Chapters (23)
- Cover
- One Summer in Santorini
- Dedication
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sandy Barker
- About the Publisher
‘Yes, really. I wanted to be like old-school Michael Jackson – you know, like from ‘Thriller’ days – so my mom put me in dance lessons.’
‘Wow. How old were you?’
‘I guess I was about ten when I started.’
‘Well, that was, like, nearly twenty years ago.’ Now I was sceptical. Was he just taking the piss?
‘Yeah, but I studied for eight years.’ I stopped dancing.
‘You studied dance for eight years?’
He kept dancing. I kept standing. ‘Yep. Contemporary, jazz, hip-hop. Gave it up when I went to college. But, I still like to dance.’ He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me in close. His hips kept moving, and then mine were moving, and we were pretty much dirty dancing in the middle of an empty dance floor in Greece. Somewhere in the background, Marie woo-hooed and I guessed it was meant for us.
Josh was a dancer. Who would have thought?
The vivid memory of the dancing made me smile. ‘I still can’t believe you’re such an amazing dancer.’
He chuckled softly, his chest moving under my cheek. ‘Oh, I’m full of surprises.’
‘I bet.’ Then my thoughts shifted to the others. ‘Saying goodbye was sad.’ I could feel him nodding, but I didn’t trust myself to look at him. Tears prickled my eyes.
Around midnight, I had started to feel fatigue kick in. I walked over to Josh – or more likely, I swayed over to him – and put my arms around his neck. Then like a complete dork I said that Top Gun line about taking me to bed or losing me forever. Thank goodness, he is not so much younger than me that he didn’t get the reference, but still, how cheesy is that? But instead of laughing at me, he kissed me.
Then we said our goodbyes to Gary and Marie.
‘You have to come visit us in Cali,’ said Gary. It was the sort of thing people said when it was likely they’d never see each other again. But I really wanted to see them again, and I hoped it wasn’t an empty invitation.
‘I’d love it,’ Josh and I both said at the same time. We looked at each other and smiled. Then I realised we had both said ‘I’, and not ‘we’.
I stepped in and hugged Marie tightly. ‘Good luck with the adoption,’ I whispered. ‘You absolutely must keep me posted.’
She pulled away and placed her hands on my shoulders. ‘I promise to let you know what happens. And you do the same.’ She inclined her head ever so slightly towards Josh. I nodded and smiled, and we hugged again.
I stood on tippy-toes to hug Gary. ‘You are a prince amongst men,’ I said in his ear.
‘And you are a wonderful woman.’ He couldn’t see me smile at his words. Then his voice got a little quieter. ‘Make sure he treats you well.’ A hard lump of sadness lodged in my throat. When we pulled apart, I forced a smile.