Page 60 of Hot Greek Summer

‘We’ll pay to get it all put right, that goes without saying,’ Seth said, nursing a tumbler of brandy between his hands. ‘But I need to ask you all a favour.’

‘You want us to keep Mikey’s secret,’ Stella guessed, stirring her G&T with the rosemary sprig.

Seth nodded, staring into the amber depths of his glass. ‘He’s been clean for more than seven years now, but these last couple of months have been hard on him. Family stuff. We didn’t realise he’d started drinking again. I missed the signs.’

‘Come on, man,’ Angelo said, his mouth a bitter twist. ‘He’s a big boy. Every man has to be accountable for himself.’

‘Impressive as they are, you don’t have to take the weight of everything on your rock-star shoulders,’ Stella tried, more gently.

Seth huffed. ‘He’s always been the kid brother in the band. Old habits die hard, I guess.’ For different reasons, his words held resonance with everyone around the table.

‘There’s something else,’ Seth said. ‘After tonight, I think we misjudged how long we might need to stay. I’m thinking … a couple months, maybe? Time for him to get his shit together again.’

Winnie nodded, thinking about the handful of bookings they’d taken already. ‘That’s fine. We can do that.’

‘Not just our rooms though,’ Seth added. ‘We’d need to block book the whole place; if word gets out that we’re here and he’s drinking again the island will be crawling in hours.’

The three women exchanged concerned looks.

‘We’ve taken a handful of bookings for the next few weeks already,’ Winnie said. ‘Let me look at the diary tomorrow and see what we can do.’

‘We’d pay well for the privilege,’ Seth said, placing his empty glass down as he stood up and rolled those fabulous rock-star shoulders. ‘The privacy here is something pretty special.’

Raising his hand in goodnight, he wandered back inside the villa, and Angelo took his cue to do the same, planting a kiss on Stella’s neck and murmuring something in her ear that made her eyebrows slide into her fringe.

Winnie moved to sit alongside Stella and Frankie on the bench overlooking the dark, moonlit sea. ‘That was a close call,’ she said. ‘We could have lost it all and we’ve barely got going.’

Frankie nodded, sighing heavily. ‘Made me realise how much I already love this place.’

‘Mikey bloody Miller,’ Stella grumbled, pulling leaves one by one from the rosemary stick and dropping them into her empty glass.

‘Thank God the donkey wasn’t in the garden,’ Frankie said, leaning slightly forward to look at Winnie.

Winnie nodded, philosophical. ‘I don’t think he’s ever coming back.’

Stella looked at her. ‘Have you fallen out?’

They all knew that they weren’t just talking about the donkey any more.

Winnie shook her head. ‘Nothing like that. I just understand him a bit more now. He’s perfectly content with his life as it is.’

Frankie frowned. ‘But you’re still going to visit regularly, right?’

‘We seem to have reached an agreement, yes.’

‘Does that mean that you’re shagging?’ Stella said, bumping shoulders with a sly laugh.

‘Me and the donkey? That’s disgusting, Stell.’

Stella rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

‘Do it, Win,’ Frankie said suddenly. ‘Just bloody do it. He’s the perfect antidote to Rory.’

Both Winnie and Stella looked at her. ‘Somebody’s fired up.’

Frankie shook her head. ‘I’m not especially, but we’re thirty-four-year-old women. That’s young! We should be able to do whatever we like with whoever we like without feeling bad about it.’

‘I know,’ Winnie said, thinking as much about Frankie and Seth as herself and Jesse. ‘So what’s the deal with Seth? You two looked pretty cosy out here when I got back from Jesse’s.’

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