Among the Olive Groves Read online

  As Kate vomited, Jase caught sight of her and he stopped dead, frozen like a deer caught in headlights. Untangling himself from Chelsea mid-act, he jumped to his feet and ran over, trying his best to pull on his shorts.

  “Oh shit. Oh god Kate. I didn’t mean...”

  Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Kate glared at him. “So what exactly did you mean?”

  “I...”

  “I thought you liked me, Jase. I thought you were the one who was desperate for a relationship!”

  “I was. I am! But you didn’t want one!”

  “Not back then, but things change. I’ve changed. I was going to tell you!”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  Kate sighed again. This was not her fault. None of it was her fault. She could not have this conversation while he stood there sweaty and filthy from cheating on her with someone else. And she certainly could not stand there pretending everything was okay while Chelsea sat naked on the sand, twirling her hair and enjoying the show.

  “I’m sorry, Jase. I’m going,” she cried and turned to leave.

  “Kate, please,” he begged, running after her.

  Kate rounded on him, fury spilling out of her.

  “Who the hell is she anyway?”

  “My ex-girlfriend. I didn’t know she was in town.”

  Kate gave a hollow laugh. “So I was just another in a long line of friends with benefits. It’s nice to have known you, Jase.”

  She stormed back towards her car and climbed in. Through falling tears and with shaking hands, she drove, and carried on driving for hours, all of the pent up emotion eventually leaving her body. She was so furious with herself, for allowing herself to trust him only for him to throw it all back in her face. She had lost Fletch, and now realised she had tried to replace him with a mirror image, but it had turned out to be a poor reflection. Jase would never come close to Fletch, so why did she ever think he would?

  She wondered where Fletch was right now. If she wished hard enough, would he hear her desperate pleas and come running? Now she had lost Jase, all her old fears and inadequacies came flooding back in an instant, crashing over her like a torrent, drowning her in the detritus she had picked up along the way.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Zakynthos, Greece, 1940

  Angelos’s prediction of the war ending quickly did not come to pass. German armies were still advancing across many countries, threatening to overwhelm them, and the world was in a state of fear and uncertainty. But none of it mattered to Angelos. He had Elena and, in his eyes, she was even more beautiful than ever. He was desperate to marry her, but knew it was impossible. His father would never allow such a union. Elena told him she wanted to enjoy life first before she settled down. She loved him very much, but needed time, and did not want to rush their relationship, so he took things slowly.

  The pair continued to sneak about the island. They climbed in the mountains, walked through pine-scented woods and ran among the olive groves. Sometimes Angelos would stand before her, gazing at her beauty, and he would fall in love with her all over again. They kissed often and spent as many nights together as they could, but in winter it became more difficult. It was colder and they could not lie on the blankets under trees. They had to sneak into outbuildings and hope that they were not caught. Neither of their parents would have been happy if they had known what they were doing. It was against tradition, it was immoral, but they took their chances anyway. Young love wrapped them around its little finger and the grip was tight.

  Elena was still obsessed by the growing war, even though some people called it the phony war. With every news bulletin she became more anxious and needy, asking Angelos so many questions that, in the end, he had to stop her, his head spinning in confusion.

  “Do you think anyone will ever kill Hitler?” she asked one bright February day. They were sitting on the harbour wall in Zakynthos Town. She had wanted to see the boats, and so Angelos relented and had ridden there with her. He worried about being seen with her in Zakynthos Town. In the hills and around the beaches it was easy to hide, but in the town, the risk of being caught greatly increased, and many of his father’s business acquaintances lived and worked there.

  “Angelos! Did you hear me?!”

  “I heard you,” he sighed, taking her small delicate hand in his, rubbing his thumb across the back of it. “I really do not know Elena, but you must stop worrying about these things.”

  “How can you say that?! The whole world is tearing itself apart. People are dying!”

  “I know, my love. But we are still safe, there are no Germans here. We are alive and well, we are free people and you have to stop worrying.”

  “I cannot help it. I do not want to bring a child into a world of hatred and suffering.” She began to cry, and Angelos placed his arms around her, holding her tightly.

  “Oh Elena, by the time you marry and have children, the war will be a distant memory.”

  Elena sobbed in his arms, great heaving sobs and he had no idea why she was so upset. Suddenly without warning, she shrugged him away and stood. “You do not understand!” she yelled as she walked away.

  Angelos went after her, eventually catching up. He took hold of her arm and spun her around, then held her close again before wiping the tears from her face. He tried to read her, but she was a closed book.

  “What is wrong, Elena? Whatever it is, you can tell me. You can trust me.”

  “I cannot,” she wailed.

  “You cannot trust me? After everything we have been through?”

  “I cannot tell you. You are a man. Worse, you are a Greek man!” She slumped onto the wall, staring out across the beautiful blue waters of the harbour. “You will hate me and leave me. I do not want to lose you! I love you too much!”

  Angelos laughed, and Elena shot him an icy glare. “My beautiful Elena. I love you, too. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I may be a man, but I still have a heart. I told you, whatever happens I am always here for you.” He sat next to her, and took her hands in his, forcing her to look at him.

