My mind is whirling at the speed of light and I can barely keep up with it. ‘Wow, OK. So if Billy the Knuckle did go through with a bit of maiming, how bad are we talking here?’
Gran gives a loose shrug. ‘Billy’s threatening to cut off a couple of Kon’s toes so he can’t run away from his responsibilities in future. He suggests it would be doing his next wife a favour. He’s more of a finger man usually but he said he’d make allowances because it was for me. Truthfully, Billy’s all talk. He’s upset that Konstantine stole from a little old lady and he just wants to help get my money back. Kon will be fine.’
What a relief! ‘I’m sorry, Gran. I know you loved Konstantine.’
She gives me a bright smile. ‘Don’t be sorry, darling. As soon as the divorce comes through I’m getting married again. He’s already popped the question!’
A divorce and another marriage? This is a lot to take in when my mind is already spinning. ‘What! He proposed, already?’
‘Yes, in my heartbreak I found comfort in another man’s arms and that comfort soon turned to love.’
‘Which man?’
‘Zorba, darling. Who doesn’t love a good pig famer?’
‘Zorba?’ I’m not sure why I’m so shocked. They’ve been hanging out for weeks. They even did theDirty Dancinglift together, which suggests they spent a fair amount of time practising. His daily visits to upset the colour of the books now make more sense. He’s just the right amount of wacky for her, if I consider him as husband material for Gran. ‘Wow, I don’t quite know what to say.’
‘I’ve never felt so adored, so alive, as I am with Zorba. And husband ten is a nice round number to finish on don’t you think?’
I give her a hug. You’ve got to love her. Nothing will ever keep her down. ‘Ten is a nice round number. It’s … auspicious, Gran.’ If we overlook the two husbands number seven. ‘That means we’ve got a wedding to plan!’
Chapter 33
There hasn’t been a spare minute to chat privately with Georgios. Between the bookshop, Epeolatry and getting ready for our new jobs, we’ve always been surrounded by people in one way or another. I vow today will be the day I confide in him about the fake-dating and hope we can move on together from it.
My book scout job starts in a week, so Roxy’s due in today to go over everything with me before she takes over role as bookseller and Gran’s right-hand woman.
Roxy knows the ins and outs already but she wants to double-check the ordering process and how to balance the accounts if Gran needs help with bookkeeping when things are hectic at Epeolatry.
Roxy makes a far more sombre entrance than usual. Her face is pale and her eyes full of concern. My heart stops for a moment. I hope it’s not bad news about her mom. She’s been doing so well to the point that she’s been weighing up whether to go back to work part-time with Athena at the Squashed Olive.
‘Are you OK?’ I ask. ‘What’s happened?’
Roxy scrapes her hair back and takes her regular stool. ‘I’m fine. It’s just …’ Her voice wobbles like she’s about to burst into tears.
‘Is it your …?’
Before I can rearrange the sentence in my head she blurts out. ‘Evie, I overheard something today, and I don’t know what to make of it. I – uh. There’s no easy way to say this so I’m just going to say it, OK? I mean, I hope I’m wrong. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I misheard. Or they meant someone else. Or there could be any number of reasons I’m wrong about this so keep that in mind.’ Her face is puce as she wrings her hands. Whatever it is, she’s afraid to tell me.
‘O-K-K.’ My first thought is perhaps the Konstantine news has broken. Or Gran and Zorba have been spotted canoodling, and that’s confusing to people who don’t know what a lying, cheating snake Konstantine is. But Roxy does know all about Konstantine so what else can it be?
‘It’s about Georgios.’
My stomach clenches. ‘What about him?’
‘Apparently—’ She scrubs her face. I’ve never seen Roxy this uncomfortable before, as if she’s itchy in her own skin and can’t scratch. ‘I’m really sorry Evie, but he’s been fake-dating you under orders from his grandfather. Their ridiculous plan was made to keep tabs on Floretta and make sure she didn’t do a runner without paying the rent that was owed.’
‘WHAT!’ Surely she’s got this wrong.I’mthe one fake-dating him, not the other way around. Have they found out about our plot and she’s misunderstood? ‘Tell me exactly what you heard.’
She exhales a long breath. ‘OK, so I was picking up loukoumades from Maria for Mom, like I do every Friday, but they weren’t ready, which is strange as she has a production line going there on account of how popular they are. You know she’s famous for—’
‘Stay on track, Roxy.’
‘OK. OK, sorry. Maria asked me to wait as she was running a bit behind. I said sure, no problem, I’d go visit Georgios in his villa out the back. When I went to the screen door, Georgios and Yannis were having a heated conversation. I froze and then I figured I’d backtrack to the kitchen and leave them to it but your name popped up, so I stopped …’ she blushes scarlet ‘… and listened.’
‘What did they say?’
‘Yannis was telling Georgios that Floretta had paid the rent in full so there was no need to carry on fake-dating you now, unless he really wanted to continue with it. Yannis didn’t think they’d need any more insider information about your gran since her business seemed to be up and running successfully, and gossip around town is you’d be leaving soon anyway. So he said it would be best if he broke it off with you, so Georgios could start the hunt for a real girlfriend, someone he could settle down with.’ Oh God, can it be true? None of it was real?
