She blushed. “I’m afraid I was oblivious to everything except just being with you. Monika’s mother teased me mercilessly about being good for nothing while I waited for you to get off work. I helped clean and cook when Monika and I didn’t go out, but my mind was constantly on you. Dimitra is just as bad when she’s waiting for Kristos to come.”
Her smile swept him away. “Do you think she’d like to be with the two of us for a few days?”
“I’ll talk to her, Nico, and let you know.”
“Do you think she might be home now?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s find out and go back. My grandfather will be happy if I can watch the last of the match with him.”
* * *
After Nico saw her to the door, Alexa watched him drive off. Once again, he took her heart with him. Nothing had changed. She would always hunger for him, but that hunger could never be assuaged if he didn’t want her just as badly.
I should have been there when you had our baby. Those words Nico had said earlier reminded her how she’d kept him and their daughter apart. But as he’d said, it was over and there was no point in dwelling on it.
She closed the door and walked through to the study. If Dimitra showed excitement over the idea of an outing on the yacht with her parents, Alexa would go as a favor to Nico. But that would have to be the end of family trips. After all, the three of them weren’t a family in the proverbial sense.
When broached the next morning, Dimitra acted overjoyed at the prospect. She phoned her father immediately. Alexa heard laughter from their daughter who said, “I can live without Kristos that long, Baba.” The rapport between the two of them thrilled Alexa. Dimitra had been missing this all her life, but no longer.
By now it was July and the weather had grown hotter. The following Friday Nico came by for them and loaded his car with their bags. Before long they boarded the yacht and were shown to their staterooms. Even though Dimitra had already been on the yacht to meet his family, she walked around in a dazed condition. And she wasn’t the only one—the opulence exceeded Alexa’s expectations. Again she marveled that this had been Nico’s life, but at seventeen she hadn’t understood.
But Monika had known. Only too well.
Alexa needed to put all that away. In the car last week Nico had told her to stop ruminating. The past was over. So be it!
Friday night the four of them ate dinner and watched the home movies. Tears washed Gavril’s face to see his beloved Iris holding the new baby. Before long Alexa and her daughter were also in tears. Nico watched the scenes at the hospital. At one point he turned to her. His dark eyes shone. “How incredible all this was filmed.”
“Thank my grandfather. He insisted.”
Gavril smiled. “There’s much more to see.”
They stayed up late watching movies of their home in Ottawa, Dimitra’s different birthday parties. There were even films showing Alexa’s parents when she’d been a little girl, and Gavril’s investiture as ambassador in Ottawa, which Iris had taken.
No one wanted to stop, but Alexa eventually called a halt. Not only because her grandfather was tired and needed to go to bed, but because her heart couldn’t handle any more memories that didn’t include Nico. He’d missed out on his daughter’s entire life until now.
By morning, the yacht had reached Samos in the Eastern Aegean. Nico told them it was the birthplace of the famous mathematician Pythagoras. Gavril insisted on staying next to the yacht swimming pool to read while the three of them went ashore. A small motorboat dropped them off and left them to explore the mountainous island.
They were a real family. All three of them wore shorts and T-shirts. Nico took them to his favorite places to see waterfalls, fields of wildflowers, a church on a summit and fantastic views. After a long hike, they reached the main village. Dimitra wanted to stop at an embroidery shop to buy a small gift for Irena and Nico’s mother.
“While you do that, your mother and I will walk to that alfresco café jutting out in the water and order us an early dinner.”
“I might be a while since I promised to phone Kristos.”
Nico’s smile took Alexa back nineteen years. “Understood.” Dimitra took off, eager to talk to her beloved.
To Alexa’s surprise, Nico took her arm as they walked along the beachfront. The action had been so natural, she realized he’d forgotten for a moment that they weren’t a couple. But she’d forgott
en nothing. His touch shot darts of desire through her body. The sensation caused her breath to catch. She wondered if he had any idea what the contact was doing to her.
Nico said, “Is there any doubt our daughter is wildly in love?”
“None at all. Did you notice she ambles over rocks and boulders exactly the way you do, Nico? Like father, like daughter.”
When he chuckled, it reminded her of what Irena had told her at the engagement party about Nico. I can tell you that your presence has brought about a miraculous healing. Alexa wouldn’t have known what he was like before he’d learned he had a daughter, but today even his eyes wore a smile.
He was so striking, every woman in sight, young or old, stared at him. What special female had caught his attention these days? Alexa shouldn’t care or even want to know. But the possibility that he spent some of his nights with another woman who had to be crazy about him was consuming her.
They found a table overlooking the water and a waiter came right over. Nico eyed her. “The sautéed shrimp here is a specialty of the house. Would you like to try it?”