'Absolutely I do, but Henrik and Stavros... I was put in a difficult position.'

Henrik laughed again and leant on a stranger's shoulder. Wow. I'd only ever seen him this out of control once before when his Dad didn't bother turning up for his twenty-fifth birthday. He drank a whole bottle of champagne, and several gins, all by himself. Fitting, isn't it, that Dutchmen are supposedly tight-fisted, but are so tall they have to spend loads on alcohol if they want to get drunk?

'But do you have honest doubts?' said Demetrios and loosened his mustard cravat. 'I mean... lovely Pippa you would tell us is this help all partly for show? Is your heart with ThinkBig?'

'No! Don't even consider, for one second, that my heart is anywhere but with this village.' My chest tightened at the sight of the doubting faces.

'The truth is, Henrik and Kos Town mayor, Stavros, bribed me into an agreement.'

I looked down at a movement by my side Niko's fists had curled into b.a.l.l.s. I swallowed. Even he didn't believe me.

'Bribe that a rather strong word, be careful what you say,' said a smarmy voice and out of the crowd appeared Stavros. 'Henrik and I heard about this meeting in fact whispers have wafted our way all week about the success of your plans here in Taxos. And look at Miss Pattinson, fooling you all into thinking you stood a chance, when she knows as much as anyone that you fight a losing battle.'

'What is he talking about, Pippa?' said Georgios.

'Nothing he's just trying to scare you,' I mumbled back.

'So it's not true that, ultimately, you will stand by ThinkBig?' he asked and ran a hand over his bald head.

I surveyed the beach and nothing moved apart from a few gulls gratefully pecking up crumbs. My throat ached. 'I had no choice unless I agreed to stand by them if our plan fails...'

Stavros snorted. 'You mean when!'

'If,' I repeated in a firm voice and gazed around the crowd. 'They were going to make it impossible for you to even try to save the village from the developers, unless I said I would be on their side, in the end.'

'What you mean?' said Mr Dellis, youngest son asleep in his arms.

'Stavros threatened to delay approval of the paperwork for all the extra permissions and licences we needed.'

Niko turned to face me. 'Do you really believe our appeal can win?'

'I... To be honest, I didn't know at the time. But I reckoned you'd all feel better about your village's future if you knew you'd put up a fight, and that was enough for me to give it a go.' I shrugged. 'And if we do fail, then I will have no choice but to stand by ThinkBig in any case because, as we've all agreed, Taxos can't continue as it is. So I didn't feel agreeing this with them betrayed the village in any way. Believe me, I detest the idea of quad bikes and nightclubs, and will do everything I can do in the time I have left here, to push our case forwards. But I see ThinkBig's development as a very last but necessary resort. Otherwise people will have to leave the village to earn a living. Taxos will, indeed, become a ghost town.' I straightened up. 'We can still win this. I feel much more positive, now we've started to instigate our various ideas.'

'Yes, carry on this little game, if you wish,' said Stavros to the crowd. 'I'm impressed. Honestly. So much so, I'm staying here in the Vesteros' hotel to keep an eye on things. However, you are only putting off the inevitable and by then I might have sold some of the franchises to outsiders.'

He disappeared into the back of the crowd. Minutes later, I spotted him on a sand dune talking to a very thin man, who, from his outline, I could tell he had a ponytail and the collar of his shirt upturned. I'd seen him before at one of the meetings perhaps he'd been a spy.

'Why would the Vesteros family let him stay?' muttered Sophia.

'They live on the outskirts near the proposed quad bike track, don't they, and were one of the first to be interested in ThinkBig's offer. We can't really blame them.'

'So what next?' called out Pandora.

'Think sensibly and think big,' said Henrik and sn.i.g.g.e.red. He staggered over to me and I looked up, wrinkling my nose at the stench of ouzo. 'Almost lost your fan club then, didn't you, little Miss Protector?'

Niko's fists curled tighter and I realised that drunk Henrik was the cause.

'Be quiet!' said a female voice. The crowd hardly seemed to hear. 'Quiet!' she repeated in a harsher tone and people hushed as Grandma got up from her deckchair and came over to me. Under any other circ.u.mstances it would have been humorous to see her standing next to my giant boyf... ex-boyfriend. Grandma had never been blessed with height and had shrunk a centimetre or two since my last holiday here.

'We are not afraid of you, big man,' she said and folded her arms. 'You turn up here, falling sideways like an inexperienced eighteen year old tourist. You show no respect. You laugh at our tradition.'

'Now wait a minute...' he slurred.

'Shut up, you overgrown beanstalk!' hissed Niko, eyes on fire.

