It seemed to make Dr. Ganis’s day to find out Nikos was married to a wife who intended to be proactive over his PTSD. He gave them a card they should both read regularly, but all the time he spoke, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Nikos had already come to learn that with Stephanie’s blond beauty and lithe figure, taking her out in public was proving to be a hazard. He could already count one traffic accident because the male driver had taken one look at her and driven right into the back of another car. It served the poor devil right.
Nikos read what was on the card.
Always be truthful with your vet, always keep safety in mind. Don’t walk on eggshells. Grieve for what is lost and move on. Stay on top of medications. Short periods of withdrawal to help control anger make sense, but withdrawing from life into a “bunker” is not helpful. Conflict is normal. Focus on the issue at hand and resist bringing up issues from the past. Exercise, get regular meals, good nutrition, plenty of rest and time for play. Enjoy the good times. When bad times come, hang on. Good times will come again.
As they got up to leave his office, Stephanie won the doctor over with her final comment. “I consider these bruises
my
mark of bravery.” His laughter followed them out the door.
Unable to help himself, Nikos gave her waist a squeeze as they left the clinic for the car. “Do you mind if we put off all the shopping until tomorrow? I have a surprise for you that could take up most of our day. Let’s grab a bite to eat before we meet Mr. Doukakis.”
* * *
Stephanie couldn’t imagine what it was. However, she was so happy to see that Nikos had forgiven himself for the bruises, and seemed to be in a mellower mood, that she didn’t care what they did as long as it was together. When he’d interrogated her in the doorway of her bedroom earlier that morning, she’d been frightened that irreparable damage had been done to their relationship.
At one of the sidewalk cafés she ordered a lime crush drink and discovered she adored the bruschetta made with apple and goat cheese. Nikos downed a whole loaf of lamb rolled slices. Taking the doctor’s advice, he passed on caffeine-laden coffee and ordered decaf. Stephanie made a mental note to buy the same, so he would sleep better.
When she couldn’t eat another bite, he drove them up a hillside covered with flowering vegetation. They came to a charming, two-story villa, where he stopped behind the car parked in front. The man at the wheel had to be this Mr. Doukakis he’d mentioned.
She flicked a glance at Nikos’s striking profile. “What are we doing?”
He shut off the engine and turned to her. “Hoping to buy us a house.”
What?
“But I thought—”
“Let’s not go there.” He cut her off. “I’ll use the yacht for business, but decorating one of the rooms below deck for a nursery is absurd.”
“I agree, and have no intention of doing any such thing. As for the quilt, it’ll be a gift for our baby. I’m looking forward to making it, that’s all.”
“You’re avoiding the issue, Stephanie, and I know why. If you don’t like the looks of this house, we’ll find something better.”
Just when she’d been on a real high, he’d sprung this on her. Already she could see the writing on the wall. While she was at the house, he’d work late, then call to tell her he was staying on the yacht overnight. No way!
“I don’t want a house, not with you coming and going when the mood takes you.”
“You mean you don’t like
this
one,” he thundered. “If you want a mansion, just say so and I’ll accommodate you.”
Now
she
was angry. “I thought we left that issue in the past, but I can see you won’t let it go, about me wanting to marry you for your money. For your information, I
love
living on the water.”
She watched his hands grip the wheel tighter. “It’s no place for a baby.”
“The baby won’t be here for months! Why did you bother to marry me, Nikos? Sticking me in a house will make me feel like a kept woman. I thought you’d been honest with me, but you weren’t.”
His features had turned into a dark mask of anger. Good!
“Since it obviously irritates you to have a woman around, I’ll settle for living on my own boat, to stay out of your way. Instead of a house, buy me one of those little one-person sailboats bobbing at the marina on Egnoussa. I’ll pay you as much as I can when the condo sells.”
“Don’t say another word, Stephanie.”
“You started this, so I’ll say what I like. It would cost only a fraction of what it would take to buy me a mansion I don’t want to live in by myself. Or better yet, let me
rent
a sailboat. That would be fair. Yannis could take me to pick one out, and bring it across to moor by the yacht. ‘His and hers.’
