by Holly Rayner
“A little birdie told me you like those. It’s good fortune I had a whole container of them in the fridge.”
To my pleasure, Nikos takes the seat between me and Maya.
“Spoon,” Nikos tells Maya, who’s grasping at strawberries with her hands.
I could tell them that I’m a grabby gal myself, but that would probably mean undermining his efforts to teach Maya table manners.
“I’m glad we’re back,” Maya says, munching on a strawberry.
“Same here. Pancakes?” I slip a couple onto her plate without waiting for a response. “You might even like them better than your dad’s crepes.”
“Impossible,” Nikos says.
“Oh, really?” I waggle my eyebrows at him. “Want to take a bet on that?”
He drums his fingers against his lips. “Hmm. Who would be the judge? Who do we know who has had both my crepes and is about to try your pancakes?”
“I don’t know.” Lifting my hands, I sigh in defeat. “If only we knew someone.”
“Me!” Maya giggles. “I can be the judge.”
“Are you sure, Maya?” I question. “We don’t want to ask too much of you.”
“Yes, yes.” She bounces in her seat. “Let me be the judge!”
I eye Nikos. “What do you think?”
“I believe her to be perfect for the job,” he says. “As to the matter of what we are betting…”
“One dollar,” I insert.
“Ouch.” He palms his chest. “You’re serious about this.”
“I’m confident.” I nod at Maya, who’s ready with a fork clutched in her hand. “Put some strawberries on the pancakes first.”
“No fair,” Nikos says. “That is rigging the bet. She would like anything with strawberries on it.”
“It’s absolutely fair,” I say, while Maya laughs into her hand. “I have it on good authority that you put berries and whipped cream on your crepes. If Maya has mine plain, that’s giving you the advantage.”
“Okay, okay,” Nikos concedes. “Maya, proceed with the tasting.
Maya’s eyes sparkle, looking between me and Nikos as she dramatically cuts into the pancakes with her fork.
I lean against the table and hold my breath, pretending to be in the greatest anticipation of my laugh. Nikos only shakes his head and covers his face while he laughs.
“I can’t watch,” he says, growing somber and peeking between splayed fingers.
“Yeah,” I tease, “because you’re going to lose. Right, Maya?”
She laughs so hard the fork misses her mouth.
“Let’s see.” Maya finally takes a bite of pancake. She chews. She swallows. She takes a bite of the second batch.
“Hmm,” she says.
“I can’t take it!” Nikos wails.
“Maya?” I ask.
“They’re both good!” she proclaims.
“A tie?” I ask. “Aw, man, I was hoping to score that dollar.”
“Good job,” Nikos says. He offers me his hand. I shake it, and the joy in his eyes makes me want to sing. This is his happy place: time with Maya.
And maybe… me?
“What about the bacon?” Maya asks, attempting to stab a piece with her fork only to have it break in two. “Who makes that better?”
“Merely from the looks of it,” Nikos says, “I can tell you it is Julia.”
“Can I have coffee?” Maya asks, switching the conversation just like that.
Nikos and I both laugh.
“How about orange juice?” I offer.
“Yes, please.” She grins. “I had to try.”
“You have enough energy as it is,” Nikos says.
I pour Maya a glass of juice, and the conversation turns to little things: Sterling’s upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, the new dog across the street.
The big matter at hand is never mentioned. It hangs over mine and Nikos’ heads, but hopefully not Maya’s.
Breakfast finished, Nikos takes Maya’s plate.
“Can I watch cartoons some more?” she asks.
Nikos hesitates, shooting me a look.
I shrug. “I have nowhere to be. Up to you, Dad.”
“Only for twenty minutes,” Nikos says. “While I clean up the kitchen.”
“Can I play with Emily today?” Maya asks.
“I will text her mother and see.”
“Woo-hoo!” Maya is off, sprinting for the living room couch.
As Nikos carries our plates to the dishwasher, I rise at a slower pace. A little more than twelve hours before, he was set on leaving this life behind for good. That includes Maya’s everything. Her friends. Her house.
Now, their lives are (seemingly) back to normal.
“Will Maya be okay?” I ask.
Nikos’ shoulders drop. He clutches the edge of the counter, his head hanging heavy.
“I made a mistake,” he says, his voice low and dark. “I know I should not have taken her like that. I told her we were moving and then abruptly changed my mind again. What kind of father does that?”
I touch his shoulder, my heart breaking. “From what I’ve seen and what you’ve told me, you always put Maya first. Both the ideas of leaving and coming back to Sterling, they were made with her best interest in mind. Just because you changed your mind doesn’t mean you’re a bad father. You did your best, and that makes you amazing.”
He lifts his face to study mine. “Thank you. I do have something to worry about, though.”
Nausea makes me weak. “I won’t tell anyone about your past.”
“I know.” He takes my hand. “It is not that I speak of. It’s the future. I have come to a point I never thought I would.”
“What’s that?”