  “I am...oh god.” She started crying again. “I am having a baby, Angelos,” she wailed.

  “You are?” He was so happy to hear the news. He was going to be a father! He lifted her to her feet and swung her round, planting a kiss on her lips.

  “You are not angry?” She was shocked. She knew it changed everything. Their lives would no longer be the same and the baby would either bring them together once and for all or force them apart forever.

  “Why would I be angry?”

  “We are so young, Angelos. We are unmarried. You have your whole life ahead of you. I will be called names…well, more names than I am now. Your father will be furious. Our parents will try to stop us from seeing each other and then there is the war.” She sobbed again. “Our child will grow up in a world of hate and suffering and I do not want that!”

  “I do not want that either. But we love each other, and as long as we do, then our child will have everything it needs.”

  “But our parents...”

  “We will just have to try and talk to them, make them see how much we love each other and that we are meant to be together. It will be okay. I love you and I will never, ever leave you.”

  “You promise, Angelos?”

  “I promise, Elena.”

  Little did Angelos know that it was a promise he would never be able to keep.

  ~

  Winter slowly turned to spring and the world was still at war. Much of Europe continued to call it a phony war, as little had happened over the winter, but just as everyone began to relax with hopes of a quick solution, Germany invaded Norway and Denmark. It did not stop there. German troops advanced toward France at a frightening pace. Daily news bulletins were filled with the horrors of war, and the suffering of countries that had already fallen to the might of the Germans. Zakynthians began to worry about their future.

  It was a warm day. Elena and Angelos sat on their favourite
beach, watching gentle waves wash back and forth. She was blossoming and trying her hardest to hide it, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Neither had found the courage to tell their parents about the baby, and they were running out of time. They needed to do it soon, or someone would guess. Elena stared out to sea lost in her own thoughts. Angelos loved watching her when she was like this; she was so beautiful and it brought joy to his heart. But today was not a happy day, terrible news had broken on the airwaves the day before. Germany had attacked the Netherlands and Belgium, bringing them into the grip of the world’s fast growing enemy. The rest of Europe was now even more at risk of falling into Germany’s clutches and seemed incapable of stopping them. Angelos realised it was now or never.

  “We must tell our parents, Elena. I want to marry you, I want to be a good father to our baby, and for us to be a family, but we have to be honest with our own families. We are running out of time.”

  She looked up at him with beautiful eyes that sparkled like emeralds and nodded. Both were dreading it, but they had to do it. There was no other option. They agreed that Angelos would tell his parents that night, and then they would sit down together and tell Elena’s the following day. As they lay back on the sand, they held each other tightly, forgetting about the war and all it threatened to bring with it. Safe in each other’s arms, they relaxed as they listened to the waves swelling in and out, enjoying the glow of the sun as it slowly sank for another day.

  ~

  That night, Angelos returned home filled with anxiety. He knew exactly what he had to do but felt nervous and sick. It was more than anxiety. He was fearful of his father’s reaction. The Sarkis family had just finished eating, when Angelos sat before his parents and explained everything: his feelings for Elena, the baby they were due to have, and how he wanted to marry her. His mother quietly wrung her hands and glanced nervously at her husband. Loukas was silent and still, fury personified.

  “This girl is a whore and a peasant! What were you thinking, Angelos? Have you not shamed us enough already, running about the island with her?!”

  Angelos had no answer. He knew Elena’s family was poor but they were like so many of the other islanders. They struggled to make ends meet, and did what they could to survive, and that was all. Angelos saw no shame in that. As for Elena, she definitely was not what his father said and he hated hearing him talk about the woman he loved like that.

  “I love her, father. She is the woman I want to be with.”

  “Pah! Love! What is love? You do not marry for love. You marry for money, title or breeding, but love? There is no such thing as love, you stupid, idiotic boy.”

  For the first time in his life, Angelos stood up to Loukas. He knew he was taking a big risk, but he was a man now, and Elena and his unborn child meant so much more to him than anything his father could ever say or do.

  “There is such a thing as love! I see it every day, father. Everywhere you look on this island there is love. I love her, father, and nothing you can do or say will change the way I feel.”

  The anger rose in Loukas. How dare his son talk to him that way! He was a useless, pathetic idiot who deserved to be thrown from the house with nothing more than the shirt on his back. His mother had spoiled him too much when he was a child. When she was supposed to be looking after the boy, she had allowed him to go running all over the island fraternising with the lowest of the low. It was time for a change. Loukas would take the boy in hand, and make him realise that he was a Sarkis. He would work hard from now on, find a suitable girl to marry so that he would become the man Loukas wanted him to be, the man that would continue the Sarkis line and take over the family business when Loukas was no longer able.

  He thought again about what Stelios had said. Maria Makris. She was the answer to all his prayers. It was time to think about setting that up.

  “You will never see Elena Petrakis again. Is that clear, Angelos?”