Henrik sn.i.g.g.e.red again. Grandma turned to the villagers.

'Of course we won't give up. Yes, we face obstacles...' She said something probably a translation of this in Greek. Then it was back to English. 'Honourable Pippa is right without putting up a fight we would feel twice as bad. One step at a time we do this. That's how we've survived the last few years.'

Georgios translated this time.

'By paying one bill at a time... providing one meal... buying one pair of shoes we take it day by day,' she continued and shook a finger. 'And you know what? I think Stavros is here because he's really worried. Word must have spread that Taxos is offering good tourist services. He wouldn't bother coming to this meeting if we were no threat.'

Georgios translated again.

'Taxos people are strong,' she said and shook her small fist. 'The developers are weak they rely on their money, whereas we count on loyalty, friendship and community spirit.'

Top lip curled, Henrik shook his head. Oh b.u.g.g.e.r. Under his breath he muttered "Honourable?" and "Loyal?" Then he glared at me.

'Henrik,' I whispered. 'Please... if I ever meant anything to you, don't mention how I felt how I thought I felt about Niko. Leila doesn't deserve it and Grandma... any negative fall-out from that could kill her.'

'She looks pretty feisty to me,' he whispered back. 'Bet she was a right goer in her youth.'

I stood back and wrinkled my nose in disgust. Henrik's cheeks flushed and a sheepish look crossed his face which meant he was just on the verge of apologising. However...

'I heard that!' snarled Niko and lunged forwards. Within seconds, both were writhing on the sand.

'Stop this!' I tried to pull them apart, but arms and legs flailed in all directions and before I knew it someone's limb had hit me full-force in the chest.

I flew back several feet and landed in the sand, gasping for breath, afraid I might never take another.

'Pippa!' shouted Henrik and Niko together. Fight forgotten, they ran over. Leila bent down and calmly counted to ten, trying to get my chest to match the rhythm of her words.

'Help,' I said in a strangulated voice, tears running down my face. I held a hand to my chest. 'Can't breathe...' Terrified, I looked up as villagers crowded around.

Henrik stood up. 'Doctor!' he shouted, in a panicked voice that suddenly sounded sober.

Niko took my hand and stared straight into my eyes. His chin trembled as he brushed hair out of my face. During the fall, my ponytail must have come undone. 'You'll be okay, Pippa,' he said, a break in his voice. 'The air just knocked out of your lungs. Like a returning tide, it will come back. Don't be afraid. Just focus on me. In and out... in and out... Getting better?'

'Ow... it hurts...' Heaving, I gratefully refilled with air.

'Take your time,' he said and held both my hands tight.

I stared into his face, at that moment not wanting to be with anyone else in the world. And eventually, my breathing regained its normal pace, and somehow I stood up. 'Just go, Henrik.'

'Yes, this is your fault,' spat Niko.

'We'll fight harder than ever against ThinkBig now,' muttered someone from the crowd.

'No one wants some long-legged drunken hooligan to decide our village's future!' shouted someone else.

Henrik looked at me, but I turned away, and bent over slowly, hoping my chest would ache less.

When I eventually stretched up again, Henrik had disappeared and several villagers came over to give me a hug.

'We believe you on our side, Pippa we no give up our fight,' said little Theo Dellis.

I smiled down. 'Thank you, sweetheart that means a lot.'

'Let's meet tomorrow morning at Taxos Taverna, to take stock,' shouted out Niko.

Little Theo said something to his dad in Greek.

Mr Dellis smiled. 'Will there be scones?'

'Yes,' I managed a laugh. 'How about chocolate wholemeal ones with... I know, orange-flavoured yogurt filling? Fighters need wholesome food to keep up their strength.'

Theo seemed to understand the word "chocolate" and gave a toothy grin.

'And you need a good night's sleep, Pippitsa,' said Sophia as the crowd dispersed. 'Tonight you no go home to the villa. Henrik he's in a volatile mood.'

'My, um, boyfriend,' I said, noticing Niko nearby, 'would never hurt me he doesn't even like to kill spiders.'

'Still... you need good food and rest after that accident and it will be easier to bake scones if you wake up at the taverna. I'm sure Leila could fetch some clothes from her house for you to borrow...' She smiled. 'Except for her trousers. They would be far too short.'

I nodded and winced as I bent over to pick up my rucksack. Georgios and Sophia folded the rug. Leila hugged me and headed home with her parents, to collect some outfits. I walked towards the sea, slipped off my pumps and paddled in the water. I couldn't believe Henrik's behaviour and as for that slimy slug, Stavros...

