Sweet Baklava

by Debby Mayne

  "It's so complicated, Paula. Why do men have to be so difficult?"

  "Just tell me."

  Her mother started at the beginning, when she told Mack she was bored. He suggested getting a job to stay busy and bring in some extra money. "He said he wanted to make sure we had enough money when we retired." She laughed between sniffles. "You'd think we were getting old or something."

  "Why did you hire a private investigator?"

  Her mother sighed. "Mack was away from home so much, and I remembered when your father did that he had a girlfriend."

  "Is that why you needed the money all this time?" Paula's chest constricted. "You were taking money from me to have someone follow Mack?"

  "You don't have to sound so shocked. I was trying to protect myself. You would have done the same thing if you'd been in my shoes."

  No she wouldn't. Paula took a deep breath so she could move on and find out more. "So you told him you had a job?"

  "Don't be so impatient. Let me tell my story." She went on to explain how she applied for a few jobs, but none of them would pay her enough to justify getting dressed up every day. "I had that kind of job for years, and after you grew up I swore I'd never do that to myself again."

  "Why did he think you had a job?" Paula didn't have to ask, but she needed her mother to come out and tell her the truth.

  "I didn't actually tell him I had a job . . ."

  "But?"

  "I sort of mentioned there was one I liked, and they liked me, and I got dressed the next day and left early, so he assumed . . ."

  "And you didn't set him straight?"

  "Paula, you should have seen him. I don't think I've ever seen Mack so happy—at least not since I accepted his proposal. He always loved me back in high school, but when we split up and I got pregnant . . . I don't know, I just sort of blew him off—"

  "Whoa. Back up. You were pregnant in high school? With me?"

  "Yes, with you."

  "I thought you graduated and married Dad right away."

  "I did . . . we did. Fortunately, I was only a couple of months along, so I was able to get through the rest of school without anyone else knowing." She sniffled again. "That was so long ago, and we were incredibly foolish. Back to Mack."

  Paula listened to her mother drone on and on about how she'd deceived Mack, but her mind was still wrapped around the fact that her mother was pregnant with her before she got married, and that she'd taken money to have Mack tailed. Finally, she stopped yammering.

  "Are you listening to me, Paula?"

  "Yes, of course. What do you want me to do?" She held her breath, waiting for that all too frequent request for a check.

  "I'm thinking about coming down there and staying with you."

  Paula didn't want another complication in her life, but how could she turn down her mother? "When?"

  "I'm not sure. I need to see how serious Mack is about what he said this morning."

  "Would you like for me to talk to him?"

  "About what?"

  Paula thought for a few seconds. "Never mind. It's probably not such a good idea anyway."

  "No, actually it might work out. Maybe you can tell him how hard I've worked all my life so you could go to college and have everything you needed. I don't think he realizes how many sacrifices I've had to make."

  Paula bit her lip to keep from reminding her mother that she'd gone to school on full scholarship, and she'd worked hard to pay for everything else. "I have another idea. Why don't you find a part-time job that won't take up too much of your time and start trusting Mack? That way you'll still have a lot of time to yourself, and you'll appease Mack—at least a little." Unless it was too late. "How did you explain the private investigator?"

  "It wasn't easy, but after he calmed down a little I reminded him of what your father did to me. I don't think he's completely over it, but he said he'd try if I did my part to make our marriage work. Then he started in on me about the job again."

  "Mom, you might actually enjoy having your own money, and if it helps your marriage, it makes sense."

  "Part-time jobs pay peanuts. You know that. I don't want to work at some minimum wage job where no one respects me."

  Paula thought about all the minimum wage jobs she'd had when she needed them. "Maybe you can find something good."

  "No, I don't want to do that." Paula heard the muffled sound of her mother covering the phone and muted voices. She came back on the phone. "I gotta run. I'll call you later."

  After she hung up, Paula flopped back down on her bed. Just when she thought she had her life figured out, it flipped upside down again. First Nick and now her mother. And the issue with Nick was a walk in the park next to what she'd just learned about her mom.

  Church wasn't for another couple of hours, but no way could she go back to sleep.

  After coffee and a bowl of cereal, she showered and got ready for church. She was a little surprised Nick hadn't called to see if he could pick her up.

  The first thing she did when she got to church was look around for the Town Car. Steph came running toward her as she was about to go into the Bible study room.

  "Nick told me to give you this," Steph said as she thrust an envelope toward her. "He said to tell you he'll be here in time for church and to save him a seat. He went to early services at St. Nick's with the family, and now he's helping Aunt Ursa."

  "Are you going to the Bible study?" Paula asked.

  "No, Alexa and I agreed to work in the nursery so the babies' parents can go."

  Paula nodded then went on inside. Drew approached her. "Where's your guy?"

  "I don't know, but his cousin said he'd be here for church."

  "Good."

  Drew's fiancée Molly walked up from behind and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Ready to get started, hon?"

  He took her hand and nodded. "See ya later, Paula."

  Paula sat in the back by the door, while Drew and Molly went to the front of the room to lead the Bible study. Before it began, she unfolded the note and read the puzzling comments, which read like a travelogue. When the class ended, Paula darted out of the room before anyone else could ask her where Nick was.

