Page 151 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

“Thank you again for coming to stay with me, Katerina. I do feel a bit of a fraud, though. I promise you he was out there, and I probably wouldn’t even have called you if Blane hadn’t insisted.”

Katerina sipped her coffee, and Bea had the distinct feeling there was something she wasn’t telling her. She’d felt it ever since Katerina arrived last night. She’d been wonderful—kind and reassuring, offering to stay over, helping when the policemen came to check everything. By the time she’d arrived, of course, the man had gone and left no sign that he’d ever been here. Bea thought the policemen believed her, but she’d also rather had the impression that they didn’t particularly like her.

She brought herself back to the moment. She was tired and spooked, that was all. Everything would settle down again now. It had to.

“Bea, sit down,” Katerina said.

Bea blinked. She’d been hovering. She knew she had. It was hard to sit still when she felt she ought to be doing something and had absolutely no idea what that something might be.

“Please.”

Something in Katerina’s tone made her sit. “What is it?”

The other woman looked decidedly uncomfortable.

“Katerina, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Bea. I should have told you sooner, but I feel sorry for him.”

“Sorry for who? What do you mean?” She sat forward. “Do you know who he is?”

“I do. We’ve all been telling him there is nothing he can do. You bought the place in a fair sale. None of this is your fault.”

“What isn’t my fault? And what do you mean, we’ve all been telling him?” Bea stared at her. “Who is he?”

Katerina looked down into her coffee. “His name is Nikos.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that last night?”

“Because you had already called the police by the time you called me. He doesn’t deserve trouble.”

Bea sat back. “Well, neither do I, and I haven’t done anything wrong. Why is he trying to frighten me like this?”

“I don’t think he is trying to frighten you. He’s not very…” Katerina searched for the word. “He’s shy, I suppose. Not very good with people.”

“Well, what’s his interest in my house?”

“That’s the thing. It was once his.”

Bea drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Oh dear. What’s the story?” Then she stopped herself. “But wait. I met the man who sold it. You introduced us, remember? You told me he’d grown up here. His parents still owned the house when you first started looking after it as a holiday rental, and he’d already moved to Athens. You said he never wanted to come back and live here after they died. That was part of the reason I didn’t feel too bad about buying it. It wasn’t a home somebody wanted and had been forced to give up. At least, that was what I thought.”

“And all of that is true.”

“So, who is Nikos?”

“He is the other brother.”

Bea brought both hands up to cover her face. “There’s another brother?”

Katerina gave her an apologetic look.

“Why wasn’t he part of the sale?”

“The house belonged to Stavros. Their parents left it to him. Nikos inherited a larger parcel of land.” She pointed toward the window. “The other half of your field is part of it.”

Bea’s shoulders sagged. “So as far as he’s concerned, I’m the bad guy here, aren’t I?”

“Not you personally. The sale. You are just the person who ended up owning what he thinks should never have left the family.”