Wednesday – early morning
Three days before the wedding
At six a.m. the next morning, Cal wolfs down a bacon butty while scrolling through his phone.
I cradle my mug. ‘OK. You’re checked in on the three p.m. flight from Bristol to Athens and the last one home on Friday night. You can get the very early train here on Saturday morning but it only gives you a couple of days in Greece. Is it long enough?’
‘It will have to be. I’m hiring a car at the airport to drive north to the camp.’ Cal gulps down the dregs of his coffee. ‘You won’t be on your own here. Kit’s driving down to help tomorrow. He’s finished his edits and he has a few days free. He was going to have a break but he said he’s happy to come here to help us.’
‘Kit’s coming here?’
‘You don’t look too happy about it. I can tell him to keep away if you like.’
‘No. We need all the help we can get, I’m only amazed that you said yes to him staying here while you’re away.’
‘Yeah. Well. Maybe he isn’t too bad, and helping out a celebrity wedding will all be part of his rehab.’ He smiles.
‘You mean he’ll hate it.’
‘Exactly, and I think he’s OK. Any trouble, kick him out but I don’t think there will be.’ His phone beeps and he grimaces. ‘That’s Robyn. She’s outside. I can’t miss my train and she’s already freaking out that we’ll be late.’
He gathers me to him and kisses me. Not a long enough kiss but a warm and delicious one to remember. ‘Thanks for making me feel it’s OK to go. I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.’ He smiles. ‘And I swear I’m not doing this to get out of the wedding preparations.’
‘Yeah. I believe you.’
Picking up his overnight bag, he gives me a final brush on my lips and he’s on his way. I follow him as far as the door, not wanting to make a slushy fuss in front of Robyn or our holiday guests who are packing up and leaving today as we prepare for the wedding guests. We’ll be rushed off our feet checking everyone out and supervising the freelance cleaners who come to do the changeovers but I’d rather be busy than dwell on losing Cal, even for a few days.
He’s off to Greece, I remind myself: it’s a holiday destination not a war zone and nothing will happen to him. Then again, he’s a stranger going into a camp … But I’m more worried about his emotional safety than what might happen to him physically. What if Esme’s family do blame him for what happens or prevent her from seeing him? I can’t think why or they wouldn’t have asked him to go but I can’t help thinking that so much could go wrong. His parting words tumble through my mind. ‘I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.’ They sound familiar.
Through the window of her car, Robyn shouts and points at her wrist. ‘Cal. Come on.’
He climbs in, the engine revs and the tyres spin as Robyn shoots off the car park, as if she’s in a rally. They’re gone now so I return to the kitchen and my untouched bacon sandwich, remembering where I’ve heard Cal’s final words before.
Of course, it was Robyn who told me what Cal said when he left for Syria on the aid mission that ended with him being taken prisoner.
‘I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.’ Robyn told me he also said the same words to Isla and he never returned to her. A shiver runs down my spine.
I laugh at myself. It’s not only Robyn and Isla who have a taste for drama round here. Cal will be back on Saturday as planned and we can finally get on with Lily and Ben’s happy ending.