Now he was back with a different explanation of what had happened the night she’d waited for him at the church. Wherever the truth lay, it had happened too long ago to do anything about now. The damage had been too pervasive for too many people. You couldn’t go back and pick up the pieces. It wasn’t possible.
“Mom?” Ari came running into her room.
“I’m in the bathroom changing!” Mortified that Theo was still on her mind, heat stormed her cheeks. “I’ll be right there! I had to phone Dax’s mother first.”
“Aunt Rachel wants to know if you’re coming out to the pool.”
“Of course!”
“She says Stasi’s starving and wants to eat outside now.”
When her brother got hungry, it was wise to feed him. “Tell her I’ll be right there,” she called from the doorway. A second later she walked in the room with her towel and discovered Ari still standing there. Dax had to be downstairs. If Ari didn’t want to talk, he would have run back to the pool.
“What is it, honey?”
He stared at her with the most somber expression. “Does my father want to see me again?”
Naturally it was about Theo. “You know he does. That’s why he went to all the trouble to take you on a hike today.”
“But he didn’t say anything before he left in his helicopter, so does that mean he changed his mind about me?”
Was it fear or hope she heard in his question? “Ari, come here.” She sat on the end of the bed. He walked over to her. “While we were alone, I told him our family is on vacation right now and asked him if he would wait to plan another visit until we get back to Athens. I hope that eases your mind a little.”
By his frown, it appeared her answer didn’t satisfy him. She began to realize there was nothing she could say to help him right now.
“Will I have to go with him?”
She sucked in her breath. “I tell you what. If you don’t want to be alone with him, I’ll go with you again next time.” She searched his eyes. “He was nice to you today, wasn’t he?” Her son didn’t say anything. Stella couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind.
Ari stared at his feet. She recognized that look of uncertainty. “Did your father frighten you today in some way I don’t know about? You have to be honest and help me understand.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“But he did upset you, didn’t he.”
“Yes.”
He dashed out of the room leaving her totally desolate. She hurried through the myriad of corridors and down some steps to catch up to him. When she reached the patio he was just jumping in the pool.
“Oh, good!” Rachel called to her. “Stasio! Come on out! We’re ready to eat.”
Stella found Dax and made sure he filled his plate. She fixed herself some food too and sat on the swing next to him because Ari was still swimming.
Speaking in a hushed tone she said, “Did you really have a good time today?”
He nodded. “It was great!”
“Then could you tell me what Ari’s father did that seemed to upset Ari? Do you know anything?”
“No, but he got mad at me.”
She frowned. “Mr. Pantheras got mad at you?”
“No. Ari.”
“He did? When?”
“When we got back to the house he wouldn’t talk to me and started playing with the girls.”
That didn’t sound like Ari. “I’m sorry, honey. His behavior doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“He told me I should go home.”
Stella hated hearing that. “He didn’t mean it, Dax. Of course your feelings got hurt, but he’ll get over what’s wrong and apologize. After dinner I’ll have a talk with him.” Another one. “I bet he tells you he’s sorry before we finish eating.”
Except that Ari didn’t do anything typical for him. He stayed in the pool, refused to eat and teased Cassie until she got out of the water and ran to her mother in tears. Even Stasio was aware something was wrong and got in the pool to talk to him.
But Ari wasn’t having any of it and left the patio on a run. Stasio sent her a questioning glance. This wasn’t good.
“Excuse me for a minute, Dax. I’ll be back.”
With a pounding heart she chased after her son. When she caught up to him, he was on the verge of locking his bedroom door.
“Ari—” She crushed him in her arms, refusing to let him go.
It didn’t take long before the sobs came. In his whole life she’d never seen him convulsed like this.
“Tell me what you’re feeling, darling. Let me help,” she begged. “I know you’re upset over your father.”
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Then we won’t.”
“I’m glad I don’t have to see him until after our vacation.” He wiped his eyes. “I’m going to go back downstairs now.”
“To talk to Stasio?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Nothing.”
“Please wait—” He was about to leave. “Dax said you got mad at him. How come?”
“Because he made me mad while we were hiking.”
“I see.” Except that she didn’t. Dax was a darling boy. They’d always gotten along perfectly. “That happens with friends. You’ve had a lot of togetherness today. When you go back downstairs, do me a favor and make up with him? He’s out on the patio feeling bad. If the shoe were on the other foot, you’d be feeling pretty awful about now.”
“I don’t want to make up.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.” Stella didn’t see her son act this way very often. “You still have to apologize because he’s our guest. And while you’re at it, how about telling Cassie you’re sorry for keeping her beach ball away from her in the pool? She’s only four, honey. When a big boy like you takes her stuff, she can’t defend herself.”
“Sorry.”
“Tell her that. Okay?”
He nodded, then disappeared.
By the time she reached the patio, Ari had found Dax and had started to eat a lamb shishkabob with him while they talked privately. Pretty soon the boys got in the pool and played nicely with Cassie, letting her have the ball when it was her turn. Stasio flashed her a smile, glad all was well again.
