Free The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley Page A

sons.
    As they’d arrived earlier that morning in Alexis’ van, Helena had walked outside to greet them, unable to help noticing how genes made themselves evident in different ways. Both
young men were blessed with dark wavy hair, tawny skin and athletic physiques, but while Dimitrios had Alexis’ kind eyes and gentle manner, Michel, the younger son, reminded her of nothing
less than a Greek god. His looks were subtly amplified to make him even more handsome than his father.
    As the brothers got to work with paintbrushes and rollers, Helena had continued to spread her purchases through the house, blunting the male edges of Pandora with femininity. Immy had helped her
cut flowers and branches of olive from the gardens, and they had improvised by using large stoneware jugs in which to arrange them. The windows in all the rooms had been thrown open and, as the sun
blazed in, the musty smell of emptiness began to burn away into the past. Pandora began to come alive.
    Earlier that morning an arresting, ebony-haired young woman had appeared in the kitchen and Helena had been surprised to discover she was Angelina, Angus’ old housekeeper. Her image of a
dour, Cypriot version of Mrs Danvers proved wide of the mark as Angelina scrubbed floors and hoovered energetically, her dark eyes full of laughter as she bantered playfully in Greek with
Alexis’ sons.
    ‘Mum, the pool will be ready for swimming in about an hour,’ Alex announced as he found Helena in the drawing room, beating the dust out of the cushions of the damask sofas.
‘Georgios is filling it now.’
    ‘Fantastic! We’ll all go for an inaugural swim then.’
    ‘It’ll be very cold, as the sun won’t have had time to warm the water, but I think it’ll be refreshing,’ Alex added hopefully.
    ‘Just what I need to cool down after all this hard work.’
    ‘Yeah, not much of a holiday so far, is it? I feel as though we’ve just moved in somewhere.’
    ‘We have, I suppose,’ agreed Helena. ‘But it’ll be worth it, don’t you think? I so want Dad to like it here.’
    ‘I’m sure he will.’ Alex came towards her and hugged her spontaneously. ‘I’m so excited about the pool.’
    ‘Good,’ said Helena, relieved that Alex’s dark mood of last night had vanished and the sun had come out, lightening up him too.
    ‘I’m going to swim every morning before breakfast and get fit,’ he added. ‘See you later.’
    ‘Okay, darling.’
    ‘Cup of tea, Madame?’ Angelina was carrying a heavy tea tray through the drawing room towards the terrace, with Immy following in her wake like a handmaiden.
    ‘Oh, yes please. And do call me Helena, Angelina.’
    ‘Hokay, Helena, I try,’ she replied in her broken English.
    ‘Mummy, we baked biscuits in the new oven to try it out.’ Immy was clasping a plate carefully in her small hands. ‘Everyone must try one, ’cos they are yummy.’
    ‘I’m sure they are.’ Helena was glad to see Immy had taken to Angelina. With the hordes descending on her in the next few days, she would need all the help she could get. She
followed them onto the terrace and flopped into a chair under the pergola. ‘Thanks, Immy.’ She took a biscuit and bit into it. ‘Mmm, they are very good.’
    ‘Well, Angelina helped me, but I actually made them, didn’t I?’
    ‘You deed, Immy,’ Angelina agreed, as she chucked her cheek affectionately.
    An hour later, they gathered at the pool for an inaugural swim. There was a unified screeching as Helena, Immy and Alex joined hands to jump in.
    Leaving the children to splash around, Helena climbed out ten minutes later and lay on the side of the pool, warming her goosebumps in the late afternoon sun.
    ‘Hello, Helena.’
    She looked up as a shadow crossed her body.
    ‘Hello, Alexis.’
    ‘I see all is well here?’ He squatted down on his haunches next to her and Helena felt suddenly exposed in her skimpy bikini. She sat up and curled her knees to her chest
protectively.
    ‘All