glanced at her hair with curious eyes. ‘Is that why you lost the red?’
‘Partly. And I could no longer face going to the hairdressers’ every six weeks to have my roots touched up.’
‘That often?’
She smiled. ‘Didn’t you realise? That kind of glossy hair doesn’t just happen by magic, no matter what the ads might promise.’
‘And the glasses? Do you wear them because they make you look so different and reduce your chances of being recognised?’
‘Actually, no. I wear them because they’re good for all the detailed work I do with my jewellery design.’ She found herself wondering whether he liked them or not, but Xenon’s opinion of her trendy spectacles didn’t count. She liked them and that was what mattered. She didn’t add that she felt safer behind them. That their slightly geeky look fitted her new image of herself. ‘And I was always losing my contact lenses.’
‘Tell me about it,’ he said. ‘I seemed to spend half my time on my hands and knees looking for the damned things.’ He gave a lazy smile. ‘But I rather enjoyed being on the floor with you for what you might call legitimate purposes.’
Their eyes met.
‘Xenon, don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’
‘Don’t keep dredging up memories.’ Especially not happy ones. ‘There’s no point.’
‘Okay.’ He lifted his hands in mock-surrender. ‘The past is off-limits. Just come downstairs when you’re ready and I’ll fix dinner.’
‘You?’ Lexi blinked. ‘Did I hear that correctly? Xenon Kanellis fixing dinner? Why, you wouldn’t know where to start unless it involved speed-dialling the nearest Michelin-starred restaurant.’
‘Want to bet?’
‘I think I’ll leave the betting to my brother.’ She pulled a face. ‘Or hopefully not. So what’s on the menu? A take-out from the local deli?’
‘Wait and see,’ he responded coolly and walked out.
Lexi didn’t move for a moment or two after the door had closed behind him. She wanted to go back over everything he’d said, and to replay it in her mind like a teenager with her first crush.
He’d thought she might want to give their marriage another go?
But—as she’d said—there was absolutely no point dredging up memories and so she went into the bathroom, determined to wash all thoughts of him away.
Afterwards she put on a pair of jeans and gave her reflection a satisfied nod. Xenon wasn’t a big fan of jeans because he thought it was a crime for a woman to cover up her legs. But if her legs were covered then he wouldn’t look at them in the way she was discovering she still liked. And just to really slam the message home, she pulled on a baggy black T-shirt, with a giant pink sequinned lollipop on the front.
He had laid the table in the garden and lit lots of little tea-lights and she found that as astonishing as anything else which had happened. Xenon managing to put a match to tea-lights? Whatever next? Xenon discovering that food came from shops, and that you actually had to go and buy it?
But she was somewhat relieved to discover that the familiar macho Xenon was never too far from the surface because when she walked into the garden, he looked up and scowled.
‘What’s that hideous thing you’re wearing?’
She affected innocence as she ran a reflective forefinger over the garish pink sequins. ‘This? It’s one of a batch from our last tour, which never got sold. Extra-extra-large. If you’re interested I can always have one couriered to you. I’ve got masses of them back at the cottage.’
He gave a flicker of a smile as he poured a glass of wine and handed it to her. ‘Tempting, but I’ll pass. Now, eat.’
She sat down and did as he suggested and was soon tucking into pasta with a simple sauce, studded with anchovies and olives. Afterwards there were iced grapes and squares of dark chocolate, accompanied by the thick, sweet coffee he loved so much. In the flickering light, she ate with an appetite which seemed sharpened, and as the stars began to prick the velvet sky she felt better.
By tacit agreement, they kept to neutral topics, with Xenon recounting some of the exploits of his twin cousins in New York, who Lexi had always liked. He told her that there had been talk of doing a sequel to My Crazy Greek Father but that he had ruled it out, because he couldn’t face going back to Hollywood for any sustained length of time. Lexi found herself wishing that the dinner could continue, like one of those meals you found in fairy tales, where the table was lavishly replenished each day. Because around that table it was easy to forget about the world which existed outside that garden.
But the world did exist and it came with complications. Big complications, in their case. She pushed away her empty coffee cup and looked at him.
‘What have you told your mother?’
He shrugged. ‘That you’re coming to the christening with me and are eager to see my grandmother again. Other than that, I haven’t elaborated.’
She folded her napkin and put it on the table. ‘And what did she say?’
For a moment Xenon was silent as he poured himself another cup of coffee. Unsurprisingly, his mother’s response to his news had been muted. She had never wanted him to marry this particular Englishwoman when there had been so many suitable Greek girls eager to take on that privileged role. He suspected she still lived in hope that it might one day still happen, for she did not share his grandmother’s sentimental views on divorce. But he had told her that Lexi’s visit was non-negotiable and had demanded that she show his estranged wife courtesy and consideration, a demand which had left his mother looking at him thoughtfully before she had agreed.
‘She accepted it,’ he said.
‘Just like that?’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘My mother wouldn’t dream of objecting to the way I live my life. Not any more.’
‘Or maybe she just wouldn’t dream of saying it out loud.’
‘Most people have thoughts they wouldn’t want to say out loud, Lex. I’m having a few of my own at the moment.’
She stood up. ‘I think that’s my cue for bed.’
‘Wise decision.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘If a rather disappointing one as far as I’m concerned.’
Lexi looked at his ruggedly handsome face and thought how easy it would be if they’d only just met. If she could just give in to the demands of her body. Just walk right over there and let him take her in his arms and to hell with the consequences.
But she couldn’t. There was a reason why she still sometimes woke in the middle of the night with her heart pounding with fear and a sinking feeling of realisation twisting at her gut.
It was the same reason why she could never give their marriage another go.