He draws a piece of paper from his pocket. It’s not until he turns it over that I see it’s the letter from his sister. Creases wear the paper down, a sign that it’s been folded and unfolded many times.
“Looks like you’ve read that a lot,” I say.
“I have,” he says. “And I have finally come to a decision.”
Chapter 22
Julia
“Okay,” I say slowly, carefully—the reason being that even though Nikos has said he’s made up his mind, he looks uncertain.
Frown tugging on his lips, he stares at the floor. “I have to go to Kalista.”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
“You do?” His gaze bores into me.
“For sure,” I nod.
He nods as well, but his gesture is slower… and still not full of heart.
“Nikos.” I take his hand, not sure yet what I’ll say next but needing to touch him. After thinking I’d lost him for good, I’d be a fool to not seize any opportunity to get my hands on him.
He sets his other hand on top of mine. “I do love to hear you say my name.”
“I like it. It suits you well.”
“You suit me well.” He touches the side of my face. “I am sorry about leaving.”
“That’s not something you need to apologize for ever again.” I draw a deep breath. “Let’s put that in the past, okay? As I think we already agreed, we both had our reactive moments, and we’re only human.”
“I like to think I can be the best kind of human possible, if only I push myself,” he says.
“I’m sure you do,” I smirk.
He looks in the direction of the living room. “I should take her home soon.”
“Does she have anywhere to be? I know she asked if she can go to her friend’s house.”
“Perhaps…” Nikos’ lips purse.
“Come outside with me for a minute.” I tug gently on his hand, but it doesn’t take much. He walks with me out the back door and into the sunny morning.
It’s a nice yard, one that was designed with the need for minimal upkeep in mind. We walk across the bright green grass, two rows of manicured hedges on either side of us. At the very back of the property, set up against a wooden fence, a tall oak provides shade.
It’s a tree I’ve admired from a distance many times. For some reason, I’ve never walked back here, but this morning I feel compelled.
Plopping onto the grass, I draw my knees up and hook my arms over them. Nikos sits next to me. He plucks a blade of grass and twirls it between his fingers.
“After everything I’ve done,” he says, “if I return there and it turns out to have been a mistake, I will hate myself for it.”
The words burn almost as if they were an insult directed at me. It hurts knowing he believes he could undermine all the good he’s done with one choice.
“It can’t be a mistake,” I say.
“What makes you believe that?” He tosses the blade into the yard.
“You don’t know what will happen there, right?”
He makes a noise of aggravation. “I have a good guess, but no. Ultimately, I do not know.”
“Even if you don’t get the warm welcome you deserve, that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. No one can blame you for trying.”
He scoffs. “Perhaps it is wrong, but I don’t want to try.” Nikos pauses. “Does that change how you think of me? Does it lessen your desire to be near me, knowing I am a man with that callous of a heart?”
“No,” I say without hesitation. “Because I know that’s not the case at all. Your heart is anything but callous.”
“My father—”
“Did you leave Kalista out of anger at him, or desire to protect your new family?”
“Both.”
“But which was stronger?” I ask.
“My desire to give Melissa and Maya the life they deserved, to make sure they were surrounded by love and never had to be subjected to the kind of hate my father spewed.”
“Exactly.”
“I do not see your point.”
I take his hand in mine. “Nikos…” Despite the seriousness of the conversation, a smile plays on my lips. “Sorry. I just really like saying your name.”
“And I really like hearing you say it.” His warm fingers brush a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I think you said that a few minutes ago.”
“Do you wish for me to stop saying it?”
“Definitely not,” I laugh. “What was I saying?”
God, the way this man distracts me…
“If you forgot already,” he says, “it must not have been that important.”
“Yes, it was!” I slap my knee. “What I was saying is that, if you go to Kalista, no matter what happens there, you can weather it. If it turns out your dad hasn’t changed at all, then fine. You can forget all about ever having tried. But if you don’t go and you end up never seeing him again…”
“That is what I have expected the last eight years,” Nikos reminds me. “I planned to never see him again.”
“You might regret it.”
A silence descends around us.
“I have not regretted cutting ties thus far,” he says.
“Then why did you just tell me you’ve decided to go there?”
“Because…” He falters. “Because my sister requests my company.”
“Is that really it? She’s been asking you to come back and visit your sick dad for a while now.”
Nikos runs a hand over his face. Dark half-moons hang under his eyes.
“What changed between yesterday and today?” I ask, though the answer hits me before I’ve finished with the question.
Nikos smirks. “You. I realized how important you are to me, and that it was foolish for me to think that I could keep others at bay for the rest of my life and not suffer for it.”
“So what do you think of my advice? And I know you want to go to Kalista.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because,” I sigh, “who wouldn’t want the chance to? I saw the look on your face when you showed me the paintings of your home. The beauty in that work speaks volumes.”
“It is not that simple, though. How I wish it were only a matter of wanting or not wanting to see my home.”
