Thirteen Days By Sunset Beach Read Online Free PDF

William's are numbered."
    That didn't mean counted, Ray knew. Julian had introduced the principle that any items even slightly likely to be lost should bear his and Natalie's phone numbers. "Is all the family here?" Evadne called as she and Stavros crossed the courtyard. "You leave your bags with us. We will put them in your rooms."
    "Thank you very much," Natalie said, "but we'll see to them. Come along, William. You carry on with your meal," she told her parents, "and we'll say hello properly soon."
    "Some of us will now," Doug declared, striding to embrace Sandra and then Ray. He swept his hair back from his high forehead as if to tug more eagerness into his elongated wide-eyed face, where the nose and chin competed for largeness and prominence. "How's Pris's choice and mine so far?" he said.
    "We wouldn't ask for better," Sandra said.
    "Then here's hoping you both have the time you deserve."
    Ray was aware that Sandra wasn't speaking, and he found he couldn't either. "And let's hope the quiet will do for Nat and Jules," Doug said, "though it can't be as quiet as Sunset Beach."
    "You'll be joking, will you?" Ray assumed.
    "When we came through there just now we didn't see a living soul except for the ones who got off the bus."
    "They'll all be in bed with hangovers," Sandra said. "You had a few of those at their age."
    "I wasn't quite that bad, was I? Our driver didn't seem to think too much of them. They get used up at night, he said."
    "So does their money," Ray observed. "I should think the locals don't mind that, or ours either."
    "We got the feeling he was glad to have them on the island but didn't want to be." Doug frowned as if his brows might squeeze the notion into focus, then abandoned the task. "I'll go and see how the others are doing," he said. "We want it to be good for everyone."
    Sandra watched him cross the road and the marble courtyard before she took another mouthful from her plate, and Ray replenished her wineglass by way of encouragement. Once he'd cleared his own plate he eyed the Sunny View until Sandra said "Have some more. Don't wait for me."
    "I don't mind waiting," he said, a tame version of the truth. Suppose sensing that he hoped she would eat more only made her stubborn? He helped himself to a small portion from each dish, and was lingering over them so as not to finish before Sandra when he heard footsteps approaching the courtyard.
    As Jonquil and William came in sight he was ashamed to feel he wouldn't mind if they were on their own, and did his best to be equally pleased to see not just their mother but William's father behind them. "Be careful on the road," Natalie said.
    "You heard mum," Jonquil said as though to demonstrate she hadn't been addressed as well.
    She took the boy's hand to lead him to the taverna, letting go a few yards short of the wall, an act that plainly failed to please his parents. He dashed to hug Sandra and then Ray, and Jonquil followed with not much less of an embrace. Natalie outdid it for vigour—Ray felt some of her bones creak—after which Julian shook his hand, having clasped Sandra's shoulders. "I'm sorry if we seemed at all abrupt when we arrived," Julian said. "We wouldn't want you to assume we weren't glad to see you."
    "We're just as happy to see you, aren't we, Sandra?" Ray said.
    "Then everybody's satisfied." Julian straightened his prominent lips as if to underline his sharp nose and turned not quite towards the younger members of the family. "Now I believe someone has some words for their grandparents."
    William marched forward, hands behind his back. His face was a miniature edition of his father's, and the pale blue eyes looked even bigger for their setting, "I'm sorry—"
    "You can speak more clearly than that, William," Natalie said.
    "I'm sorry I caused trouble on the road."
    "That's the fellow," Julian said. "I don't know if anyone else feels they ought to speak."
    He hadn't changed his stance. Jonquil's face grew blank—the deep brown eyes