LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      IANNIS HAD PROMISED Lizzie that she could set her watch by the local bus. And so it proved to be. She got off the bus outside the school grounds where Thea was due to play that afternoon with ample time to spare.

      She took a moment to smooth her lovely yellow dress and her hair. Her old lady dress, Lizzie thought, smiling as she remembered what Thea had said. It was a beautiful dress, made all the more lovely by the thought behind it. It had been a long time since Lizzie had worn anything but jeans and a top, or a server’s uniform, and she wanted Thea to know how much the gift of a dress meant to her.

      The school was set in a picturesque valley between lush, vine-covered hills. It thrilled Lizzie to think that Thea’s talent had brought her to such a beautiful place. Set like a jewel in an aquamarine sea, the island boasted shady olive groves and sparkling rivers and, though it was hot today, there was a covered awning to keep both audience and performers cool.

      Nothing had been overlooked. Refreshments had been set out on trestle tables, and it promised to be a wonderful afternoon. Excitement gripped Lizzie as she anticipated another performance. This one was more of a rehearsal, and that, together with knowing that Damon was visiting his parents allowed her to relax and enjoy the fact that Thea Floros—as Thea was known now, having taken Lizzie’s mother’s name—would be the star soloist today.

      Lizzie glowed with pride as she joined the line of parents waiting to take their seats. When at last the gates to the school opened and everyone filed in Lizzie only wished she were taller, so she could be the first to catch sight of Thea. For now she had to be content with shuffling along at a snail’s pace, walled in by a platoon of parents, but then people finally started sitting down and she could see the children.

      ‘Eísai entáxei. Megáli chaméni efkairía?’

      ‘Are you all right?’ someone translated for Lizzie as she swayed.

      She caught hold of a nearby chair for support.

      ‘It must be the heat,’ she excused. ‘I don’t see this much sun in London, but thank you for your concern.’

      The kindness of strangers couldn’t help her now. How could Thea be talking to Damon? He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be visiting his parents. And Thea wasn’t just chatting to him, as a child might talk politely to a stranger who had expressed an interest in her music, she was laughing with him as if they were old friends.

      Two dark heads with the same thick, wavy black hair. Two sets of laughing brown eyes. Two tanned faces with features so similar, so strong, and both so beautiful.

      Thea had said something that had made Damon shove his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, throw his head back and laugh. Lizzie felt the chill of exclusion. What could they be saying to each other? How much did Damon know?

      Worse! How much did Thea know?

      She had never seen Damon looking so relaxed, or Thea so happy. Theirs was such an unexpected rapport it frightened her. It had always been just the two of them before. Thea and Lizzie… Lizzie and Thea. But now the likeness between father and daughter was startling.

      Seeing them together for the first time was the most unnerving experience of Lizzie’s life. It wasn’t just that Damon’s full-blooded Greek genes had prevailed over Lizzie’s part-Greek, part-Celtic mix, but the fact was that anyone could see that Damon and Thea were father and daughter. Could Damon see it too? Could Thea?

      She stood motionless, watching, numb with shock. It was too late to do anything properly now. The moment had come and gone, and watching Thea and Damon together stirred new fears. How quickly Lizzie’s father had lost interest in her, once his life had changed. She’d been determined to protect Thea from that. But now she wondered if she’d been over-protective. Had she got everything wrong?

      Both Damon and Thea had cause to hate her. And she’d done that all on her own. Damon’s first thought would be to protect Thea. Could she blame him for that? How could she, when Lizzie had kept Thea from her father? Would Thea be angry? Would Thea reject Lizzie in favour of the man who could give her so much more? And would it be right for Lizzie to stand in Thea’s way if that was what Thea wanted?

      She had to remain calm, Lizzie concluded. She could not go to pieces now. She’d been strong for eleven years, and if ever there was a time to be strong it was now. She couldn’t move at the moment anyway. There were people blocking her way. All she could do was stand and watch Thea and Damon, wondering if she could have done something differently or better.

      Shame. That was what she felt most. She should have found a way to tell them both the truth long before now.

      And then, as if Lizzie and Thea were joined by some magical cord, Thea looked up and saw her.

      Calling out, ‘Mama! Mama!’ at the top of her voice, she came running full pelt towards Lizzie.

      ‘Mama!’ Thea gasped when she reached Lizzie’s side. ‘You must come and meet my new friend, Damon Gavros! Okay—you stay there,’ she said when Lizzie remained unresponsive. ‘Save him a seat and I’ll make sure he sits next to you. I’ve lined him up for a date with you later. I told him how beautiful you are—’

      Racing away again, Thea retraced her steps and re-joined her friends in the orchestra.

      Could a heart break and shatter into pieces? When Lizzie saw Damon’s face she felt sure it could.

      ‘Come with me,’ Damon said when he reached her side.

      He spoke quietly, but in a tone so hostile that everyone around them turned to stare.

      ‘I can’t—the concert’s about to begin.’ Lizzie glanced at the stage where Thea was sitting.

      Thea was her anchor. She couldn’t move.

      ‘You can and you will come with me,’ Damon assured her. ‘The children don’t play their pieces until after the speeches of welcome, and what I have to say to you won’t take long.’

      She couldn’t make a scene—not here, of all places. Thea was sneaking glances at Lizzie to see how her matchmaking was working out. The last thing Lizzie wanted was to give Thea anything to worry about just before her concert began.

      ‘Okay,’ she agreed.

      Smiling and waving at Thea, she indicated how long she’d be with five fingers held up.

      Thea’s smile was so broad and her eyes were so bright with hope that Lizzie knew she’d never felt so ashamed in her life as she walked away with Damon. There was disappointing your child, and then there was completely betraying her.

      Damon ushered her ahead of him inside the school, where they would have some privacy. It was cool after the heat of the sun, and deserted. Their footsteps echoed on the tiled floor as he led the way into a classroom.

      Closing

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