by Kate Collins
“Suggest buying him lunch at The Parthenon and then I can accidentally run into you.”
I stared at him as though he’d grown horns. “How about I jump off the pier and swim across to Chicago?”
“Okay, scrap The Parthenon idea. Crazy family. I get it.”
“Not crazy family this time. Crazy you. You have to stay away from the diner so you don’t raise anyone’s suspicions. And tomorrow, you need to lie low, too. Hang out on the boat, get a tan, and keep growing out that beard.”
“This beard is staying short. No mountain man look for me.”
As he opened the passenger door I said, “Wait. There is something you need to help me with.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Great. What is it?”
“Meet me at the garden center at seven a.m., Monday morning.”
“Because?” he asked skeptically.
I scratched my eyebrow. “Remember when I said my plan to get the police off the boat wasn’t the greatest?”
Case gave me a sidelong glance. “I don’t think I’m going to like where this is going.”
“I had to involve my father to get the police to stop focusing on the marina. And then naturally I had to tell him about you being on the WANTED poster. So I had no choice but to tell him an abbreviated version of your story. Now he wants to hear the whole thing from you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I raced home to find Nicholas in the backyard with Pappoús and Uncle Giannis, who were overseeing the installation of an above-ground swimming pool. Uncle Giannis, my mother’s brother, lived just four houses away. He and Aunt Rachel had two sons, both taking pre-med courses. Greeks were notorious for urging their children to become doctors or lawyers. Thank goodness my father had been different. He didn’t care what we girls did as long as we did something that made us happy and enough money to live independently. Mama didn’t care what we did as long as we married someone with money.
“We’re getting a pool?” I asked as Nicholas ran up and threw his arms around my waist.
“Grandma says it’ll be good for me to learn to swim.”
“I’m sure it will,” I said, ruffling his hair, even though I was annoyed that Grandma, otherwise known as Meddling Mama, hadn’t checked with me first. My mother came out through the back door just then—she had a view of the yard from her large kitchen window where she’d always kept a close eye on us as we were growing up.
“It seems we’re getting a swimming pool,” I said.
“We thought it would be good for Niko’s development,” Mama said.
“We? I’m Nicholas’s mother, Mama. I should have been consulted.”
“You would have said yes. And it is our backyard after all.”
“That’s not the point,” I said, as my grandfather joined us. “You said this was for Nicholas. So next time, consult with me first, please.”
She reached over to put a strand of my hair behind my ear. “You seem frazzled, Thenie. What have you been up to?”
“She always has a way of diverting the subject, doesn’t she, Pappoús?”
“That’s my Hera,” he said, his voice hoarse from age.
Theo Karras was a small, wiry older man with a dark olive complexion, a little black still showing in his white hair, strong arms, and a back that was slightly bowed from standing over hot stoves all day. But even though he had a small build, his strong personality more than made up for it.
“To answer your question, Mama, I had a meeting with Sonny Talbot about the condo project and then I met a friend for lunch.”
“Did you get anywhere with Sonny?” Mama asked.
“Nope. He wanted me to persuade the GMA to give up the fight and in return he would give Pappoús and Yiayiá a condo on the top floor of his building and space for a new restaurant on the ground floor.”
“What about the other shop owners?” Pappoús asked.
“He offered it to only one other shop owner—Don Fatsis—who accepted.”
My mother gasped, her hand to her throat. “That prodótis.”
I glanced at her for a translation and she said, “A traitor, Thenie. You should have stuck with your Greek lessons.”
“Pah,” my grandfather said, then spit on the ground. “As if we would turn our backs on our friends. I hope you give Fatsis a piece of your mind.”
“You bet I will, Pappoús. In fact, I learned that Fatsis never intended to help us fight the Talbots. He just wanted us to believe he did.”
“Just wait until the others find out about him,” Mama said. “His name will be mud in this community.”
My grandfather spit to the side again. It was a Greek thing.
“Don’t say anything about Fatsis to anyone until I talk to him, Mama. I want to make sure I have the facts straight. After all, they did come from Sonny.”
She tucked another lock of hair behind my ear. “For you and Niko I would do anything, even put up this swimming pool in my backyard.”
“Speaking of which,” I said, “are you going to hire a swimming coach for him or just throw him in and see if he comes to the surface?”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Thenie, you girls learned to swim by jumping off the side of the boat—in life jackets of course.” She brushed his hair back as my son came to stand by her side and said lovingly, “We’re all strong swimmers. We’ll teach you, Niko.”
“I can’t wait,” Nicholas said, clapping as he jumped up and down.
“See?” Mama asked, as Uncle Giannis came striding over. “He’s been cooped up in the big city far too long. He needs to get rid of all that energy out here where the air is clean and there’s room to play.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“The pool should be up by this evening and they’ll start filling it overnight,” Uncle Giannis told us. “By midday tomorrow, Niko will be swimming.”
“It won’t be that fast, Uncle Giannis,” I said.
“Ha!” he retorted. “You have a smart boy. He’ll pick it up like a baby fish. Now, are you ready for some fun, Niko?”
