He nodded. “You took the words out of my mouth. Since I’m a friend of the Papadakis family and would do this for Kristos and his mother no matter what, you and I could host an engagement party for them at my villa on Sarti. We’d let them make up the guest list.”
Was there ever a more wonderful man born? Her eyes filled. “That’s very generous of you, Nico.”
“We’re only talking an engagement party. Being the mother of the bride, you’ll be the one to plan the wedding when the time comes. That is if they make it that far.” When her face fell, he laughed.
“You’re still a big tease.” She was loving this time with him so much it frightened her. “Sometimes in the past you were so exasperating, I wanted to run away from you.”
“But you didn’t,” he said in his deep voice, capturing her gaze. “Even if you’d tried, you know you wouldn’t have gotten very far.”
“You’re right. I fell for you so hard, I would have turned around and flung myself at you. I was pathetic.”
His devilish grin set her on fire. When they’d been on his cruiser together talking about everything, he’d been upset and morose. Today she saw no sign of that side of him, thank heaven. She couldn’t bear it if he wasn’t the same wonderful Nico she would always adore.
Nico’s dark eyes played over her in the old familiar way that sent her heart thudding. “I’m glad to see a smile on your face.” That was only possible because being with him again had brought her to life. He provided the magic. “If you’re ready, we’ll drive back to Salonica. When I take you home, we might run into the happy couple and can tell them what we’d like to do for them, if they’re amenable.”
“They’ll be overjoyed and you know it. I could never deny you anything. Our daughter is no different.”
“But you did deny me,” he came back, surprising her.
“What do you mean?”
A mysterious look crossed over his handsome face. “Have you forgotten I asked you to run away with me after we finished our wine here years ago?”
She laughed. “But you weren’t being serious.”
“Oh, I was deadly serious. Remember that hot-air-balloon concession we passed that day? I’d planned for the person taking us up to head for Hellenia where my uncle’s family lived. We could have hidden out there with no one the wiser and waited until you’d turned eighteen. Then we could have gotten married and started a new life.”
“Nico—I don’t believe it!”
“At the last minute I changed my mind because an even better plan came to me that wouldn’t involve my uncle. But it would take a lot more planning.”
She flashed him a wide smile. “Am I going to hear about that one??
??
“One of these days when we’re not pressed with helping our daughter, I’ll share it all.”
“I don’t know if I want to hear it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll wish you’d carried it out.”
That deep, rich laughter burst out of him, filling her with joy. On the way back they talked about possible dates for the engagement party. When he pulled in the driveway, they didn’t see Kristos’s car.
“I imagine Dimitra is still out with Kristos.” She opened the door, afraid to remain any longer and realize she’d rather stay right where she was and never leave. Before getting out she turned to him.
“No matter how this goes with our daughter, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for everything you’ve done to make this easier. You never deserved what I did to you.”
“We didn’t deserve what Monika did. Why don’t we agree not to talk about that anymore. That portion of our lives is over.”
“You honestly mean it?”
“How could I not when I’ve been united with our daughter. It’s a time to rejoice, not wallow in pain.”
This sounded like the Nico she’d once loved. “All right. We won’t go over that ground anymore. Thank you for today. Kalinikta, Nico.”
She dashed toward the house and hurried inside, surprising her daughter and grandfather who sat talking in the living room. She was back after all!