We’ll be the talk of the island.”
While she was still shaking from their angry clash, he got out of the car and walked to the other one. The two men spoke for a few minutes before Nikos came back and levered himself into the front seat once more.
She sensed he’d love to wheel away on screeching tires, but he controlled himself on the drive back to the dock. By the time they reached the parking area, she’d repented of the way she’d blown up at him.
The doctor’s advice came to mind. Conflict was normal. Focus on the issue at hand, not past issues.
“Wait, Nikos,” she said as he opened the door. “I apologize for my behavior. Instead of welcoming your gift, I threw it back in your face. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
He shifted his gaze to her. “I should have prepared you for what I had in mind.”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid my reaction would have been the same. Look, I realize you were happy living by yourself on the yacht with Yannis. Then I came along and disturbed your world. If I promise not to be a nuisance or get in your way, can we start over? But I can’t just be a lump around here. Give me a job and I’ll do it, besides my share of the cleaning.”
One dark brow lifted. “You really want to cook?”
“Yes. As many meals as you’ll let me.”
“Then so be it. That’ll free up me and Yannis to do other work.” Nikos closed the door. “Let’s drive to the market. Ever since you mentioned American food, I’ve been relishing the thought of it.”
Stephanie sighed in relief that they’d survived another skirmish. “Thank you. I promise you won’t regret this.”
Following her fried chicken for dinner that evening, both men finished off the apple pie. The fact that there were no leftovers told her she’d hit a home run on her first try.
Yannis got up from the table and winked at her. “If all your meals are this good, I’m going to put on weight.”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
After he disappeared, Nikos sat back in his chair with the hint of a smile. “I guess you know you’re permanently hired. I’d help you with the dishes, but we’re headed for Engoussa right now. I need to assist Yannis.”
“Do you have business there?”
“Yes. I want my parents to meet you tonight.”
Her heart started racing. “Do they know about us?”
“Not yet. I phoned and told them I’d be coming by. They’ll send a car. It’s time they met their daughter-in-law, before the news of our wedding reaches them.”
The surprising revelation filled Stephanie with ambiguous feelings, of relief that their secret would be out, and anxiety because she wanted to make a good impression for Nikos’s sake. “I’ll wear the long-sleeved blouse with one of my new skirts.”
He nodded his dark head. “Stephanie...” The way he said her name made her think he was dead serious. “Follow my lead and don’t let my father intimidate you.”
After Nikos left the galley, she put their plates in the dishwasher, already feeling intimidated. She wished she knew what kind of deep-seated trouble lay between Nikos and his father. If he’d just given her a hint...
She dressed for the evening, then waited up on deck as the yacht pulled up alongside the dock on Egnoussa. Fairyland at night. Few people were out.
Nikos joined her, looking fabulous in a silky black shirt toned with dark gray trousers. To her surprise he’d brought his cane. This was a first. Using it for support, he reached out with his free hand and grasped hers. They left the yacht and started walking along the pier, toward a black car she could see waiting in the distance.
It appeared the ordeal he was about to face had drained him physically. Stephanie would do everything in her power to help him. As they reached the car, she gave his hand a squeeze. But whatever his reaction might have been was lost when a stunning dark blond woman with appealing brown eyes opened the door and stepped out of the driver’s seat.
“Nikolaos. It’s been such a long time.”
“Natasa.” He let go of Stephanie’s hand long enough to kiss the woman on both cheeks. “I didn’t know you were on the island.”
Stephanie felt de trop. This was the woman he would probably have married if Fate hadn’t stepped in to change his life.
“When I heard you were coming, I arrived early and asked your parents if I could meet you at the dock so we could talk in private. They assumed you’d be alone. Who’s your friend?”
Nikos turned to Stephanie. “This is Stephanie Walsh from Florida, in the States. She arrived a few days ago. Stephanie? This is Natasa Lander, an old friend.”
“How do you do, Ms. Lander.”
In the semidark, Natasa’s face lost color. “Ms. Walsh,” she acknowledged. “How is it you know Nikos?”
