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“No.” Stavros said. “They were built close to the water so that when shipments of grain came in from the boats, the people didn’t have to haul the grain very far for grinding.”
“Smart,” Rose said. “The spines of the windmills are so spindly, they don’t look as if they’d be powerful enough to grind anything.”
“True. But they worked.”
The plane touched down moments later. Then they made a quick trip over the tarmac to their waiting car.
“Where are we headed?” Nefeli asked.
“A boat ride.” Stavros’s eyes twinkled at the girl.
“Hooray!” Adonis cheered. “Do we get to help you sail?”
“Not today. We’ll have to wait until we get home for sailing. This will be a bigger boat we share with other tourists.”
Rose raised an eyebrow. “No private boat? Isn’t that one of the perks of being a billionaire?”
“Mr. P thought you might appreciate him not flaunting his wealth all the time. After all, we took a private plane.”
Rose nodded and decided to keep quiet. She’d been on edge the past day or two and couldn’t put her finger on why. Words kept spilling out of her that would be best left unsaid and didn’t necessarily represent her thoughts. She wondered if she was subconsciously trying to pick a fight. Her time was drawing to a close with the Papadakis family. Mykonos was the last stop on the summer tour itinerary before returning to the Papadakis estate. She and Stavros seemed to keep putting off having a frank discussion about their future. Was she trying to split them up in case he didn’t want to pursue a future? She folded her arms over her chest and stared out the tinted window as the white buildings with blue doors and windows went by.
They arrived at the docks and exited the car.
Stavros leaned in close. “Did you take your medicine?”
She nodded. “The itinerary gave me the heads up.” At first Rose had been annoyed by the daily itineraries dictating her days with the children, but over the weeks, she’d grown to appreciate knowing what was going on and who would be where and when. She had fewer decisions to make about how to entertain the children. Mr. P gave them a nice balance of history, sightseeing, and free time. In the case of today, she’d known to take her sea-sickness medication ahead of time.
Rose was grateful the boat trip was a mere thirty minutes. She used the time to slather sunscreen on herself and the children. The sea breeze and sight of the horizon, combined with the motion-sickness medicine, made the trip fairly enjoyable.
There was a queue for tickets, but Stavros had purchased theirs ahead of time.
Rose eyed the queue for tours. “Are we going on a tour?” Rose asked the men.
Mr. P shook his head. “The guided tours are four hours. I thought that might be a little too long for the children.”
“I agree.” Rose’s shoulders released with relief. She didn’t relish the idea of keeping Adonis in line for four hours.
“We’ll simply do the best we can,” Mr. P said.
“It’s a shame we didn’t bring Kyrene to give us the history,” Rose said in low tones to Stavros.
“Another time,” Stavros said. “I think the kids might appreciate the in-depth tour when they’re a little older.”
“Yes.”
“Shall we?” Mr. P asked, with a child in each hand.
“Lead the way,” Stavros said.
They followed the trails through the stony brush and wildflowers. The sun beat down on them.
“I guess they don’t use the ticket sales for the upkeep.” Rose swatted at a bug.
“I think they use it to fund the archaeologists’ exploration,” Stavros said.
“That’s probably a better use of the money.”
They arrived at the Temple of Isis. They wandered through the understructure of stone and columns before ascending the stairs.