Page 63 of The Silent Sister

‘This is the last one to hang. How about here?’

Simos stretched on the stepladder to show where he thought the ink drawing could go. It was the largest and most colourful of Eléni’s pictures.

‘Just a tad to the right.’ She watched him adjust the position. ‘Perfect.’

‘That’s it! Ready for tomorrow morning. May the first. The opening of the summer season in Argostoli and the opening of the Eléni Mouzakis Gallery. How does it feel? Your very own gallery and studio with your name over the door.’

Her face shone with excitement. ‘Fantastic! I couldn’t have done it without you. Come here.’ She pulled Simos into a tight hug and kissed him.

‘You’ve done all the hard work. Look at all these paintings and drawings. The tourists are going to love them.’

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. There was no guarantee her work would sell, but hadn’t this always been her dream?

She remembered her and Simos’s tearful goodbye at Argostoli Airport eight months ago.

He’d insisted on taking her there, even though it would have been easier for everyone if her father had picked her up from the lodging house.

She’d kept her promise of returning home, but she hadn’t told her parents what she and Simos had planned.

It was for the best, she’d told herself.

Rather than spring it on her parents while they’d been in Kefalonia, she’d waited until she’d been back home working and saving, before telling them of her dream to own a gallery.

Over the winter months, Eléni and Simos had proved their commitment to one another through several visits to Kefalonia and Wales, almost daily phone calls and many, many letters.

In the end, it was her cousin, Theo, who’d made her dream a reality. During one visit to her uncle, Theo had been there. He’d asked her about her idea of opening a gallery.

‘I’ve spotted a vacant premises in Elpizō Street that may be suitable. It has a small flat above it that’s included in the rental.’

Goosebumps formed on her arms.

‘It’s an omen, agápi mou .’ Theíos Kostas smiled at her.

‘But I can’t afford anything in Argostoli. I thought of something small in a village.’

‘You’ve made my father a very happy man by finding him, hasn’t she, Baba? So how about I invest in your business until you start making a profit?’

Eléni gasped and hugged them both.

As she looked up at the picture, Eléni then thought back to the moment she’d broken the news to her family about her plans to settle in Kefalonia. Remembering how quiet her mother had been to start with, it had been down to her father and sister that she had come round.

‘Just think, cariad . We’ll have no ties once Bron goes off to uni. We can go to visit as often as we like.’ Her father was always the diplomat, not mentioning that her mother now had a job.

‘And I can spend every holiday out there trying to add some colour to my pasty skin. I may even find the love of my life out there like Eléni.’ Bronwen laughed.

Perhaps not the best thing to say when trying to persuade our mother, sister dear.

To everyone’s surprise, it didn’t take long for Cassia to accept Eléni was leaving. Her mother’s words meant so much to her.

‘Follow your heart, Elenáki mou. I did when I came to Wales. You and Simos make the perfect couple.’

Her mother also handed over the savings from Eléni’s rent money.

It was now for a gallery a bit further from home than expected, but the money was given willingly.

Her mamá accompanied her father to come and decorate the gallery in preparation for fitting it out and hanging all the pictures.

And now they were both arriving in time for the opening the next day.

Simos opened the bottle of Robola chilling in the ice bucket on the reception desk and poured two glasses.

‘ Yamas! To my beautiful and talented Eléni. Every success.’

‘ Yamas! ’

It’s all down to me now , she thought.

‘ You’re a Mouzakis. You’ll be fine,’ whispered a voice Eléni imagined to be from another artist with the same surname.

THE END