clothing.’
‘You’ve spent summers at digs all over the Mediterranean.’
‘And I moaned at each and every one.’ Brittany stretched out her legs and Lily felt a flash of envy.
‘You look like Lara Croft in those shorts. You have amazing legs.’
‘Too much time hiking in inhospitable lands searching for ancient relics. I want your gorgeous blonde hair.’ Brittany’s hair, the colour of polished oak, was gathered up from her neck in a ponytail. Despite the hat, her neck was already showing signs of the sun. ‘Listen, don’t waste another thought or tear on that man. Come out with us tonight. We’re going to the official opening of the new wing at the archaeological museum and afterwards we’re going to try out that new bar on the waterfront. My spies tell me that Professor Asshat won’t be there, so it’s going to be a great evening.’
‘I can’t. The agency rang this morning and offered me an emergency cleaning job.’
‘Lily, you have a masters in archaeology. You shouldn’t be taking these random jobs.’
‘My research grant doesn’t pay off my college loans and I want to be debt free. And anyway, I love cleaning. It relaxes me.’
‘You love cleaning? You’re like a creature from another planet.’
‘There’s nothing more rewarding than turning someone’s messy house into a shiny home, but I do wish the job wasn’t tonight. The opening would have been fun. A great excuse to wash the mud off my knees and dress up, not to mention seeing all those artefacts in one place. Never mind. I’ll focus on the money. They’re paying me an emergency rate for tonight.’
‘Cleaning is an emergency?’
Lily thought about the state of some of the houses she cleaned. ‘Sometimes, but in this case it’s more that the owner decided to arrive without notice. He spends most of his time in the US.’ She dug in her bag for more sunscreen. ‘Can you imagine being so rich you can’t quite decide which of your many properties you are going to sleep in?’
‘What’s his name?’
‘No idea. The company is very secretive. We have to arrive at a certain time and then his security team will let us in. Four hours later I add a gratifyingly large sum of money to my bank account and that’s the end of it.’
‘Four hours? It’s going to take five of you four hours to clean one house?’ Brittany paused with the water halfway to her mouth. ‘What is this place? A Minoan palace?’
‘A villa. It’s big. She said I’d be given a floor plan when I arrive, which I have to return when I leave and I’m not allowed to make copies.’
‘A floor plan?’ Brittany choked on her water. ‘Now I’m intrigued. Can I come with you?’
‘Sure—’ Lily threw her a look ‘—because scrubbing out someone’s shower is so much more exciting than having cocktails on the terrace of the archaeological museum while the sun sets over the Aegean.’
‘It’s the Sea of Crete.’
‘Technically it’s still the Aegean, and either way I’m missing a great party to scrub a floor. I feel like Cinderella. So what about you? Are you going to meet someone tonight and do something about your dormant love life?’
‘I don’t have a love life, I have a sex life, which is not at all dormant fortunately.’
Lily felt a twinge of envy. ‘Maybe you’re right. I need to lighten up and use men for sex instead of treating every relationship as if it’s going to end in confetti. You were an only child, weren’t you? Did you ever wish you had brothers or sisters?’
‘No, but I grew up on a small island. The whole place felt like a massive extended family. Everyone knew everything, from the age you first walked, to whether you had all A’s on your report card.’
‘Sounds blissful.’ Lily heard the wistful note in her own voice. ‘Because I was such a sickly kid and hard work to look after, no one took me for long. My eczema was terrible when I was little and I was always covered in creams and bandages and other yucky stuff. I wasn’t exactly your poster baby. No one wanted a kid who got sick. I was about as welcome as a stray puppy with fleas.’
‘Crap, Lily, you’re making me tear up and I’m not even a sentimental person.’
‘Forget it. Tell me about your family instead.’ She loved hearing about other people’s families, about the complications, the love, the experiences woven into a shared history. To her, family seemed like a multicoloured sweater, with all the different coloured strands of wool knitted into something whole and wonderful that gave warmth and protection from the cold winds of life.
She picked absently at a thread hanging from the hem of her shorts. It felt symbolic of her life. She was a single fibre, loose, bound to nothing.
Brittany took another mouthful of water and adjusted the angle of her hat. ‘We’re a normal American family, I guess. Whatever that is. My parents were divorced when I was ten. My mom hated living on an island. Eventually she remarried and moved to Florida. My dad was an engineer and he spent all his time working on oil rigs around the world. I lived with my grandmother on Puffin Island.’
‘Even the name is adorable.’ Lily tried to imagine growing up on a place called Puffin Island. ‘Were you close to your grandmother?’
‘Very. She died a few years ago, but she left me her cottage on the beach so I’d always have a home. I take several calls a week from people wanting to buy the place but I’m never going to sell.’ Brittany poked her trowel into the ground. ‘My grandmother called it Castaway Cottage. When I was little I asked her if a castaway ever lived there and she said it was for people lost in life, not at sea. She believed it had healing properties.’
Lily didn’t laugh. ‘I might need to spend a month there. I need to heal.’
‘You’d be welcome. A friend of mine is staying at the moment. We use it as a refuge. It’s the best place on earth and I always feel close to my grandmother when I’m there. You can use it any time, Lil.’
‘Maybe I will. I still need to decide what I’m going to do in August.’
‘You know what you need? Rebound sex. Sex for the fun of it, without all the emotional crap that goes with relationships.’
‘I’ve never had rebound sex. I’d fall in love.’
‘So pick someone you couldn’t possibly fall in love with in a million years. Someone with exceptional bedroom skills, but nothing else to commend him. Then you can’t possibly be at risk.’ She broke off as Spyros, one of the Greek archaeologists from the local university, strolled across to them. ‘Go away, Spy, this is girl talk.’
‘Why do you think I’m joining you? It’s got to be more interesting than the conversation I just left.’ He handed Lily a can of chilled Diet Coke. ‘He’s a waste of space, theé mou.’ His voice was gentle and she coloured, touched by his kindness.
‘I know, I know.’ She lifted the weight of her hair from her neck, wishing she’d worn it up. ‘I’ll get over it.’
Spy