Stella slipped in the deep end and did the backstroke, trying to unwind after a day she’d never forget. Ari might be acting normally right now, but she knew that deep inside, his emotions were in turmoil. So were hers.
Maybe she was wrong to ask Ari not to say anything to Stasio yet, but she wanted to believe they could handle this situation on their own. Stella hated to think she had such a weak character she always turned to her brother for help. How would Ari ever stand on his own two feet if he ran to Stasio every time there was a crisis? It had to stop.
The next day Stella walked into Ari’s bedroom with some ice water for him. They’d just come back from a day’s sailing. He’d picked up a little too much sun and complained he didn’t feel very well. While the rest of the family and Dax played in the pool before dinner, she excused herself to see about him.
He lay on his back on top of the covers with his suntanned arm covering his eyes.
She sat down next to him and felt his forehead.
“You’re hot. Drink this, honey. I’m going to get my phone and call the doctor.”
She raced to her room, then hurried back to him. Relieved to see him drink part of it, she phoned information and got connected to the doctor’s office. His receptionist said he was busy. After leaving a message for him to call, she hung up and took the glass from Ari.
“I don’t want to see the doctor. I’ll be okay.”
“Let’s let him be the judge of that.”
“I wish Dax could go home, but I know he can’t.”
Dax again.
“Of course he can. All I have to do is call Elani and she’ll come for him.” She studied him with an aching heart. He hadn’t been the same since the hi
ke with Theo yesterday. “Did you two have trouble again today?”
“Yes.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
“No.” He turned over so he wouldn’t have to look at her.
“We have to talk, honey. Something’s very wrong. Don’t you know how much I love you?”
“Yes.”
On impulse she said, “If you need to talk to your uncle about your father, then I’ll ask him to come up here after he’s through eating.”
“I don’t want Stasi.” That had to be a first. He rolled off the bed so fast, she knew she’d touched a live wire.
“Why aren’t you getting along with Dax?”
“Because he wants to talk about stuff I don’t want to talk about.”
“You mean like personal things?”
He nodded.
On a burst of inspiration she said, “Has he been asking questions about your father?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?”
“He thinks my daddy is cool.”
“I take it Dax got along well with him.”
“They talked all the time.”
She knew she was getting closer to some kind of answer. “Dax’s father is an older man and fairly quiet. Dax probably liked Theo’s attention.”
“He keeps asking me about when I’m going to see him again so we can all do stuff together.” His eyes filled with tears. “He’s not Dax’s daddy!”
“What do you mean?”
He blinked back the tears to keep them from falling. “My daddy liked Dax better than me.”
“What?”
“I thought he wanted to be with me, but he was nicer to Dax. I hate both of them.”
“Oh, darling!” Stella reached for him and hugged him harder while she tried to comprehend that far from feeling hostility toward his father, Ari was jealous of the attention Theo had paid to his best friend.
In order to feel jealous, it meant you had to care.
This meant Ari had nursed a longing for his birth father all his cognitive life, but it had lain dormant until put to the first test.
Before yesterday she’d assumed Theo would see that it was too late to bond with Ari. She’d been positive her son would never be able to warm up to him. Ari already had a surrogate father in Stasio, the best man in the world. He didn’t need or want another one. In the end Theo would find out it was no use, but the surprise had been on Stella.
She had to do something immediately to help Ari, but what? Only one person had the power to make this right. For once it was beyond Stasio’s ability to fix, which was a revelation in itself.
While she rocked her son back and forth, her cell phone rang. The last thing she wanted to do was answer it, but it was probably the doctor.
“Let me see who it is.” She let go of him long enough to reach for her phone on the dresser.
She recognized the blank caller ID. It was Theo! She almost bit her lip all the way through before answering it. “Hello?”
“Stella?” The sound of his deep voice permeated through her body to the soles of her feet. “I promised you I wouldn’t try to see Ari until after your vacation, but I need to see you tonight. Alone,” he added, sending a shock wave through her body. “I’m here in Palaiopolis at a small bistro called Yanni’s. I’m seated at a table on the terrace overlooking the water and will wait an hour for you to come.”
Stella’s pulse sped up. She’d been there once with Rachel, but it was a romantic spot meant for couples so she had never gone to that particular restaurant again. “I-is there something wrong?” she stammered.
“Yes. I’ll tell you when you get here.”
She shifted her weight nervously. “I don’t know if I can come without arousing suspicion.”
“It’s important.” After a slight pause, “While you’re thinking about it, I’d like to talk to Ari for a minute and tell him how much our outing meant to me yesterday. With Dax around I couldn’t say all the things I wanted to. Do you think he’d be willing to come to the phone or call me back? If he doesn’t want to do either, then I’ll leave it alone.”
Stella couldn’t believe the timing of his call or the reasons for it. But she heard something in his voice that sounded like he was anxious. “Just a minute and I’ll check.”
