what neither of us realised was that we were being watched, too.
Chapter Fourteen
LANDER
Lander Contos (resident of Galanikos): I was walking through the village and then, from nowhere, she was on the side of the road. We’d not seen one another in nine years, but I knew it was Emma the moment I saw her. I think it’s something about the way she stands… the way she moves. It’s like she has an assurance of who she is. I looked towards her and she’d changed but… not really.
I didn’t think I’d ever see her again and then, suddenly, there she was.
Emma: When I’d been talking to Police Chief Jin on the cliffs, he’d mentioned Lander and then I’d sort of forgotten. It wasn’t anything to do with Lander, it was more that so many other things had been going on.
Lander: There were four or five guys around her and I think, maybe, they were arguing. I was standing on the other side of the road, just watching. It didn’t cross my mind to intervene. I think I was in shock.
Emma: After Paul walked off to catch up with his crew, I felt my neck prickling with that sense of being watched. I think I probably shivered – then I turned and saw Lander on the other side of the street. I suppose it was a morning for reintroductions.
Lander: She came across to where I was standing and we looked at each other for a few seconds. I couldn’t think of what to say. There was probably a part of me that still couldn’t believe she was actually there.
Emma: We were outside a tea shop and so I asked if he wanted one for old times.
Lander: I should have said no – but I don’t think I’ve ever said no to Emma.
Emma: He snapped out of the trance he was in and ended up ordering for the pair of us. It’s not like there’s a huge menu in those island cafés. They do thick coffee, or something called Mountain Tea. It’s made from leaves grown on the slopes of the volcano. Everybody from Galanikos drinks it and it’s as common as tap water might be in Britain. I’ve never been much of a tea drinker back home, but Mountain Tea is something else. You have to try it to believe it.
Lander: I asked how she was.
Emma: I said I was good. There’s a reflex in that answer. When you’ve not seen someone in nine years and they ask how you are, you don’t immediately unload about how everything went badly wrong.
Lander: I told her I was good, too.
Emma: So there we were: both good.
I remember looking at his face and taking him in. His skin had always been this beautiful golden brown, but it had gone darker as the wrinkles were starting to come through around his eyes. His hairline had started to edge up his forehead a little and there was the merest whisper of grey close to his ears. I bet he’s dyed it out by now.
Lander: I’m not going grey.
Emma: It made him look older, but I think it suited him. Some people grow out of their looks, but others grow into them.
It felt like another lifetime that we used to sneak off to the beach and cosy away in that cove underneath the cliffs. I never thought we’d end up as some old married couple… but I also didn’t think we’d go almost a decade without seeing one another. There was this part of me that thought we’d always be in one another’s lives, even though that made no sense.
Lander: She told me about her clothes shop, but I was confused by that. I said: ‘Didn’t you used to work for your dad?’
Emma: It wasn’t the time to talk about that – and he wasn’t the person to talk to.
Lander: She didn’t want to talk about herself and kept asking questions about me instead.
Emma: He was married with two little girls. Who’d have guessed?
Lander: Do you want to see a picture? The girls look just like Rhea. Three beautiful women. I’m a lucky man.
Emma: His wife is called Rhea. I don’t think he said it enough. Rhea, Rhea, Rhea. Did he mention his wife is called Rhea?
Lander: Emma said ‘Oh’ – but I didn’t know what that meant. Was she surprised? Happy? Did she think I’d be waiting for her?
Emma: Of course I didn’t want him to wait. That’s ridiculous. I was surprised, that’s all. I never really