Nikos felt sick to his stomach. “I can’t do it. Don’t ask that of me.”
Stephanie pulled her hand away from him and stared out the window. “Then you go to Tassos’s family for Christmas. I’ll go to your parents and take your family their gifts.”
Seeing black, Nikos started the car and drove straight to the dock.
* * *
As Stephanie passed the lounge on her way to the bedroom, she saw a five-foot Christmas tree studded with colored lights set up over by the entertainment center. Yannis had been busy while they’d been gone. She walked over to it and examined some of the ornaments.
After the devastating silence in the car while Nikos drove them back to the yacht, the sight of this brought her immeasurable delight. There was no one like Nikos. But the lights brought pain, too, making a mockery of the peace and joy Christmas was supposed to bring. They’d reached an impasse. His mother’s invitation and Stephanie’s acceptance had ruined this beautiful day.
Desperate to make things right between them, she hurried to his room before he could lock her out. That’s what he’d been doing for months. The night before last she’d heard the gut-wrenching moaning and sobbing that came from his bedroom. So far she’d counted four episodes she knew about since their wedding.
When she discussed this with Yannis, the older man said it was a good sign that they weren’t happening as often as they had in the beginning, which could only mean Nikos was slowly getting better. Stephanie wanted that for him more than anything.
He was such an outstanding man; she couldn’t reconcile everything she knew about him with the side of his nature that had caused him to shut down just now. She couldn’t leave it alone. This was too serious. Without knocking, she opened the door, determined they were going to talk everything out.
She couldn’t prevent the cry that escaped when she discovered he’d removed his clothes and had just pulled on his black bathing trunks. With his back still to her, she saw the bruising at the lower part of his spine. Since he’d always worn his wet suit when they went swimming, she hadn’t realized how deep and pervasive his injury had been. To think of his lying in that hospital bed broken and in despair... She couldn’t bear it.
He wheeled around, a live, breathing, angry Adonis. That awful glittery look in his jet-black eyes impaled her, freezing the breath from her lungs. “I don’t recall inviting you in here.” The wintry tone he’d once used with her was back in full force.
Stephanie couldn’t swallow. “I was afraid I might not get an invitation. I came in to tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t let you know about your mother’s visit until now. You’ve suffered years of pain over a situation I haven’t fully comprehended until today. I’ll call your mother and tell her we can’t come.”
It was as if he’d turned to stone. She couldn’t reach him.
“I should never have attempted to tell you anything about your life or your thoughts,” she went on. “I do have an audacious nature and realize it’s a glaring flaw in my makeup. So I’ll make you a promise now that I’ll never keep anything from you again, or try to influence your thinking in any way. I swear it.”
Desolate at this point because of his silence, she turned to leave, but paused in the doorway. “I love the Christmas tree. No woman in the world has a better husband than you. I’m sorry you can’t say the same thing about your wife. To tell you I’m sorry I came to Greece would be a lie, but I’d give anything if I’d been honest with you after your mother left the other day. I’ve trespassed on your soul, Nikos. Forgive me. It will never happen again.”
She rushed to her room and lay down on her back, pressing the pillow against her face to stifle her sobs. It wasn’t long before she heard the familiar sound of the cruiser. Who knew when Nikos would be back? And when he did return, there was no guesstimating how soon he’d speak to her again.
Stephanie knew he couldn’t tolerate the sight of her right now. She didn’t blame him. That’s why he’d taken off. Perhaps the best thing to do was give him some space. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. While she put a plan into action, she ate a substantial lunch and made a phone call.
Once that was done she packed an overnight bag with several days’ worth of clothes. On her way out she stopped in the lounge to put some presents under the tree for Nikos. Presents made it look ready for Christmas. After that she wrote him a note, leaving it on his desk where he would see it.
Dear Nikos. We’ve been together constantly since I barged into your life. What was it Kahlil Gibran once wrote? “There should be spaces in your togetherness.”
I agree with his philosophy, so I’m taking myself off until the day after Christmas.
Don’t worry. I won’t be far. Please be assured I won’t embarrass you by bothering anyone you know or care about. Our business stays our business. I think you know I would never do anything that put me or the baby in danger. I want Alex to know his father. S.
