Some Like It Greek - Sue Roberts Page 0,61

fresh in a village restaurant, so I settle for the pork stew cooked in rosemary and white wine.

We dine on the delicious food when it arrives, and Demi asks me where I will be heading off to next. I tell her that I will be spending a few more days in Skala, then I hope to drive to Fiskardo and spend a couple of days there. I will collect her on the return journey. As we sip a coffee and lunch comes to a close, my heart is beating fast as I wonder whether or not I should tell Demi that I think I have found her son. I decide to take the bull by the horns and I take a deep breath.

‘Demi, you know you said you weren’t sure where you son was living?’ I begin.

‘Yes.’ A frown has crossed her face and I wonder for a second whether I ought to leave things alone.

‘Well, unlikely as it may sound…’ I hesitate for a moment. ‘I think I may have bumped into him.’

The colour seems to drain from Demi’s face as she shakes her head.

‘No, no you can’t have, surely. Have you been trying to track him down?’ She looks at me like she has been betrayed. ‘I never asked you to try to trace him.’

‘What? No, of course not. I was on the beach at Skala when I saw a man collecting sea glass. I stopped in my tracks when I got closer. He was the spitting image of you. I realise how unbelievable this all sounds but… well, I suppose it’s entirely possible he would still be living somewhere in Kefalonia. Not everyone has a reason to leave, do they?’ I hope my words don’t sound too insensitive, given the circumstances of Demi’s departure to England.

Demi is quiet for a minute or two and I’m already regretting saying anything. This is none of my business, although, I tell myself, I hardly went looking for him, did I? It was a one-in-a-million chance meeting after all.

After what seems like forever, Demi finally speaks.

‘Do you really think it was my son you encountered?’ Shock and surprise are written all over her face.

I tell her all about our conversation on the beach and how we enjoyed a drink together at the beach café, where he recommended local places to visit.

‘We talked. I asked him if he had been born in the local area and he revealed he’d been born at a convent and adopted. Seeing how much he looked like you, I don’t think there could be any doubt,’ I tell her gently. ‘And another thing,’ I continue. ‘He doesn’t bear any malice towards his birth mother. He tells me he’s had a nice life. He also said…’ I pull myself up from continuing.

‘He also said what?’ she pushes. ‘What did he say?’

‘He said he’d tried to trace you once. But when he’d discovered you’d made a life in England he stopped searching.’

I stare down at the table, barely able to look into Demi’s eyes and when I do, they are filled with tears.

‘Oh Demi, I wasn’t sure whether or not to tell you. I never wanted to upset you. I just thought you had a right to know where he is. And he’s never held your decision against you, he seems like such a lovely man.’

‘That is good to know.’ She nods slowly, processing everything she has just been told.

‘Did you tell him about me?’ she asks eventually.

‘Of course I didn’t. I would never do anything like that without your say-so. I could tell him, though, if that’s what you want. I know where he works.’

I tell Demi all about Petros having a stall on the market at the harbour front in Skala and how he has a house on the hillside not far away.

‘I think maybe I would like that,’ she replies eventually. ‘As long as you are sure that he doesn’t hate me.’ She has a look of uncertainty on her face.

‘He doesn’t, I promise.’ I reach across the table and squeeze her hands. ‘And you shouldn’t hate yourself. You were a young woman who had no choice in the matter. You weren’t the first and I’m sure you won’t be the last to have found herself in such a position.’

‘Maybe,’ she sighs. ‘But things are different these days. People are more accepting of things. It wasn’t like that when I was growing up.’

We sip coffee quietly, before she walks me to the van and embraces me