Those Summer Nights (Corfu, Greek Island Romance) by Mandy Baggot Page A

some brown, some white and orange – and she had an idea that when she mopped the area they were going to shine. Even the plants in the wall planters seemed to have perked up a little. Or maybe that was just her feeling exhausted and going cross-eyed. A look left to the sand and the glistening sea every few minutes had kept her going. She’d imagined the perspiration that was putting the twenty-four hour promise of her Sure deodorant to the test was that fresh, cool water on her skin from yesterday. Perhaps she’d take another dip later, after the meeting Harry had scheduled to discuss menus.
    ‘ Kalimera! Hello!’
    At the sound of the voice Imogen turned her head. It was Elpida Dimitriou, dressed for a cocktail party in a bright, figure-hugging floral dress but with black trainers on her feet. She was holding a brown paper carrier bag in each hand.
    ‘Hello,’ Imogen greeted, leaning the broom up against the wall and brushing her palms together to remove any dust.
    ‘Argh!’ Elpida exclaimed. ‘What has happened to you? You look like someone from horror film!’
    Imogen nodded. ‘Thank you, I’m taking that as a compliment because I thought I actually looked much worse than that.’
    ‘These are bites?’ Elpida asked. She planted the bags on the floor, and before Imogen could move the woman had slapped her hands on both her cheeks, examining the damage.
    ‘Apparently so,’ she sighed. ‘Stupidly, I didn’t know Corfu was twinned with the Congo.’
    ‘I have something for this,’ Elpida said, stepping back and picking up her bags. ‘We will fix it.’ She strode towards the door of the building and Imogen hastily followed.
    ‘That’s very kind of you but I got some cream and some spray and—’ Imogen said.
    ‘What is this?!’ Elpida exclaimed, looking into the main room, eyes bulbous, shock written on her face.
    ‘What is what?’ Imogen stood beside the woman, trying to see what there was amongst the destruction that was causing this reaction. The chairs and tables that could be fixed were stacked to one side, it was only the other half that was still filled with all manner of rubbish from the kitchen and upper room.
    ‘This!’ Elpida stated. ‘This holy horror of destruction!’
    ‘Um…’ Imogen didn’t really know what to say. This used to be this woman’s restaurant. Surely she would know the state she had left it in.
    The woman was shaking her head now. ‘This cannot be. How has this happened?’ She turned back to Imogen. ‘This is how this is when you get here?’
    ‘We’ve cleared a lot out this morning,’ Imogen answered.
    ‘This was not how I left things. This is terrible! What must you think of me?’ There were tears gathering at the corner of the woman’s eyes. ‘The weeds, they grow so fast in this weather, I will get Nico to fix this. But this… I had a manager, the last few months the restaurant was open. I cannot believe he—’
    ‘It’s all right,’ Imogen found herself saying. ‘It isn’t your fault.’
    ‘And your Harry, he buy this like this!’ Elpida exclaimed. ‘Is he crazy?!’
    ‘Yes.’ Imogen nodded. ‘Yes, he is.’
    ‘Well, this is not right. Not right at all. I will fix it.’ Elpida began striding through the building, stopping each time she had to navigate the debris in her way.
    ‘Wait, Mrs Dimitriou, you don’t have to do that,’ Imogen said, hurrying after her and hurdling two plastic buckets in her bid to catch up.
    ‘Pfft! I say I will fix it and I will fix it.’ Elpida stopped walking when she saw the further mess in the back room. ‘For the love of Zeus! There is more!’
    ‘We wanted to get the front area clear before we started on this,’ Imogen said, scratching her legs as the bites heated up again.
    ‘I will make phone calls,’ Elpida told her seriously. ‘But first we fix your face. Come!’
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    E lpida had cut a lemon in half and smeared it all over her face. Now the woman was crushing garlic into a paste Imogen