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‘And you can see how we are preparing for the beautiful young Queen’s visit.’
He looked up at the bunting of Union Jack flags already flapping gently in the breeze and grinned. ‘She will love it.’
‘Is that why you’re here?’
The young woman was astute, but it wasn’t wartime any more; no need for secrets. He allowed his guard to drop. ‘It is. I shall be part of her welcoming committee to Valletta,’ he said. That wasn’t strictly true, but he hoped it would be.
‘Please bring her here. It will be very good for business,’ she said and winked.
He laughed. ‘Well, I shall suggest it.’ He lifted his glass and said ‘Cheers’ to her before he sipped. She left him with a smile and he raised his face to the sun again, basking in the sheer laziness of the moment. He heard his name and snapped open his eyes.
A different woman stood in front of him. He frowned, and then recognised her. ‘Maria?’
‘Yes! I knew it was you! Thank you for remembering.’
‘Good grief.’ He stood and shook her hand. ‘How amazing to see you.’
‘To see me alive, do you mean?’
‘No, no, just to see you. You look well.’
She sighed. ‘Older, wiser, perhaps. And you? No walking stick?’
‘Not these days.’ He did a comic jig to make her laugh aloud.
‘Wonderful, wonderful,’ she said, clapping in delight. ‘I’m happy you are fully recovered.’
‘Thank you again for all that you and the hospital team did. And Dr Sammut is well?’
Her happy expression fled and she shook her head. ‘He died a year or so after you left us.’
‘Oh. I’m deeply sorry to hear this.’
‘Another good life given to the war-makers. So many lives lost.’
His mind immediately leaped to young Valentina again and her family; they had been kind to him, and he’d thought often of the child and her brilliant mind. Had she survived? He didn’t want to ask the nurse, though why he felt awkward, he didn’t know.
‘Too many. But how are you, Maria? Do you have a family?’
‘Yes.’ Her smile returned. ‘I am married to a lovely man and have two children now, a girl and a boy. They make up for all the sorrows,’ she said.
‘Are you still nursing?’
‘No, I spend my days as a wife and mother now. It’s a full life. So why are you here?’
He explained in as few words as possible. She nodded. ‘You look happy to be back.’
‘It’s brilliant. I’d, er… hoped to see the Camilleris,’ he said, trying not to sound tentative. ‘Do they still live here?’
Maria gave him a sad smile. ‘Only one left of that family.’
He swallowed and maybe his despair showed on his face, because she laid a hand on his arm. ‘The one who mattered most to you.’
He drew in a breath. ‘Valentina is safe?’
She nodded. ‘She is grown, she is married and a mother like me.’
‘Oh gosh, that’s wonderful,’ he said, meaning it. ‘But what of the others?’
