‘Shh,’ she whispered. ’We can make up for it now.’
Taking their time, they caressed and undressed each other. Simos took Eléni’s hand and led her to the bedroom. And make up for lost time they did.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Throughout July, Eléni and Simos spent more time at his apartment now their relationship had moved to a different level. She often thought back to the evening when they’d made love for the first time. In spite of them both being so inexperienced, it was as if they were learning together. Very soon Simos became a passionate and skilful lover who made sure Eléni reached new heights of pleasure she could have only imagined.
One night, they were lying in each other’s arms in the afterglow of making love. Moonlight bathed the bedroom in silver. Without warning, Eléni was overcome with sadness. A single tear trickled onto the pillow as she caressed Simos’s cheek. ‘I’m going to miss this so much. Missyouso much. I don’t want this night to end.’
Simos sat up. ‘Then don’t go. Why not stay and make your home here? Become another famous Mouzakis artist.’
Before she could answer, he lay back down and kissed her.
‘I can’t. Although I’ve extended my stay, I’ve promised my family I’ll go home after the anniversary. But I’ve promisedmyselfI’ll be back here soon. I’ll be here for my actual birthday and you can help me celebrate on the real day for the first time in my life.’
Eléni needed to tell her parents everything she’d found out. It didn’t seem fair to write it down in a letter, but, once she’d been to see them, could she make Kefalonia her home? Simos had given her an idea. What better place with all the magnificent scenes, both seascapes and landscapes, to concentrate on her artwork? She’d always dreamed about having a studio, so why not here? Many girls had left home by the time they were her age, she reasoned. It was easy now to get to the island by aeroplane and it would be a good way of getting her mother to keep in touch not just with her, but with Theía Eugenia too.Perhaps Cassia would be prepared to meet her uncle, and she knew Bronwen would be a frequent visitor. Eléni and Simos got dressed and returned to the sitting room.
‘You know, you’ve given me an idea. Do you think I would be able to sell my drawings and paintings? And would there be a market for them, do you think?’
Simos smiled. ‘Of course, there is. I’d buy them anyway!’
‘And spoil those pristine white walls?’ She teased him, but the difference between the gorgeous man sitting beside her and the reserved, aloof person whom she’d first met at the archive office was remarkable. They were like two completely opposite men. She held his hand. Seeing how Simos had opened up and not been afraid to show his feelings in such a short time was something she would never forget. She’d fallen in love with him almost straight away. Could there be such a thing as love at first sight?
‘So I’ve got to be prepared to lose you for a little while and then you’ll be back. Promise? Because if you don’t, I’ll come looking for you. It means we have to decide how to make the most of the time we’ve got left. When is your plane ticket booked for?’
‘I extended it until after the actual anniversary and the feast day of St Gerasimos. Someone told me it’s quite a spectacle when everyone attends his monastery.’
‘It is. The sixteenth of August, four days after, and it’s also my name day. Not that I ever celebrate.’ Simos became pensive. Eléni knew he had no one to celebrate with.
‘Well, you will this year. I’ll make sure it’s a special day for you before I catch my plane the next day.’
Eléni rested her head on Simos’s shoulder and they sat, holding hands, together with their thoughts. She thought back to how her parents had made birthdays happy and fun for her and Bronwen, and yet Simos had no memories to reflect on.There must be something she could do to help him find his true identity as he’d done for her. She made a vow to herself there and then that, when she returned to the island, she would do everything she could to help him. He’d made a start by talking to the archivist when they’d visited Fiscardo, but nothing more had been mentioned. Perhaps he still wasn’t ready. Because of his research, she could return home knowing a lot about her birth family that she could tell the parents and sister who loved her.
‘Come on. Let’s go for a walk.’ Simos pulled her up from the settee.
The balmy night air was a complete contrast to the air conditioning in the apartment. Apart from the chatter of diners as they passed a taverna, it was quiet when they walked in the direction of the harbour under the moonlight. Instead of turning left towards the quayside where boats were moored, they made their way to the edge of a park overlooking the sea and found a bench. The noise of cicadas pierced the silence.
‘The moonlight is tricking the tzitzikasit’s daytime,’ said Simos. ‘They are very loud tonight.’
‘I’d never heard of them until I came to Kefalonia and certainly had never heard them.’ Eléni snuggled up to Simos. ‘There are so many things I’d never seen or heard before I came here.’ She added with a grin, ‘Or felt.’
He turned her head and sought her lips, kissing them softly.
‘And you have made me see how much I was missing. I don’t just mean the sex. That’s been wonderful. But it’s more than that. You’ve put me in touch with my emotions again. From the little boy in the orphanage when I’d shut everything down, I feel alive now. And it’s all down to you.’
‘Oh, Simos.’
The moonlight sprinkled its magic on the water in front of them and as they kissed, Eléni marvelled at being in such a romantic setting with the man she loved. And she did loveSimos. She would do everything she could to make this long-distance relationship work. She had a feeling he wanted that, too.
Chapter Fifty-Five
The hotels were now full. Although there was not going to be a formal event on the actual day of the anniversary, when Eléni spoke to customers during her shifts in the taverna, they all said they wanted to come and pay their respects to those who had died. Many were Greeks who had emigrated to America in the aftermath of the disaster. Most had married local men and women and were bringing them and their children to the island for the first time, as part of their Greek–American heritage. All were staying on to observe the spectacle of the annual pilgrimage to the church of St Gerasimos, when hundreds would arrive to pay their respects to the island’s patron saint.
One evening, after finishing her shift, Simos surprised Eléni by taking her to a restaurant she hadn’t visited before. With its prime position overlooking the harbour in the distance, away from the bustle of the tavernas and bars, Ta Elaiódentra was a pale-pink building set in its own grounds surrounded by mature olive trees from which it took its name. Oleander bushes with blooms the same colour as the rendered walls of the restaurant lined the short walkway from the street to the glass-covered outside seating area.
‘I thought we could try this place tonight,’ he said. ‘You deserve to be wined and dined after being kept so busy now at the taverna.’ He took Eléni’s hand and kissed it. ‘If you like it, perhaps we could come here the evening before the anniversary. I expect every restaurant and taverna will be overflowing with diners on the night of the twelfth. And, besides, do we really want to celebrate the day both of us became orphans? Acknowledge it and remember it, yes, but I want the evening to be special for you.’
Eléni smiled and took his hand as he led her into the restaurant. ‘Every meal out with you is special, Simos Georgatos. Especially when you pick amazing places like this.’
