A Mediterranean Marriage. Lynne Graham

Brett and Hilary’s youngest daughter, Joy, had been undergoing the last phase of her treatment for leukaemia. Mercifully, Lily’s four-year-old niece had since made a full recovery but then, right from the moment Joy’s condition had been diagnosed, Hilary had refused to contemplate any other possibility. Lily’s sister was a great believer in the power of positive thinking and she had needed every atom of that strength to keep up her spirits in the testing times that had followed.

      Lily’s father, Douglas Harris, had signed over his comfortable detached house to Hilary and Brett lock, stock and barrel soon after their marriage and had continued to live with them. In the divorce settlement, Brett had been awarded half the value of the marital home, which he had never put a penny into either buying or maintaining, and as a result it had had to be sold. Not long after that development, it had emerged that Lily’s father’s travel agency, Harris Travel, which Brett had until recently continued to manage, was also in trouble. Just a month ago Douglas Harris, Hilary and her little girls had moved into the tiny terraced house that was now their home for the foreseeable future.

      ‘You should have let me help you with that case!’ Hilary scolded from the kitchen doorway. She was a tall, slender woman with short light brown hair, but even her ready smile could not conceal the tiredness of her eyes for she ran herself ragged struggling to keep up her many commitments. ‘We have time for a cup of tea before we leave for the airport. Have you said goodbye to Dad yet?’

      ‘Yes, and once we head off he’s going to take the girls down to the park—’

      ‘That’s great…I was beginning to think we needed a tin-opener to prise him out of that bedroom upstairs!’ In spite of her look of relief at the news of that planned outing, Hilary’s light-hearted response wobbled a little. ‘Once Dad starts taking an interest in life again, he’ll be fine. There’s no point looking back to what might have been, is there?’

      ‘No,’ Lily agreed, averting her gaze from the bright shimmer of tears Hilary was attempting to conceal, for she was well aware that her elder sister held herself responsible for their father having been forced out of the house he had lived in all his life and his subsequent depression. ‘Shouldn’t we run through my schedule for Turkey again before I leave? My first priority is to see Rauf about—’

      ‘Are you still worrying about that stupid letter his accountant sent?’ Hilary gave her a reproachful glance. ‘There’s no need. As I told you, I’ve checked the agency books and those payments were made. In fact we’ve kept every part of that agreement and the accounts are in apple-pie order. This business with Rauf Kasabian is a ridiculous storm in a teacup. When he realises that his new accountant has made a gigantic embarrassing mistake, I’m sure he’ll be very apologetic.’

      Lily’s imagination refused to put Rauf in that guise and her thoughts shied away from him again in discomfiture. Hilary always thought the best of people, always assumed that a genuine mistake or simple misunderstanding lay at the foot of problems, she reflected anxiously while her sister poured the tea. Lily, however, was less trusting and more of a worrier. When she had seen that very official letter from Rauf’s high-powered accountant she had been shocked by that blunt demand for the return of Rauf’s investment, not to mention a request for payments that had already been made.

      Indeed, Lily would have been happier if her sister had consulted a solicitor or even another accountant over that demand. However, having seen large sums of money she could ill afford consumed by such professionals during her divorce, Hilary was determined only to request legal or financial advice as an absolute last resort. In addition, Hilary believed that the contract that Rauf Kasabian had signed with their father was watertight. But what if it weren’t? What if there were a loophole and Rauf just wanted his stake back out of what had proved to be a far from profitable enterprise?

      Lily felt very much personally involved. Had she not brought Rauf home to meet her father that investment would never have been made, for at the time Douglas Harris had already dismissed Brett’s suggestion that he should borrow from the bank at high rates of interest. Cautious as he had always been in business matters, her father had, however, been tempted by the offer of financial backing from a silent partner that would spread the risk of the ambitious expansion plans his son-in-law had persuaded him into considering.

      ‘Stop worrying about that silly letter,’ her sister urged, reading Lily’s troubled air with the ease of a woman who had virtually raised her from birth, and then addressing herself to the task of serving out juice and biscuits to her trio of daughters. ‘Getting those two villas Brett had built at Dalyan into the hands of a decent estate agent is more of a priority. Once they’re sold, the cash-flow problems I’m having at Harris Travel will be at an end. Just make sure a reasonable price is set on them. I can’t afford to hang out for the best possible offer.’

      ‘Will do and, if they’re looking a bit shabby after lying empty for so long, I’ll do what I can with them,’ Lily promised, wondering if Hilary was aware that her face still shadowed whenever she mentioned her ex-husband’s name, and then feeling horribly guilty that the divorce had been a secret source of intense relief where she herself was concerned.

      ‘The budget would run to a lick of paint but that’s about all.’ Hilary grimaced, breaking off to settle a sudden squabble between Penny, who was nine, and Gemma, who was eight, both girls carbon copies of their mother with their fine, flyaway brown hair and hazel eyes. ‘Aside of that, concentrate on getting in all the sightseeing trips you can and I’ll use your feedback to work out some all-inclusive tour packages to Turkey for next spring. I’m determined to take the agency back to its roots. We can’t compete with the big travel chains but we can offer a personalised exclusive service to up-market travellers.’

      ‘I’ll sign up for every tour available.’ Lily let her youngest niece Joy climb up onto her knee and hugged her close. She was a little blonde sprite of a child and very slight in build. For endless months she had been weak as a kitten and the sparkling energy that she had regained was a delight to them all.

      Leaving the children in the care of their grandfather, Hilary drove Lily to the airport. ‘I know you don’t want me to say it…but thanks from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done to help out these last few months,’ the older woman said abruptly.

      ‘I’ve done next to nothing and here I am getting a free holiday off you into the bargain!’ Lily teased.

      ‘Solo holidays aren’t exactly fun and I know that you could’ve spent the whole summer in Spain if you hadn’t turned down that invite from your college friend on our behalf—’

      ‘How did you find out about that?’ Lily demanded in surprise.

      ‘Dad heard you on the phone to Maria and, let’s face it, I’m sure you’re in no hurry to meet that rat, Rauf Kasabian, again.’ Hilary sighed with audible regret. ‘But there’s just no way I can leave the kids and Dad and the travel agency right now.’

      Eyes staring dully straight ahead, Lily forced a laugh of disagreement in determined dismissal of her sister’s concern. ‘This long after the event, I’d be a sorry case if I was still that sensitive about Rauf. And don’t call him a rat. I mean…what did he do?’

      ‘He was a gorgeous, arrogant louse and he broke your heart!’ Hilary countered with an unfamiliar harshness that shook Lily. ‘If he wanted female company to wile away his stay in London that summer, he should have picked someone older and wiser. Instead he led you up the garden path and then ditched you without a word of warning.’

      At that angry response, Lily turned startled blue eyes to her sister’s taut profile. ‘I never realised that you felt like that.’

      ‘I hate his guts,’ Hilary confided with a shocking lack of hesitation. ‘More so since I’ve realised the damage he did to your confidence. It’s unnatural for a girl of your age not to date. You’ve always been a little shy and reserved but, after what he did, it was like you locked yourself up tight and threw the key away! I’m sorry…I should mind my own business.’

      ‘No, it’s all right.’ Lily swallowed the aching thickness in her throat, touched