“Am I not sweet enough?” I chuckled, my mouth full.
“Almost. Not quite.”
“Mmm.” The tomato was indeed sweet and delicious. I took another from Lana’s basket. “What’s going on?”
“We’re planting a new vegetable garden. Our new project.”
“What’s wrong with the old one?”
“This is for Leo. He needs his own plot.” Lana smiled at me with a hint of amusement. “He’s vegan now, you know.”
“Ah.” I smiled back. “You did mention it, yes.”
“We’re going to grow everything.” Leo gestured enthusiastically at the dug-up earth.
“Almost everything.” Lana smiled.
“Kale and cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, carrots, and radishes … what else?”
“Potatoes,” Lana said. “So we can stop stealing Nikos’s. They were so delicious last night, by the way. Thank you.”
She directed this at Nikos with a smile. He waved away the compliment, embarrassed.
“Room for a little marijuana?” I asked.
“No.” Leo shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Lana winked at me. “We’ll see.”
I glanced in the direction of the summerhouse. “Where’s madam?”
“Still asleep.”
“And Jason?”
Before Lana could reply, the answer came—a loud gunshot. And then another shot—from just behind the house.
I jumped out of my skin. “Jesus.”
“Sorry,” Lana said. “It’s Jason.”
“Shooting people?”
“Just pigeons, so far.”
“It’s murder.” Leo pulled a face. “It’s an act of violence. It’s disgusting and offensive. It’s gross.”
Lana’s voice took on a patient but strained quality, making me think they’d had this discussion before. “Well, darling, I know that—but he enjoys it—and we do eat everything he kills, so it doesn’t go to waste.”
“I don’t eat it. I’d rather starve.”
Wisely, Lana changed the subject. She touched Leo’s arm and gave him a pleading look. “Leo, can you perform a miracle and raise the dead? Remind Kate the picnic was all her idea, will you? Agathi has put so much work into it. She’s been cooking all morning.”
Leo sighed. He stabbed his spade in the earth. He didn’t look thrilled about the assignment. “Niko, we’ll finish up later, all right?”
Nikos nodded.
While Lana showed me where the bulbs were going to go, I glanced at Nikos, over her shoulder. He took a break from digging for a moment. He caught his breath and wiped his brow.
How old was Nikos then? I wonder. He must have been only in his late forties but his once jet-black hair was streaked with white, his face tanned and deeply lined.
He was an odd man. He only spoke directly to Agathi and Lana or occasionally to Leo. He never spoke to me, even though I had been to the island several times. He seemed wary of me, somehow, as if I were untamed.
As I looked at him, I noticed something strange. He was staring at Lana with the oddest expression. It was quite intense, and completely unselfconscious.
He was looking at her with adoration, fascination—with a faint half smile on his lips. He looked younger, somehow, almost boyish.
Gosh, I thought, as I watched him gaze at her. He’s in love with her.
I don’t know why I was surprised. It made perfect sense, on reflection. Put yourself in his place—imagine being stranded on a tiny island all year round, deprived of any company, male or female, only to have a goddess wash up on your shore every few months. Of course he was in love with her.
We all were. All of us—Otto, Agathi; me, Jason. Half the world. Even Kate, at one time, was entirely besotted. And now, Nikos was, too. He stood no chance against Lana’s charms, poor bastard. He was bewitched, like the rest of us.
But spells don’t last forever, you know. One day, the spell breaks, the enchantment ends; the illusion is over.
And nothing is left but thin air.
14
Kate woke up to someone banging on the door.
She rubbed her eyes, disoriented. It took her a second to work out where she was—on the island, in the summerhouse. Her head was throbbing. Another bang at the door made her groan.
“Stop it, for Christ’s sake,” she cried out. “Who is it?”
“It’s Leo. Wake up.”
“Go away.”
“It’s after eleven. Get up—you’re late for the picnic.”