‘I hope not. Luckily, it isn’t far.’

Ten minutes later they turned off the unmade, rocky road on to tarmac which wound between trees; through them Miranda saw white walls from time to time. They must be some of the hotel’s bungalows, she realised, seeing one of them clearly. A girl in a dark blue swimsuit was lying on a lounger under an umbrella on a balcony. She glanced down at them through sunglasses. Her skin was smoothly tanned, her figure slim and healthy.

Turning sharp left they came in sight of what was obviously the hotel, a long, low, one-storey building with a veranda running along in front of it. The driver parked in front of the entrance and Pandora sighed in relief. Charles came round to help her down, his arm around her thickening waist.

‘OK, darling?’

She nodded, leaning on him. ‘But I’d like to go to bed right away. I need to lie down where it doesn’t rock about or bump.’

He smiled. ‘I’ll take you now. Miranda, for tonight you’ll be staying in the hotel, too. Tomorrow we’ll sort out a bungalow for you.’

A man came forward from the reception desk in the lobby, smiling warmly. ‘Miss Pandora – it is good to have you back home with us. How are you?’

Although he asked a question Miranda saw his black eyes quickly, shrewdly, running over Pandora, watched his brows twitch together, his smile first fade, then come back, stronger, yet no longer so genuine. He could see how Pandora was and it made him unhappy.

He put a hand on her shoulder, very lightly, almost a caress, a touch of sympathy.

‘You are home now, we will take care of you.’

‘Hello, Milo.’ She smiled at him with obvious affection. ‘How is everything?’

He raised his thin shoulders in a shrug, lifted a hand and moved it from side to side gracefully in a gesture which was easy to interpret, wordlessly saying that one day everything was up, the next it was down.

Pandora laughed. ‘As normal, then!’

‘The French say: comme d’habitude!’

‘You know my French isn’t good! I am useless at languages.’ She turned to Miranda. ‘This is Milo, who has worked for us for years. He really runs the hotel, hires and fires staff, keeps an eye on things for us, I don’t know what we would do without him.’

He was not very tall, his hair thinning slightly, but very black and shiny. He had olive skin, very weatherbeaten, a big nose, big ears, a face which was not goodlooking, slightly comic, in fact.

How old was he? Fifty? Older? Hard to tell. But he was very likeable.

‘Milo, this is Miranda, who has come to work for us, doing my job.’

He bent his head forward at the neck in a sort of bow. ‘Welcome to Delephores. I hope you will be happy here.’ His English was very good; she was impressed and felt stupid, knowing no Greek.

She shook hands, shy and flushed. ‘Thank you. How do you do? I’m hoping to have some Greek lessons while I’m here – can you recommend anyone?’

‘Me,’ Pandora said, laughing.

Milo gave her a sideways smile, his eyes very warm, then turned towards Charles. ‘Mr Leigh, welcome back. I hope you are well.’ The formal note told her that he did not know Charles very well, and was keeping him at a distance although there was no hostility in face or voice. Simply a coolness, a wariness – didn’t he trust Charles? Or was he jealous of him? Clearly Milo was deeply attached to Pandora – he may well have resented her marriage to an Englishman.

Charles was polite, too, but brisk. ‘I’m fine, but I want to get my wife into bed immediately. Could you deal with the luggage, Milo, while I take her to the room?’

‘Of course.’

Remembering Miranda, Charles added, ‘Will you show Miranda to one of the rooms? She is going to translate for us, and work in the office. Tonight, she can stay here, then she is to move into a bungalow, tomorrow.’

Milo gave her a brief, measuring glance, half-smiling politely, nodded.

‘I will take care of her.’

He watched Charles steer Pandora towards a door behind the reception desk, then turned to a young man waiting for orders, spoke in Greek to him. The younger man nodded. He brought forward a luggage trolley on to which he piled the various cases which had been brought in from the car.

‘Which is your luggage, miss?’ asked Milo and Miranda pointed. Milo picked up her case.

‘This way, miss.’

Tags: Charlotte Lamb Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net