  She stood at the back of the church sanctuary scanning the rows. Nick wanted her to save him a seat, but she wasn't sure when he'd get there, so she found a spot on the side, about a third of the way from the back.

  Nick got to the church barely on time. His mother had asked him to help her get some things out of the shed when they got home from St. Nick's, so when Steph stopped by on her way to church, he'd handed her a note to give Paula.

  He made it through the double doors about three seconds before the music started. After a skimming glance around the room, he spotted Paula over on the side—not where they'd ever sat before. He slid into the empty space next to her.

  "Hey," he said softly.

  She held up his note. "What's this all about?"

  "It's some information about where I live in Texas."

  "Why?"

  "We'll talk about it later." Nick pointed to the front of the church, where the pastor stood with his hands lifted to get everyone's attention.

  Something was bugging Paula; Nick sensed it. Normally very calm in church, today she fidgeted— first with the corner of the service bulletin and then with the edge of her sleeve, something he knew she did when she was worried.

  Nick felt Paula's presence throughout church. As they stood together, he had to resist the temptation to put his arm around her. And when they sat, he wanted to grab her hand and savor the softness of her skin. As she turned, he caught the fragrant scent of her hair and longed to bury his nose in it. But he didn't do any of that. He remained sitting there. Like a soldier. Without feelings.

  Every so often Paula cut a glance his way. He smiled every time she did, but she never held the look long enough for him to have any idea what was going on between them.

  After the last hymn, Paula seemed antsy to get out of there. "Whoa, Pau
la, what's going on? Did I do something wrong?"

  She shook her head and glanced down. "I'm not feelin' so good."

  "Are you sick?" He placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her off to the side so people could pass.

  "I don't know, Nick. It's just . . ." She lifted her free hand and let it fall down to her side.

  "What happened?"

  When she finally looked at him, he saw that her eyes were bloodshot and her skin looked pale. "I got a call early this morning."

  "Your mother?"

  She nodded. "I'm so confused about everything."

  "C'mon, let's go for a walk. You need to talk about this."

  "I don't know, Nick. You have enough on your plate."

  "Stop." Nick stepped in front of her and tipped her face up to his. "The only thing I want on my plate is you, Paula. If you're upset, I need to know what it's all about. I want to help you." He tweaked her nose. "I'm here for you."

  He knew her well enough to know that when she tilted her head like that, she was thinking about what to do next. He held his breath until she nodded.

  "Okay, let's go outside."

  The church property sat on one of the natural beaches, so they put their things in their cars and headed down the shell-covered trail. "So what's going on with your mother?"

  Paula recapped the early morning call from her mother. As she talked, anger welled inside him. Nick refrained from saying anything until Paula finished. She'd just said that her mother got pregnant before she finished high school, and Nick realized how this must have hit her.

  "You never had any idea before?"

  She shook her head. "I knew they got married young, but I thought they did that and then got pregnant. This was the first I'd ever heard that Mom and Dad had to get married."

  "They didn't have to."

  "I know, but back then wasn't like it is now."

  "Well, at least they had you. There were options, even back then."

  "True."

  Nick thought for a moment. "Okay, so this is quite shocking to you since it was your parents. If you'd heard this about someone else, how would you have felt?"

  She shrugged. "Not as upset."

  "So your parents did what they thought was right. What's so bad about that?" He stopped and turned Paula around, taking both of her hands in his.

  "I don't know." She blinked, but a tear fell anyway.

  "They had you because the Lord had plans for you."

  "But they didn't know that."

  "It doesn't matter," Nick said. "What does matter is that you are your own person. You're a beautiful, kind, loving, successful businesswoman. You love the Lord."

  Paula didn't say a word. She just listened.

  "Don't forget that your mother is the one who first brought you to church here."

  She nodded. "The only reason she did that was because the church ladies kept coming around, and she wanted to get them off her back."

  "But she did it. She brought you here, and this is where you made friends and found your faith."

  Paula grinned. "Now that you've shown me how ridiculous I'm being, I'm starting to get hungry."

  Nick gave an answering smile. "Now that you're back to your old self, me too. Want some avgolemono soup?"

  "Where?"

  "Mama made it. She said to bring you home for lunch."

  She paused only for a second. "Okay, sounds good. You know how much I love her avgolemono."

  He laughed. "I remember when you refused to eat it because you didn't like chicken noodle soup."

  "How was I supposed to know it would be so good?" She did an about-face. "Let's go now. I'm starving."

  Nick walked Paula to her car then climbed into his uncle's car. He felt ridiculous driving around in such a humongous vehicle, but he couldn't very well say anything since it was free wheels while he was in town.

  They reached his parents' house in fifteen minutes. His mother had left a note for them on the kitchen counter.

  "Mama said she had to go help Phoebe and Ophelia, so we should just help ourselves." Nick pointed to the cupboard. "Would you mind getting a couple of bowls? I need to grab the butter and bread."

  Paula helped set the table, casting covert glances at Nick. Being with him felt cozy—at least for now. Funny how she vacillated between comfort and dizziness around him.

  As they took their seats, Nick nodded toward her. "Your turn to say the blessing."

