DEMELZA tucked the cotton sheet around the sleeping Ianni as she settled him in his bed. He stirred as she kissed his cheek but didn’t wake up.
‘Ianni’s fast asleep,’ she said, as she went back into the living room.
Nick looked across at her. ‘Come here and tell me what’s been worrying him today.’
She deliberately settled herself on a chair at the other side of the small drinks table from Nick. She wanted to be able to watch his reaction to the news that his ex-wife, whom he may or may not have planned to remarry, was up to her old tricks again. She hoped he wouldn’t raise his voice and waken Ianni.
‘Would you like a glass of wine, Demelza?’ Nick said, in a polite I-am-the-host voice.
‘Later, perhaps.’
In spite of the warm temperature in the apartment, Demelza felt that the atmosphere was decidedly cool. She cleared her throat as she prepared to enlighten Nick.
‘When I took Ianni down to see Lydia today, she had somebody with her.’
Nick frowned. ‘Not the pool boy? Tall, about twenty, longish blond hair…?’
Demelza stared at him, perplexed. ‘Did you know about Lydia’s boyfriend?’
He gave a resigned sigh. ‘Lydia’s always had boyfriends. Danny is the man of the moment, so I’m told. Trouble is, he’s got no money so he won’t be any use to Lydia.’
‘That’s what Giorgio said. He told me that Lydia is looking for a man who can keep her financially. He was planning to tell you what she was up to but—’
‘Demelza, I understand my ex-wife perfectly! I was just putting on an act while she was here for Ianni’s sake. I was being as polite and civil as I could. It was a big strain, I can tell you, but I knew that it was my duty to allow Ianni to get to know his mother again. When Lydia told me she wanted to come out here to see him, I thought it was only right that she should be able to make contact with her son again. I had hoped they might have got on better than they did, but I can see that nothing has changed. That’s why I’ve given Lydia her marching orders.’
Demelza leaned forward. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve given in her notice for the expensive apartment I was paying for. While there was a glimmer of hope of a successful mother-and-son relationship developing I was prepared to pay, but as soon as I found out that Lydia was seeing boyfriends again, I put a time limit on it. She goes back to England next week.’
‘But when did you find out?’
‘I’ve suspected this might be happening from the beginning when Ianni refused to sleep down there at Lydia’s apartment after the first night. I didn’t want to upset Ianni by asking him outright what the problem was but I had a pretty good idea. So I asked a couple of staff members to keep an eye on Lydia for me. They soon reported back about her toy boy, and that was when I was determined to make sure Ianni only went down to see his mother during the day. Lydia usually only entertains her boyfriends at night so I thought Ianni would be perfectly safe. If I’d thought for one moment that Ianni was going to have to cope with—’
‘Lydia was under the impression that Ianni wasn’t coming down this morning,’ Demelza interjected quickly, as she saw how angry Nick was becoming when he realised how Ianni had suffered. ‘That’s why Danny was still there.’ She paused.
‘Lydia came to see me soon after she arrived on the island,’ she went on quietly. ‘She tried to convince me that she’d been a dutiful wife and that it was your infidelity that broke up the marriage.’
Nick raised an eyebrow. ‘She certainly can spin a good yarn! But anyone who knows Lydia will soon realise that she’s a compulsive liar. I’m sorry she imposed herself on you and I wish I’d been there to shield you from her. I know how vitriolic she can be, and I could see, right from the start, that she regarded you as her rival.’
‘But did you know she was trying to get you back?’
‘Of course I did! Lydia is devious but utterly transparent! All that little-girl-help-me-down stuff she put on when she first arrived. It would have been amusing if it hadn’t been so painfully obvious what she was up to. She’s tried so many tricks to get me back but she must realise by now that I can’t stand the sight of her. She wasn’t fooled by me being polite when it mattered. She knew I was only doing it to keep the peace for Ianni’s sake and it was wishful thinking on her part to think that I could possibly have any feelings for her.’
His eyes were troubled as he looked at Demelza. ‘So it was Danny who upset Ianni, was it?’
‘Ianni told me he didn’t like Danny,’ Demelza said evenly. ‘He said he didn’t want you to know about him because you would start shouting at Lydia and she would cry and—’
‘Oh, my God, how Ianni has suffered because of me…’ His voice choked with emotion.
Demelza leapt to her feet and went round the table to sit beside Nick, cradling him against her. ‘Ianni’s OK now that he’s just with you. None of this was your fault, Nick.’