Stephanie groaned inwardly for this poor woman, who’d carried a torch for him all these years. It was no wonder. How could any other man compare?
“I was on a scuba diving vacation in the Caribbean months ago and we met.”
“Why don’t I drive?” Nikos offered. “When we reach the house, we can all catch up on each other’s news at once.”
Nikos...
This was a terrible idea, but what could she do? While he helped Natasa into the backseat, Stephanie grabbed his cane and hurried around to the front to get in. As far as she was concerned, this was worse than any nightmare.
En route, Nikos chatted with Natasa the way you’d do with an old friend, drawing her out, until they reached the impressive Vassalos mansion with its cream-and-beige exterior. His ancestral home stood near the top of the hill next to equally imposing ones Stephanie had seen on her first day here. The burnt-orange-tiled roofs added a certain symmetry that gave the town its charm.
He pulled the car around to the rear and parked. Both Stephanie and Natasa moved quickly, not waiting for his help. Natasa went in the rear entrance first. Stephanie handed Nikos his cane, but he put it back in the car, then reached for her hand.
“Ready?” he asked under his breath. That forbidding black glitter in his eyes had returned. It was clear he hadn’t been expecting Natasa. Stephanie suspected the other woman’s appearance had been orchestrated by Nikos’s father. Yet unseen, the older man made an adversary that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.
When she nodded with reluctance, she heard his sharp intake of breath. “Maybe this will help.” He pulled her into his arms and found her mouth, kissing her with a fierceness she wasn’t prepared for, almost as if he was expecting her to fight him.
Stephanie clung to him, helpless to do anything else, and met the hunger of his kiss with an eagerness she would find embarrassing later. At last he was giving her a husband’s kiss, hot with desire, the one she’d been denied last night. Whether he was doing this to convince himself he was glad he hadn’t married Natasa, she didn’t know. But right now she didn’t care.
The way he was kissing her took her back to that unforgettable night on the island, when they’d given each other everything with a matchless joy she couldn’t put into words. He pressed her against the doorjamb to get closer. One kiss after another made her crazy with desire. Stephanie was so in love with Nikos that nothing existed for her but to love him and be loved.
All of a sudden she heard a man’s voice delivering a volley of bitter words in Greek. It broke the spell. Gasping for breath, she put her hands against Nikos’s chest. He was much slower to react. Eventually, he let her go, with seeming reluctance.
Still staring at her, he said, “Good evening, Papa. Stephanie and I will be right in. Give us a minute more, will you?”
Another blast of angry words greeted her ears.
“She doesn’t speak Greek, Papa.”
“How dare you bring this gold digging American into our home!”
That was clear enough English for Stephanie, who was thankful Nikos was still holding her. She eyed his father covertly. Except for their height, the formidable older man with gray hair didn’t look like Nikos.
“I dare because she’s my wife. We were married in a private church service yesterday. I wanted you to be the first to know.”
“Then we’ll get it annulled,” he answered, without taking a breath.
“Not possible, Papa. Father Kerykes officiated. Naturally, I expect you and Mother to welcome Stephanie into the family. If you don’t, then you’ll never be allowed to see your grandchild.”
Stephanie could hardly breathe. Nikos was claiming their child as his own even though he didn’t have proof?
“So you
are
pregnant!” his father virtually snarled at her. “I told Nikos I suspected as much when I heard you’d come to Egnoussa to track him down. Trying to pass off your baby as my son’s? There’s a word for a woman like you.”
The man had just provided part of the source for Nikos’s basic distrust of her. She eased away from him and stared at his dad without flinching. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Mr. Vassalos. I’ve been anxious to meet the father of such a wonderful, honorable man. You’re both very lucky. I never knew my father.
“But I have to say I’m sad you’re on such bad terms. Our baby is going to want to know its grandparents. I can only hope that one day you’ll change your mind about me enough to allow us into your life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to wait in the car while Nikos spends some time with you and your wife.
Kalinihta.”
Good night
was one of the few words in Greek she’d picked up, from listening to Nikos and Yannis.