“Can I get you anything, Mama?”
“No, thank you, honey. All I need is sleep. This stomachache will pass.”
Dimitra got up from the bed. “I’ll check on Papoú now.”
“He’ll like that if he’s not already asleep.”
Her daughter lingered for a moment longer. “Will you tell me one more thing?”
Alexa moaned inwardly. “I like Kristos and his mother very much.” She knew it wasn’t the full answer Dimitra wanted, but she didn’t dare discuss things now. Tomorrow she would contact Nico. Very soon the world Dimitra had known was going to change.
Once her daughter learned that he was her father, there was no way to predict the outcome of anything, let alone a possible marriage.
“I’m sorry, but I’m tired, honey.”
“I know.”
“Can we talk tomorrow?”
“Of course. Good night, Mama.” Her resigned daughter gave Alexa a kiss before leaving the bedroom.
Alexa turned out the light on the bedside table and lay there in the dark, dying inside over so many things, not the least of which was her visceral reaction to Nico.
When she’d seen him on the patio, she’d found herself as out of breath as that moment in the sea when they’d run into each other years ago. He still had the power to transform her world until nothing existed but him. Though she knew he was a married man, it made no difference. She was still attracted to him.
Right now she was terrified over what was to come once she’d phoned Irena Papadakis for Nico’s phone number. Since Irena would learn the truth, if she hadn’t already, Alexa would have to take the risk to ask for her help in getting in touch with Nico. She’d phone her first thing in the morning.
After five minutes her anxiety drove her out of bed and she got up to get a drink of water. While she was coming out of the bathroom she heard the ding on her phone. Someone had sent her a text, probably Michalis Androu, the divorced Cypriot also on the faculty.
Two months ago he’d invited her for drinks. A month later he’d asked her to go to the opera with him. She liked him, but shouldn’t have accepted a dinner date for this coming Friday. It would be the last time.
She walked over to the bedside table to look at her phone and almost collapsed when she saw who’d sent it. How had he found her phone number? Her body trembled as she sank down on the side of the bed to read it.
This text shouldn’t come as a surprise. We have to talk. I’ll meet you at Ravaisi’s on the beach at seven tomorrow evening. If you don’t come, I’ll drive to your house and wait for you for as long as it takes. Nico.
Alexa’s eyes closed tightly. She fell back.
Ravaisi’s.
They’d eaten fresh seafood on its veranda on Perea Beach their last evening before he’d left for the military. It had been a night like tonight. The moon had looked like a pale yellow globe, lighting the calm water of the Aegean. Later they’d swum to his cruiser anchored a little way offshore.
She’d clung to Nico’s hand as he helped her up the ladder. Once on board, he’d led her down the stairs to the lower deck. He’d planned a surprise for her on their last night together. All Alexa had to do was follow. She loved him with every fiber of her heart and soul and would follow him to the ends of the earth.
Nico had pulled her inside the bedroom and locked the door.
A cry of sheer delight escaped her lips at the sight that greeted her. The room had been filled with lighted candles, dispersing a fragrant scent of orange blossoms. Her gaze gravitated to an urn full of glorious blue hydrangeas placed on the bedside table. A few days earlier she’d happened to mention they were her favorite flower. He’d remembered everything.
Nico, she whispered in awe. I feel like I’m in a dream.
You look like one. When I first saw you in the water three weeks ago, I thought you were a mermaid coming out of the foam.
She clung to his hard body. His words would always have the power to make her blush. Would you believe me if I told you I thought you looked like the statue of the young Emperor Augustus in the Salonica Archaeological Museum?
Agape mou.
After calling her his love, he’d picked her up like a bride and carried her to the bed. Let me love you, he’d said urgently. The thought of not seeing you for another year is more than I can bear. Nico pulled her on the bed and began to devour her. That was the first time they’d made love, the magical night Dimitra had been conceived.
Breathtaking memories of that night so long ago brought the tears gushing. There’d be no sleep for her tonight. Alexa got off the bed to wash her face. Somehow she had to get through tomorrow knowing what awaited her on that beach.