“Look, this is what I know for sure, Nikos...” I pause, and meet his gaze. “I would give anything to have another day with either one of my parents.” My throat thickens, and the tears come on with no warning.
Nikos’ strong hand grips my shoulder. We sit quietly, and I push the tears back. This isn’t the time for me to start bawling over what I’ve been through.
“Your parents were wonderful people, I am sure,” Nikos says.
“They weren’t perfect,” I say. “We had our fights and hard times. I only wish that I could go back and know that decades with them in my life wasn’t a guarantee. And you know what else?”
A sudden memory has struck me.
“What’s that?” Nikos asks.
“I know your heart hasn’t been so closed off that it feels nothing for your father, no matter what he’s done.”
“Because of how I treat Maya? That is—”
“No,” I interrupt. “Because of how you treat others in general. I met a woman at the coffee shop, and she said that when her husband was sick last year you gave them thousands of dollars. Just gave it to them.”
Nikos blinks several times and says nothing.
“It’s true, right?” I press.
His palm turns over. “They needed the assistance.”
“And you were there for them, expecting nothing in return. You give whatever you can with no demand that the gesture be reciprocated.”
“You flatter me, Julia.”
“And you can’t blame me for it.”
A white butterfly flits between us. We watch it flap its way to the top of the fence and then go over it.
“I suppose,” Nikos says, “if I do not go to Kalista, I will never hear the end of it from you.”
“But that’s not a reason to go.”
“No,” he says, “it is not.” Nikos brings my hand to his lips for a kiss. “You have convinced me. I am going.”
“I thought you had already decided,” I tease.
“And you, dear Julia, see right through me.”
“When will you go?”
His throat rolls with a swallow. “Today.”
“Today?” I cry.
“Yes. If there is an available flight this late.”
I’m not the one going to see my estranged father, but the thought of Nikos doing that within the next twelve hours has me crazy nervous. I can only imagine how he’s feeling.
“Thank you for your help with this,” he says.
“All I did was pester you.”
“I suppose it was what I needed.” His face turns thoughtful. “Julia… I know this is late notice, but would you consider going to Kalista with me?”
“Me?” My jaw drops.
“Yes.” He licks his lips. “I know that it is asking a lot of you, especially at such a short notice, and I would certainly pay for your ticket—”
“Nikos.” I touch my fingertips to his lips. “Thank you for asking me. I would love to join you. I’m by your side through this, no matter what happens.”
His smile is brighter than the sun. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for asking me. I mean, wow… Kalista…”
“Have you ever been?”
“No.”
“You will love it,” he says, the certainty in his voice alone enough to convince me.
“I’m sure I will.”
Does he want me to come into the actual palace to meet his father? My pulse quickens. That’s the kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I wouldn’t turn down, but the thought still makes me nervous. What will the king say when his long-lost son returns with yet another American woman in tow?
Not that it matters. Nikos has a right to live any life he chooses, and I’m proud of him for returning to Kalista. It’s clearly not going to be easy.
“I will need to hurry to make arrangements,” Nikos says, “if we are to depart today.”
“Okay.”
His hand slips from mine, a
nd he leaves me with another gentle smile before going into the house. I should probably get to packing, but right now I’m in a bit of shock and I have to sit here until it passes.
My phone rings in my pocket, and I pull it out to see it’s Laura calling.
Since Nikos’ arrival last night, I’ve barely thought about my friends or anyone else in the whole world. I’ve been that absorbed with Nikos and Maya.
“Hey,” I answer as I stand and brush grass off my shorts.
“Anything new?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say, walking back toward the house. “It looks like everything is going to be okay.”
“What happened? Have you heard from them?”
The house is quiet, the TV off. Nikos must have taken Maya home with him. Going to the front window, I check the landscape and confirm that Nikos has moved his car one driveway over.
“They’re back,” I say. “Nikos is back.”
“The prince has returned,” Laura says in a dramatic voice.
“Yeah, and you won’t say a word about him to anyone, right?” I ask, turning from the window.
“Of course not. Never. So is everything okay between you two?”
“I think so. He asked me to go to Kalista with him.”
“Wait. What?”
“Yeah.” In the kitchen, I go to finish loading up the dishwasher, but Nikos has beaten me to it. Flipping it on, I walk for the staircase instead.
“Why is he going there?”
“He’s going to visit his dad, who’s sick.”
“And he wants you with him,” Laura coos.
Throwing open the closet doors, I inspect my clothes.
“I’m nervous,” I admit.
“You’re meeting the family for the first time. It makes sense.”
“Ha. I wish it were that easy. I’m meeting a father who will probably have a conniption the moment he sets eyes on me.”
“When do you leave?”
“Today.”
“Oh my God,” Laura breathes.
“Yeah.” Drawing an orange dress from the closet, I lay it on the bed. It’s a warm color, with brown buttons going down the length of it. Perfect.
“Wish me luck,” I say.
“You’ll do splendidly. Keep me updated.”
“I will.”
“And Julia?”
“Yeah?”