the door to Helene’s house was wide open. Helene’s grandmother was standing on the step and called out to her.

They chatted together. Tanya explained that she was on her way to the hospital and wouldn’t come in for a drink. Yes, she would try to see Helene at the hospital and was glad that all was well with her. With praise ringing in her ears about the way that she and Manolis had delivered the baby, she continued on her way.

It was marginally cooler as she walked through the narrow streets of Yialos, the town by the harbour. The hospital, referred to by everybody as the New Hospital, was set back from the harbour near the church. It had started off as the doctors’ surgery, she remembered, and had then been extended a great deal to qualify as a real hospital. It had certainly grown since she was last here.

She walked in through the front doors that led from the area where a couple of ambulances were parked. The reception area was very smart and, luxury of luxuries, it was air-conditioned! She really hadn’t expected anything quite so grand here on Ceres. She began to feel slightly overwhelmed. And definitely overdressed. And the fact that she’d assumed she could just walk in and demand to see the chairman of the board was perhaps a little…

“Can I help you?” an English voice asked.

She moved forward to confront the white-uniformed receptionist who, unsmilingly, didn’t seem as if she wanted to help at all.

“Actually, I was hoping to see…I’d like to make an appointment to see the chairman of the hospital board.”

The young woman frowned. “Could you give me some details, Miss…?”

She cleared her throat and straightened her back. “I’m Dr Tanya Angelapoulos.”

“Tanya!”

She turned at the sound of Manolis’s voice—his most welcome voice! For a moment she felt like the young girl who’d craved his attention. No, she was all grown up now and didn’t need his help—did she?

He came towards her, looking so handsome in his theatre greens, a mask still dangling round his throat, that she was sure her heart missed a beat.

“I’ve been in Theatre all morning. I was going to call you when I got a moment to spare about the job. I haven’t been able to contact any of the board. Wheels run slowly out here and now everything closes down for lunch. Why are you here?”

“I just happened to be down in the town, shopping, and I thought I’d drop in to…er get the feel of the place, see if I might like to work here,” she improvised.

He looked taken aback, she thought, and wished fervently that she hadn’t arrived unannounced. He didn’t seem at all pleased to see her.

“Look, come along to my office. I’ll fill you in on what’s involved with the job.” He turned to looked at the receptionist, who was desperately trying to find out what was going on. “It’s OK, Melissa, I’ll look after Dr Tanya.”

He put a hand on her back as he guided her out of Reception. He hadn’t even noticed she was smiling.

Tanya could feel the gentle, soothing touch of Manolis’s hand in the small of her back as they walked along the corridor. He was pushing open a door that led into a spacious room. He was obviously very important here. She’d noticed the sign on the door that read “HOSPITAL DIRECTOR.” He was the one who’d got her interested in this job. Surely he could bypass the usual rules and sign her in?

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