She put it down on the dresser and walked over to Ari. “It’s your father on the phone. He’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
That brought Ari’s head around. “What does he want?”
Her poor boy had been suffering all last night and today. She’d known it, but she hadn’t known about the jealousy.
“He said there are things he wanted to tell you but couldn’t because Dax was there. You don’t have to talk to him now. He said you could call him anytime or not at all. It’s your choice, honey.”
He took a long time making up his mind before he walked over to pick it up.
She held her breath as he said a tentative hello.
At first it was a very one-sided conversation with Theo doing most of the talking. She thought it would end fast, but like every assumption she’d made since he’d come back into her life, he surprised her with the unexpected.
In a minute Ari grew more animated. He actually laughed at one point. Before the phone call, she hadn’t thought it possible. The call went on another five minutes.
All of a sudden he said, “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do I have to wait till our vacation is over to see my father again?”
How utterly incredible! She’d died and come back to life several times since Theo had returned to Athens. “What about Dax?”
“Dad says I can ask him to come with us if I want. It’s up to me.”
Amazing. Theo had taken the sword out of their son’s hand without knowing it. “Then it’s fine.”
Stella couldn’t believe she’d just said that, but after Ari had been honest with her just now, she was thankful tonight’s crisis had been abated by the only person who could help their son.
The fact that Theo was the cause of all the trouble in the first place hadn’t escaped her, but none of that mattered in light of Ari’s pain which seemed to have vanished at the sound of his father’s voice. She would call the doctor back and tell him everything was okay after all.
“Mom? Do we have anything planned for tomorrow?”
That soon?
“Nothing special.”
More conversation ensued before he walked over with her phone still in his hand. She waited for him to say something.
“Did you make plans?”
He made an affirmative sound in an offhand manner like it was no big deal, but the light in his brown eyes told her it was a very big deal.
“Mind filling me in first?”
“Dad’s going to fly us to Meteora at four o’clock. He says that’s where the monasteries are. We’re going to hike around until it gets dark. He’ll bring his telescope so we can look at the stars. Maybe we’ll see some UFOs.”
Stella could only marvel.
“It’s a good thing your aunt Rachel won’t know about this or she’d want to go with you.”
“Don’t worry. He said no women allowed this trip.” This trip? Theo was doing everything right. She could find no fault. “I’ve got to tell Dax.”
“Not yet,” she cautioned him. “You and I still need to talk for a minute first. Stay here.”
“Okay. Dad wants to speak to you again.” He handed her the phone.
“Theo?” she asked too breathlessly for her own ears.
“Ari’s response was more than I’d hoped for. It’s yours I’m counting on now. This time, however, I’m the one waiting for you to show up. Let’s pray no dark forces will prevent you from arriving.”
Before she could say anything, Stella heard the click. It echoed the thud of her heart.
“Mom? Do you think Aunt Rachel would let me borrow her photos of Mars some time? I want him to see them.”
“I’m sure she will.”
“When do you think I could ask her?”
“Honey? I was hoping we’d keep this from the family until after we go back to Athens. You know, until we’ve got things a little more settled.”
“Okay.”
“Ari? Listen to me. Your father’s here on Andros.”
His eyes lit up. “He is?”
“Yes. He says he has to talk to me about something very important before he flies back to Salamis. I…I told him I would try to meet him, but I need your help because I don’t want anyone else to know about it.”
“I won’t tell.”
“I know that, so what I’d like you to do is stay here in your room and get ready for bed. I’ll send Dax up to keep you company and you can tell him what your father has planned for tomorrow. In the meantime I’ll tell Rachel I need to do an errand and will be right back.”
“I wish I could go.”
“Not this time, honey. Your father and I have things we need to discuss alone. Can you understand that?” He nodded. “You’ll be seeing him tomorrow, right?”
His lips broke into a smile. “Yeah.”
Stella kissed him and hurried to her room for her purse. She didn’t dare change out of her pants and top she’d worn sailing. It might give her away.
“Rachel?” she said a minute later. Everyone was out by the pool eating. “Ari’s resting. I think he got too hot, but he’s feeling better now. Anyway, I’m running into town for some things he wants. I’ll be back shortly.” She turned to Dax. “When you’re through eating, Ari hopes you’ll come up.”
“I’m all finished,” he declared before darting away.
Glad everyone was preoccupied with the girls, Stella hurried out to her car and headed into town. On the way she phoned the doctor and told his receptionist that Ari was doing much better so the doctor didn’t need to call back.
Due to the tourists, she had to park a street away from Yanni’s. It was getting crowded. By the end of the evening, the night life would take over.
She hurried inside the bistro and told the hostess she was meeting someone out on the terrace. There was no sign of Boris, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there.
The other woman showed her to Theo’s candlelit table on the terrace. With every step, she wished she’d been able to wear an evening dress at least. Especially when she saw him get to his feet wearing an expensive black silk shirt and gray trousers. He stood out from the other males, drawing feminine attention from every direction including that of the sultry hostess.
The Greek's Long-Lost Son Page 5