“What kind of fun?” I asked warily.
“Uncle Giannis is going to teach me how to climb a tree, Mama. He told me he taught his boys to climb and he even taught you. Please, can I go with him now?”
“Can you believe this boy has never climbed a tree?” my uncle asked.
“We lived in a high-rise,” I said. “No trees.”
“We’re going to remedy that, aren’t we, Niko?” Giannis said. “I have the best climbing tree in town. Ask your mama. She used to climb way out on one big fat limb and toss water balloons onto her sisters when they passed underneath. Scared them half to death.”
Nicholas looked happily amazed. “You did that, Mama?”
“A long time ago,” I said. “Your aunt Delphi did it, too. And if you want to go with Uncle Giannis, it’s okay with me.”
“Come, Niko,” my mother said, “let’s go put on some climbing clothes. Thenie, why don’t you get ready to meet Kevin for dinner? And for God’s sake, wear a dress for a change. Show him you have legs.”
I glared at her retreating form as she and Nicholas walked toward the back door together, holding hands.
Show my legs. Now she was telling me how to dress. And how did she know about my date with Kevin anyway?
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME
blog by Goddess Anon
Check, please!
Did you ever go out on a dinner date and end up listening to the conversations around you—and finding their conversations way more interesting than your date’s never-ending monologues? Hey, buddy, how about my day?
Why do I put myself through this again and again? Because if I call it quits with Mr. It’s All About Me, my mother will simply find another “good Greek boy” for me to date, fall madly in love with, marry, and have a brood of children. Yeah, right. Not this chica.
Waiter? Check please. Hurry!
Sunday
Sundays were all about family, and whe
n I say family, I mean FAMILY, and that meant that Spencer’s Garden Center closed on Sundays because family came first.
Today was no exception. At one o’clock, after everyone had changed out of their Sunday finest, Uncle Giannis, Aunt Rachel, their sons Drew and Michael, and my aunt Talia, Uncle Konstantine, and their three Labradors showed up. Counting the seven of us Spencers, plus Yiayiá and Pappoús, we were fifteen in all. And lest we forget, there was also the star of the show, the pool.
There was one difference in today’s gathering, however. Demolition day was coming up in eight days and we seemed no closer to halting it, which threw a pall over everyone but Nicholas. He was playing in the water, trying out the badminton game Uncle Konstantine had brought, romping with the dogs, and showing off the scrapes he got climbing Uncle Giannis’s giant oak tree.
Mama had filled a long table on the patio behind the house with food and set up enough card tables and chairs for everyone. There was grilled lamb on a spit; pastitsio (one type of Greek lasagna); whole chickens roasted with crispy, lemony potatoes; a cucumber, feta cheese, kalamata olives, and tomato salad; and spanakopita (tiny spinach and feta triangle-shaped pastries). I had to admit it was all delicious.
After stuffing myself and growing tired of all their gossiping, I slipped away to my room to write my blog. But then I found myself leaning on the chair’s back legs, daydreaming about escaping the chaos below and going somewhere quiet, specifically the Páme, where I could lie on the bow listening to the lapping of the water against the sides, soaking up the sun and smells of the lake, and, oh yeah, there was Case, wearing only cutoff jeans, and bringing me a glass of iced tea.
My chair legs hit the wooden floor with a resounding thunk. No more of that kind of daydreaming. I needed to write a list of questions to ask Fatsis.
I worked for half an hour and had almost finished when Delphi strolled in wearing a purple and green tie-dyed sundress, green flip-flops, and her dark hair pulled back with a purple ribbon. Luckily, I’d already posted my blog about that yawn-of-a-dinner with Kevin, so I didn’t have to scramble to hide it from her.
She flopped down onto my bed. “Mama told me to come shag you out. You’re being antisocial.”
“I needed a break.”
“You had a ten-year break. Niko is having a blast, by the way. You should see how he’s taken to the water.”
“I hate that everyone changed his name. It’s Nicholas, or Nick.”
“Now you’re being anti-Greek, too, Thenie. Niko suits him, and he likes it. What’s wrong with calling him that?”
I searched for a way to explain that I wanted to get away from all that Greekness. Finally, out of frustration, I said, “What if I started calling you Delphinium because I decided it suits you better than Delphi?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Delphinium? With all these dark curls and this Greek nose? Exactly how does a delicate summery flower suit me?”
“They’re showy and they come in purple with lots of green leaves.”
“I’m showy?” She stood up and glanced at herself in my dresser mirror, preening as she said, “I am showy. Stay up here and hide then, but what do you want me to tell Mama?”
“That I’ll be down in ten minutes. Bye, Delphinium.”
She turned to go, then paused at the doorway to say, “By the way, I think I figured out who the mystery man is.”
My heart started to beat harder. “Are you talking about Dimitrius?”
“I prefer Dimitri, but whatever.”
I swiveled to face her, putting my hands on my knees, pretending to be entirely bored by the subject. “Okay, let’s hear your theory.”