  She thanked God for their food and for such a beautiful day. When she paused, Nick added a prayer for her mother. They opened their eyes and looked at each other.

  "Thanks, Nick. You really put me in my place about Mom."

  "I didn't mean to put you in your place. I just wanted to remind you that she loved you enough to have you. And she did work while you were growing up, so you never went hungry or anything."

  "True, but there was always a threat of moving. I constantly felt like the earth was about to shift beneath me."

  He put down his spoon and rested his arms on the table. Whoo boy, here it comes.

  "That's just it, Paula. You didn't move. She stayed right here so you could finish school."

  "I know, I know." Paula searched her brain for something else to talk about, but she didn't have to do that for long.

  "Nick!" The shout came from the front door, followed by other voices.

  "In the kitchen, Steph!" Nick hollered back. He winked at Paula. "Sounds like we're about to have a party."

  Steph, Alexa, and Charlene appeared in the kitchen. "Aunt Ursa said she made soup." The three cousins converged on the kitchen and fixed themselves bowls of soup.

  Paula loved times like this—when the Papadopoulos clan had their impromptu gatherings around the table. They never left her out or made her feel like she wasn't part of the family. Every now and then, she and Nick exchanged a glance, touching her heart even more.

  "Sshh." Charlene held her hands up then glanced at Paula. "Is that your phone?"

  Paula leaned back in time to hear it ring again. "Yeah, I didn't hear it."

  "That's because Charlene is practically sitting on it, doofus," Alexa said, reaching for the bag in the chair her sister sat in. She handed it to Paula. "Here ya go."

  The phone quit ringing, but Paula pulled it out and glanced at the missed call. It was the shop.

  "Excuse me a minute." She scooted her chair back and got up. "I need to return this call."

  17

  Oria?" Paula said. "Did you need me for something?"

  "Remember that kid who stole a bunch of soap last year? She's back."

  "Does she know you're on to her?"

  "Not yet."

  "Find a way to keep her in the shop. I'll be right there." Paula went back to the kitchen to grab her handbag. "Sorry, folks. Gotta run. Emergency at the shop."

  Nick's forehead crinkled. "Need any of us?"

  Paula shook her head. "It's just some kid who thinks she's entitled to a free bath."

  "Huh?" Nick's confused expression elicited laughter from everyone.

  "She had a klepto last year," Steph explained. "A fifteen-year-old girl tried to take off with about two hundred dollars' worth of soap."

  As Paula drove to the shop, she thought about how she'd deal with this kid. She didn't want to prosecute someone so young, and after dealing with her mother—the school bad girl when Paula went to Tarpon Springs High School—Paula knew she likely didn't have any support at home. If the "church ladies" hadn't persisted, that could have been Paula many years ago. Deep down she felt sorry for the girl, but she couldn't very well let her get away with stealing.

  When Paula arrived, the girl was still in the store "looking" at merchandise, with Oria right beside her. "May I help you?" Paula asked.

  The girl lifted a soap to her nose and shrugged. "Like I told this lady, I'm just looking." Her tone was gruff and rude.

  Paula made a quick decision to confront the issue. "I remember you, Amanda, and so does my employee. You were told to stay out
of my store."

  "For a year," the girl said without looking up.

  "That was only if you paid me back for what you took."

  "I didn't take nothing."

  "Amanda." Paula felt the frustration rise in her chest as she remembered the police officer ordering the girl to show the contents of her handbag. Amanda had dumped it on the floor and run out the door. The police officer caught up with her a block away.

  Finally, Amanda turned, rolled her eyes, and walked toward the door. "I don't like being hassled."

  The door opened and Nick walked in. Amanda nearly bumped into him.

  Nick pointed to Amanda and gave Paula a questioning look. She nodded.

  "Excuse me," he said as he closed the door before Amanda could get out. "I understand you have an issue to resolve here with my friend."

  "Stop hassling me. I'm outta here."

  "No, I don't think so." Nick leaned against the door and folded his arms as he stared down at Amanda, who shrank under his gaze. "So how's shopping?"

  Amanda bobbed her head but didn't reply. Paula stood and watched, transfixed by the scene playing out before her.

  "Any chance of letting me see what you got there?"

  "I didn't buy anything."

  Nick smiled. "I'm sure. How about what you didn't buy?"

  "Nick." Paula took a step toward them to tell him they caught Amanda before she stole anything. He held up a hand to stop her. She paused.

  Amanda shifted from one foot to the other and pulled her handbag close to her chest. "Dude, you're in so much trouble."

  Nick extended his hand. "Just give it to me, Amanda."

  He knew her name? Paula glanced over her shoulder at Oria, who shrugged.

  Amanda slowly loosened her grip on her bag, reached inside, and pulled out a couple of soaps then threw them on the floor. "Satisfied?"

  Nick looked up at Paula. "What would you like me to do now?"

  Still stunned that the girl had managed to lift product with Oria on her tail, Paula opened her mouth but couldn't think of what to say.

  Nick leaned down to look Amanda in the eye. "If I thought it would do any good, I'd call your mom, but you and I know she won't do anything. How would you like me to talk to your dad?"