Nick raised his head. ‘That’s why I had to divorce Lydia. I felt nothing for her when I found out what she was really like. I thought it would be better for Ianni to live without all the anger and quarrelling that occurred because of Lydia’s affairs.’
‘Lydia told me that the two of you were hoping for a reconciliation. Every time you were with her I thought you might be getting back together. And for a while I…’ She broke off as the awful memories came flooding back.
Nick drew her into his arms. ‘I wish I’d been with you when Lydia invented the preposterous idea of a reconciliation! But if I had been there, she wouldn’t have dared to spin her lies. The only woman I want in my life is you, Demelza. I want us to be together for ever and ever. I’ve been longing to ask you…Dare I hope that…? What I’m trying to say is…will you marry me?’
Demelza looked up at him, her heart beating so rapidly that she felt sure he could hear it. This was what she’d longed for but had hardly dared to hope would ever happen.
‘Yes, I’ll marry you,’ she whispered, watching his expression change to sheer joy.
He kissed her gently on the lips with such tenderness that she felt her heart would burst with happiness.
‘How do you think Ianni will react when we tell him?’ she asked as she drew herself away.
Nick smiled. ‘You must know he’ll be over the moon! You’ve been so wonderful with him. You’re the mother he should have had.’
‘Don’t say that,’ she said quickly. ‘I didn’t try to replace his mother. I simply—’
‘You can’t be Ianni’s birth mother, but you’ve already replaced Lydia in his affections.’
She looked up into Nick’s eyes, so full of tenderness and love as the full realisation hit her that her dream was coming true. She wasn’t going to think about all the problems of marrying someone who already had an ex-wife. She could cope with whatever came along if she held first place in Nick’s heart.
He bent his head and kissed her once more. As his kiss deepened, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her through to his bedroom.
‘You will stay with me tonight, won’t you?’ he whispered, as he laid her down on the cool cotton sheet. ‘Now that we’re engaged to be married, it doesn’t matter if Ianni wanders in tomorrow morning.’
She smiled up at him, leaning forward to tug at the buttons of his shirt. ‘Of course I’ll stay. I’ll stay for ever…’
The rosy glow from the morning sun pouring through the open window was trying to penetrate her eyelids. Slowly Demelza opened her eyes and looked at Nick lying beside her, his hair all rumpled, his mouth curved into a smile, as if he were reliving their passionate night.
She hadn’t thought it possible to be so in love that you wanted to stay awake for the whole night. It had been blissful to turn over, try to sleep for a short while and then feel Nick’s hands caressing her awake once more…turning to him, feeling the hardness of his insatiable body and being completely united with him in a wild, passionate embrace that climaxed in an ecstatic heaven far away from the real world.
Nick’s phone was ringing. Demelza sighed. The real world was forcing itself upon them. They couldn’t stay up on cloud nine entirely.
Nick groaned as he reached out, his fingers scrabbling around on the bedside table.
‘Nick Capodistrias,’ he mumbled. ‘Ah, Giorgio.’ He launched into rapid Greek which Demelza found impossible to follow. He was laughing as he put the phone down.
‘My Uncle Giorgio sends his love and he’s delighted with our news.’
‘You told him already about…that we’re going to be married?’
Said like that, she could barely believe it was happening—but it was. She’d agreed to marry the most wonderful man in the world and…
‘Of course I told him. That’s why he was ringing. To tell me to get rid of Lydia and marry you at the earliest opportunity. I told him it was all taken care of. So now he’s off to tell Anna who will go round the village and invite everybody to the wedding.’
‘But we haven’t set a date yet, Nick.’
‘The sooner the better. How about September?’
She took a deep breath. ‘Make it October. It won’t be quite so hot and I’ll have time to get used to the idea that I’m going to be Mrs Nicholas Capodistrias. We’ll also have to decide on a church and a place for a reception and—’
‘All taken care of already. Giorgio and Anna think we should marry at the church above the harbour where my parents were married. And they will host the reception at Giorgio’s taverna. And I warn you that Greek weddings can go on for days.’
‘Don’t you think we should go and waken Ianni and tell him what’s happening?’ Demelza said happily.
Nick gave her a rakish smile as he pulled her against him. ‘Not yet…This is our time, before the family wakes up. We’ll have to set our priorities for when we have more children, won’t we? You do want our own babies, don’t you, Demelza?’
She snuggled against him and gave herself up to the desire that was sweeping over her once more. ‘Oh, yes. I want lots and lots and—’
‘Better make a start now,’ Nick whispered.