For her part, she couldn’t wait to hit the beach and then visit some of the local watering holes—though from her vantage point, as she stood beneath the shade of a lemon tree and stared down at the water below, it was going to be one hell of a climb down to get there.

When she went into the house, dragging her suitcase behind her, a smiling woman introduced herself as Valentina. Annie immediately wondered if this was the good friend and villa owner Felicity had mentioned, but in broken English the woman told her that no, she was just there to do some cleaning and the occasional meet and greet.

While outside looked gorgeous with all the flowers and the trees and the amazing view, inside the place was a bit of a dive, to be honest—very old, though in fairness spotlessly clean, thanks to Valentina, Annie guessed.

And when the Italian woman led her to a dark, poky bedroom upstairs that was about a quarter of the size of her flat back home, she was a bit disappointed.

She’d had visions of cocktails out on the balcony over that lovely sea view, but at least it was nice and cool in there, and so small she knew she wouldn’t have to share her room with anyone, which was a major plus.

There were a few other people already staying there; a German couple on their way out had greeted her politely on arrival, and Valentina introduced her to a small group of French backpackers eating lunch in the kitchen area, where there were so many mismatched tiles and creaky-looking pieces of furniture that Annie had to laugh.

Again, the language barrier was a slight problem but she got the sense that everyone pretty much did their own thing in places like this. The students did give her a helpful heads-up on a couple of hotspots in the town, though, which she planned on checking out later.

She wasn’t going to waste too much time on pleasantries or making friends. Not when the sun was still high in the sky and the little pool outside looked so inviting.

Thanking Valentina for her impromptu tour, she trudged her suitcase up an ancient wooden staircase to the room.

Unpacking wouldn’t take long; the only thing she needed just now was her swimsuit and she’d put that in her carry-on luggage, just in case. She’d heard enough stories about lost luggage and she wasn’t about to find herself in a foreign country with nothing.

The water in the pool was cool but a welcome relief from the afternoon heat, as she dived straight in and swam from one end to the other. It wasn’t much of a length, just a small rectangle on the edge of the terrace overlooking the bay, but boy was it bliss.