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.Both their UK houses are on the market; they'regoing to get something else that's "theirs." Dad's learning modern Greek now.Kathy said it was a hootwhen he tried to talk to the locals in the ancient version, but they were terribly polite and nobody laughed.I saw Nina again toward the end of September.It was a beautiful, breezy, golden day, around eleven ona Saturday morning.Off to see my mother, I'd just bought a bunch of flowers and a packet of Polos at apetrol station a couple of miles down the road when I saw her going in to pay."Harriet!" she said, looking taken aback."Nina! Hello again."There was a moment's awkwardness, but she broke it."Been somewhere nice?" she asked, looking meup and down.I was wearing pink shorts, sandals, and a little white top.And the reason she asked was because I had alovely golden tan, with sun glints in my hair.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"Very nice, actually," I said, holding my breeze-blown hair with one hand."Sailing 'round the BritishVirgin Islands.""Really?" she said, with a smile that had suddenly gone slightly tighter than it was already."I thought theweather in the Caribbean could be iffy at this time of year.""It can, but we were very lucky.It was gorgeous." The breeze was still blowing my hair.I was glad ofthis, because it allowed me to carry on holding it back with my left hand.I knew she'd notice and I don'tmind admitting I wanted her to.Ninas always notice such things.Like a homing missile her eyes zoomedin on my finger."Are you engaged?" she asked, as if I'd just had a sex change or something."Well, I suppose I am," I admitted, holding my hand out for her inspection."I always thought gettingengaged was a pathetic waste of time, but when you're moored in a perfect little harbor at sunset andsomeone suddenly produces something like this, you don't like to tell him to take it back to the shop."She gave another tight little smile."Very nice."I was almost expecting her to add, "Is it real?" but she didn't go that far.It was a square-cut emerald,surrounded by diamonds that nearly knocked you out when the sun caught them."So who's the lucky man?" she went on, just as John came from paying for a tank of fuel."You've met him," I said, but she'd already twigged.I have to say he looked absolutely gorgeous.He was wearing shorts, too, and a half-open shirt.He wasbrowner than me, and his eyes looked just like the Caribbean in those deeper-water bits, glinting blueygreen in the sun.Or greeny blue, I can never make up my mind which.He looked like the more upmarketsort of pirate, a fact which had occurred to me while we'd been swimming off some gorgeous TreasureIsland beach.Anyway.He behaved with perfect aplomb.He said, "Nina, good Lord!" in an entirely pleasant fashion,and shook her hand."How's it going?""Very well, thank you.And congratulations.""I'm taking him to meet my mother," I said."I thought it was about time.""Yes, and we'd better get a move on," he said."Lovely to see you, Nina.Take care.Hop in, Harriet."He opened the passenger door of the car, which was only about six feet from where I was standing withNina.The hood was down and he'd had it cleaned the day before, so it was all nice and shiny darkgreen.She didn't quite gape, because Ninas never do, but she got as near as dammit."Is that yours?" she saidto John."I hope so," he said, half laughing."Unless I nicked it in my sleep." Suddenly he pretended to catch on."Oh, the other one, you mean.Well, I thought it was about time I got some respectable wheels.Harrietsaid she couldn't have that thing lowering the tone outside her new flat."She gave a silver-bells little peal, but the silver sounded definitely plated to me.And crappy old plate, atGenerated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlthat."What about the goats?" she asked."Goats?" Igave him an askance look."What goats?""Oh, that," he said wryly."It was just a bad patch.I had plans for a rustic idyll.I soon changed my mindwhen I went to look at a couple of rustic idylls
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