My eyes tingled, though, as only one (admittedly over-dramatic) thought had occupied my head since flying through the air, backwards. What if I died and had never told Niko how I really felt? Oh the irony, because now that I had survived and had all the time in the world, declaring my pa.s.sion for him was the last thing I could do.

Someone appeared at my side and I glanced across at the caramel skin and mocha eyes the st.u.r.dy frame and caress-able shoulders. We stared out to sea and all the drama must have caused a tear to slide down my cheek. It was nothing to do with the fact that, for a few precious moments, Niko seemed to have lost his hostility towards me.

'I do love Taxos, Niko, believe me,' I said.

'I know,' he said. Ooh. This was good. He'd stopped using grunts with me, instead of words. For a while we sat staring at the sea. It was as if time had turned back and we were kids, waiting for something magical to happen, like a Pegasus flying over the waves. Yet as adults, I had only one magical wish for us to slide our arms around each other and kiss for eternity.

'How is your chest now,' he said, eventually.

'Okay, thanks.' For a nanosecond, I tingled from head to toe as I imagined him kissing it better.

'Good. We don't need another person ill in the taverna,' he said, gruffly.

'How did Grandma's final tests go yesterday?'

A big smile spread across his face and his shoulders relaxed. 'We only just found out the hospital rang a couple of hours ago. It is better than we could have ever hoped. She is still clear and must only go back every six months. Apparently the doctors are thrilled with her progress.'

'Wow...' My eyes tingled. 'That's great news. She kept that quiet.'

'You know Grandma she doesn't like a fuss.'

He took my hand and all of a sudden my world lit up. 'Pippa... did you mean it? About me being stupid? Because if not.... You and Henrik... Me and Leila, we were thinking...'

Wow. It was as if Grandma's good prognosis had made him prepared to forgive my horrible comments. 'If anything happened to you, Pippa...'

'I know. Me too.'

He looked at me and I could tell that even though that sentence didn't make sense, somehow it did.

'As I was saying, now that Grandma's better, me and Leila... I'd like to ask you...' He faltered and stopped for a second. For the first time, since I'd arrived in Taxos, his face looked like a young boy's, all the worries of Greek and family life erased. For one moment he looked about to raise my fingers to his lips. What on earth was he going to ask? Did he want us to be witnesses at his wedding? Surely not? He opened his mouth to continue, but instead a different voice shouting his name filled the silence. Cue frantic footsteps on the sand. Cousin Stefan appeared, out of breath.

'Come quickly,' he gasped and held Niko's arm. 'It's Grandma... she's collapsed!'

Chapter Eighteen.

'Drink this tea and eat this scone immediately,' I said to Grandma in a mock stern voice.

She looked sheepish, out on the patio of the taverna, her cheeks full of colour after a good night's sleep.

'Little peach, I only fainted. Dehydration. Silly of me after weeks in bed I should have known to drink more. And yesterday evening was so humid.'

'Plus I saw you enjoy a crafty retsina,' I said and raised one eyebrow. 'Don't get carried away, just because the doctors say you're in great health.'

We looked at each other and laughed as the wind got up. It was the perfect day to get an island tan unless, like me, gales made you burn even more.

'Seriously, though, you had us all worried last night...' my voice broke. 'Niko and Leila were in bits. It was such a shock, because everyone says you've really picked up over the last few weeks. And after the doctors gave you the all-clear...'

'I still feel better than I have for over a year but, ach, I've always had low blood pressure and even as a girl, people always said I never drank enough.' Grandma bit into the chocolate orange scone, from the batch I'd made for Theo Dellis. The villagers had just started to arrive for the meeting, some nursing headaches after the action-packed barbecue last night.

'Mmm. Mmmmmm,' she said.

I grinned. Nothing on this earth felt better than people enjoying your cooking, (er, okay, perhaps I can think of just one other thing, but scone appreciation came a definite second). 'Do you like the filling yogurt infused with fresh orange juice?'

'Don't make me talk,' she said, 'because that means I have to stop eating.'

I grinned again and went back into the taverna. Demetrios greeted me and avoiding her plate, I gave Pandora a hug.

'Love those shoes,' I said, staring at her gold-studded sandals.

'Love your scones,' she said, a moustache of orange yogurt above her top lip. She looked me up and down. 'Those not Leila's clothes, after all?'

I chuckled. 'I know too conservative, aren't they? Hers are more exotic in colour and cut. I did borrow a lovely skirt and blouse this morning, whilst baking but then I hurried back to the villa to shower and change.'

I headed back into the kitchen to pile more scones onto plates. Instead of seeing Henrik at the villa, I'd found half of his clothes missing and a hastily scrawled note.