“I think he’s been a customer at our store before, and not so long ago, either.” Delphi put her fingertips to her temples and closed her eyes. “Wait. Something’s coming through.”
I turned back to my computer and read over my list of questions for Fatsis.
“I’m also seeing that he had a crush on me.” Delphi opened her eyes with a smile and tossed her hair. “But that’s to be expected. I have that effect on handsome Greek men, being a flower and all. And I know what you’re going to say. Something snide about if that’s the case, then why don’t I have a boyfriend? To tell you the truth, I don’t want to be tied down. I like flirting too much. I’ve got years ahead of me to think about marriage and kids and all that goes with it.”
“Are you rehearsing a speech for the next time Mama tries to fix you up with someone?”
“Mama’s heard it already. Besides, she’s busy working on finding Selene a new hubby. Oh, by the way, she’s about to serve baklava and homemade ice cream that Aunt Rachel brought. You’d better come down or she’ll send a whole contingent up to get you.”
“I’ll be down as soon as I close this file.”
As she left, she said, “Who knows? Maybe Mama will fix Dimitri up with Selene. Maybe it was predestined and that’s why he showed up when he did. We’ll have to invite him over. I’m sure Selene will be delighted.”
“Selene’s too old for him.” Why had I said that?
“How old is he?”
Foot-in-mouth moment. “I don’t know but definitely not thirty-six.”
“I’ll have to have Mama contact her relatives in Tarpon Springs and find out more about him.”
That was why I’d said it. “I’m sure he has a girlfriend,” I blurted.
Delphi stopped and spun around, a skeptical look on her face. “I don’t think so. For a man with a girlfriend, he sure flirted with me a lot.”
“That’s just his way. He’s very friendly.” And he and I were definitely going to have a talk about that flirting.
My sister studied me for a long moment, a shrewd look on her face. “I think you want him for yourself.”
“I have Kevin, remember?”
Delphi stuck her finger down her throat. “Yuck.” She walked out of the room calling, “Better you than me.”
Monday, 7:00 a.m.
Case stood outside the garden center checking his reflection in the glass window panel. “Do I look Greek enough?”
“You look fine.” More than fine, actually. Strikingly handsome were better words, with his golden-brown eyes, semi-curly dark hair, and that dark stubble on his chin. “Remember, my dad knows about your disguise. He’ll be looking for the real you, so be totally up front with him about everything. Now let’s get this over with because my sister will be here in less than an hour and you need to be gone before she arrives.”
“Because?”
“She thinks you like her. And if you keep flirting with women the way you have been, they’ll think you like them, too.” Ignoring his smile, I unlocked one half of the double barn doors to get in, then closed and locked it behind us.
“Lead the way,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
My dad was reading the newspaper at the big oak desk in the office, so I rapped lightly on the frame and said, “We’re here.”
He rose and indicated the two chairs in front of the desk. “Have a seat.” His tone was all business.
“Dad, this is Case Donnelly, now known as Dimitrius Costas.”
Dad shook his hand, taking Case’s measure. “Under the circumstances, I don’t think it’s right to say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but thanks for coming in so early.”
“I’m an early riser, so it’s no problem. And it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Spencer. Athena has spoken very highly of you.”
“Let’s get right to it so we don’t run out of time. Athena’s version took a long time to tell.”
“Then I’ll make it as brief as possible.”
While Case told Dad about the chain of events that led him to our store and what happened in the days that followed, I made them coffee and brought refills. When Case finished talking, Dad took off his glasses and polished them with a cloth he kept in his top drawer, obviously thinking things over.
“Well, I have to say, you certainly don’t resemble the man on the WANTED posters, Di
mitrius—and that is the name I’ll be calling you.” He put his glasses back on. “By the way, Thenie, you did a good job of changing his looks. Now what I want to know is this, Dimitrius. What happens with the statue issue when the murders are solved? Given that you’re cleared as a suspect, of course.”
Case thought for a moment. “I return home knowing the statue is in good hands.”
It was an ambiguous statement and I could tell Dad had caught it, too. “Even though you claim your documents show that the statue belongs to your family, are you willing to leave it here without a legal battle?”
“That’s not my concern right now, sir. I’m more worried about my future as a free man.”
“Why not simply go home?” Dad asked. “Take a bus. No one will stop you.”
“I don’t have any identification and very little money. I wouldn’t even have a safe place to stay without your daughter’s help—and yours, now, too. I did consider hiking up to the next city and thumbing a ride at first. But given all the media attention, I didn’t think that was smart.”
“A wise move,” Dad said.
“There’s another reason I decided to stick around. Athena’s passion for justice raised something in me. Her concern for the Greek community struck a chord, as well, since I’ve been trying to help my Greek side of the family. So when she agreed to help me find Harry’s killer, I decided to help her fight to save Little Greece and hopefully put a stop to the Talbot’s control, as well.”
I glanced at Dad and waited as he considered Case’s predicament.
After a moment he said, “It’s admirable that you want to help, but I worry that someone’s going to trip up your story, and I hate to say this, but it may be someone from my own family.”