  Angelos was scared. He may be a grown man, but Loukas was his father and he still lived under his roof, and while he did so, he needed to live by his rules. Angelos could never afford to move out, and there was nowhere to go even if he did. He knew he had betrayed Loukas and his Greek honour. He knew Loukas was furious and would do all he could to stop him from seeing Elena, but he loved her. She was the love of his life. He did not want to live without her. Angelos sat with his head in his hands, his life in free-fall, spinning out of control and he had no idea how to stop it.

  He looked up at his father, daring to speak. “She means too much to me, father.”

  Fast and cat-like, Loukas struck Angelos full blow across the face before gripping him about the throat. Angelos tasted blood, and watched as Pigi shrank back, whimpering, not daring to intervene. She feared for her son, but she feared Loukas more.

  Loukas’s eyes bored into his son’s. “You will never see that whore again. If she wants to keep the bastard, let her, but you will have no part of it. This family will have no part of it! Do you understand me, Angelos?”

  Shaking from fear and gasping for breath, Angelos could only agree.

  “Yes, father.”

  Loukas threw his son to the floor and stormed from the room, a fog of anger swirling around him. Angelos remained where he was. He knew his father’s word was law. He may be twenty-two years old but, until he left the home, his father ruled his life. He had no choice but to agree.

  His beautiful Elena.

  She was now lost to him and she did not even know it yet.

  ~

  Loukas ensured that Angelos never strayed far from his sight. He was proud of his business and all he had achieved in life and expected his son to follow in his footsteps. Angelos was forced to work every single day, leaving him no time to get away and see Elena or his other friends. Working in the groves was backbreaking and Angelos hated it. He started early, finished late and came home filthy. Just when he thought he would get a chance to sit and relax, his father had him doing odd jobs around the house, or learning how to look after the books, order stock and administer payment to the farm labourers. Angelos was exhausted and he cried himself to sleep at night, dreaming of the woman he had loved and lost, and the child he would never know.

  A few weeks later, Loukas went to Zakynthos Town on business, leaving Angelos in his mother’s care. Free of his father for a few hours, Angelos wandered down to the beach. Pigi had pleaded with him not to disobey his father’s orders, but Angelos no longer cared. He was desperate to see Elena. At the very least, he needed to see her one last time to explain. He owed her that much. He knew leaving the house was wrong and, if Loukas found out, he would more than likely be thrashed to within an inch of his life. But he only thought of Elena.

  As Angelos walked along the sand, watching the water roll back and forth, he finally saw her, hunched near the water’s edge, throwing pebbles into the blue waters. She looked so unhappy. More than that, she looked tired, lost and so very alone.

  Continuing his betrayal against his father, Angelos hunkered down next to her. He knew he had hurt her deeply. She had lost her sparkle and there were dark circles beneath her eyes.

  “You never came. Where were you?” she whispered as tears fell from her eyes, landing in small splashes upon her arms.

  Angelos felt awful. He did not know what to do or say to make it right. He did not know how to justify himself. How did he explain that his father hated her and forbade him to ever see her again? He was taking a risk at that very moment, but he could not leave now. He had to try and explain, even if his words hurt her.

  “My family, they are proud people, Elena,” Angelos began, gently taking hold of her hand, finally sitting on the sand. “They have lived on this island for generations. They own land and money, one of the few families who do. My father...” The words caught in his throat and he found it hard to continue. He stared out at the waves seeking a solution, but none came. Sighing, he dug deeply, searching for the right thing to say. “My father expects certain things from his son, El
ena. He expects him to live right. He expects him to carry on family tradition and he expects him to marry the right person.”

  She looked up at him, her normally bright green eyes dull and lifeless. “He does not think I am good enough for you.”

  All Angelos could do was shake his head. He felt ashamed. He loved her more than life itself, and yet here he was tearing her to pieces.

  “Angelos. Look at me. What did he say?”

  He looked up at her, and knew he had to be honest, however much it hurt. So he told her everything.

  “He thinks I am a whore and a peasant? Well it makes a change from gypsy, I guess.” She laughed loudly, her eyes momentarily sparkling, as her old fire and determination stirred. “Well if it is a peasant he wants, a peasant he will get!” She rose to her feet. “Come on.”

  Angelos jumped to his feet, his heart in his mouth. He took hold of her arm, in an attempt to stop her. The last thing he wanted was another confrontation with his father.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see your father, of course.” She shook him free and marched off along the beach, as fast as her pregnant body would allow. Resigned, Angelos followed.

  Loukas appeared at the door before Angelos even got close to the house. He had returned early to find his son gone and his wife whimpering in the corner, not knowing where Angelos was. Anger swirled about him like early morning mist snaking around trees. He strode forcefully towards them with a face like thunder.

  “You. IN!” Loukas spat at his son. Angelos was reluctant, he did not want to leave his father alone with Elena. There was no telling what the man would do.

  “I said get in the house!” Loukas bellowed, grabbing his son’s arm, and pushing him roughly towards the door. Fury flashed in his father’s eyes, and Angelos realised he had never seen him this angry before. It petrified him.