Nikos could be gone for the rest of the day. As for Yannis, he’d said he’d be back at three. She had a half hour to leave without him seeing her.
The town had only two taxis. One of them was waiting for her at the dock. She got in and told the driver to drop her off on a corner where she’d seen used cars for sale. Her passport still showed she was single. The man who sold her the car had no idea she was Kyria Vassalos. That suited her fine. It didn’t take long before she was in possession of a clunker that cost only five hundred dollars.
Free to do what she wanted, Stephanie drove to a wonderfully sited convent nestled among pines and ringed with a magnificent garden. The weary traveler was welcome to stay at their hospice, which was located on the west side of the island, about ten minutes from town. During one of their lessons Borus had told her she should visit to learn its history.
En route she passed several quiet coves, enchanted by the scenery and grateful she could use her bank card to draw money from her final paycheck. She still had enough to pay the fee for board and room for a week.
The convent suited her perfectly. For the time being she intended to get some reading done and keep her feet up. But when she got restless, she could take short drives around the island. It helped to know she’d be out of Nikos’s hair for a while. He’d been hurtled into a world of pain after he’d left the Caribbean, and deserved a break.
As she’d told him, she was the ball on the end of his chain. By her staying here at the convent, out of sight, he didn’t have to drag it around. For the time being he didn’t know where to find her and that was good. He hovered too much.
On the plus side, she could give in to her emotions, which were out of control at this stage of her pregnancy. If she wanted to cry her heart out at night, no one would hear her through the thick walls.
Once in her simple room, she sank down on the bed. Right now she was so exhausted she couldn’t move. For the last hour she’d had pain in her lower back. It was from all the walking she’d done today. Tomorrow she’d go out in the garden, but not now.
* * *
Evening had fallen before Nikos returned to the dock. Yannis was waiting to help him tie up the cruiser. But there was a worried look on the older man’s face that raised the hair on the back of Nikos’s neck.
“Is Stephanie all right?”
“That’s the problem, Nikos. I don’t know. When I came back at three she was gone, but she left a note on the desk in the lounge.”
Forgetting the pain in his back, Nikos raced along the pier to the yacht and hurried down the stairs. As he read her message, his heart plunged like a boulder crashing down a mountain. “She had to have called for a taxi to take her to one of the tourist lodgings. I’ll call and find out which one.”
But when he finally reached the driver who’d picked her up, the man was no help. “I dropped her off on a corner by the Pappas Market. She was carrying an overnight bag.”
Searing pain ripped Nikos open before he hung up. “I’ve got to find her tonight!”
Yannis looked grim. “You get dressed and we’ll go to every place where she might be staying.”
Nikos changed into jeans and a sweater before they took off for town in the car. They combed the whole area for an hour, without results. “I should never have closed up on her like I did earlier. She couldn’t help it that Mother came to see her.”
“That was my fault, Nikos.”
He stared hard at his friend. “No. The fault is all mine for letting old wounds fester until the result caused Stephanie to run away from me. I can’t lose her, Yannis.” His voice shook. “Where in the hell has she gone?”
“How did she find you?”
The shrewd seaman’s question gave Nikos pause. He struggled for breath. “Through sheer persistence and determination.” His mind reeled with possibilities. “Since she’s not at any local lodgings, she had to get a ride with someone to somewhere else.” His turmoil grew worse.
Yannis patted his shoulder. “Perhaps she went to another part of the island.”
“Maybe. But there’s no place for her to stay, only ruins and churches.”
“Could she have gone back to the dock, to take the boat to Chios?”
“Anything’s worth looking into.” Nikos got the port authority on the line. The captain in charge of the last crossing was emphatic that a blonde, pregnant American woman had not been on board.
Nikos shook his head. “She’s here somewhere, Yannis. Maybe she crept on some fishing boat down at the harbor to spend the night.”
Yannis scratched his head. “I don’t think she’d do that, not in her condition. She’s so excited about that baby, she’d never put herself in precarious circumstances. Besides, everyone knows you. I doubt she’d do anything that could embarrass you. She said as much in the note.”
Nikos stared blindly at the water in the distance. “She had to get help from someone, but in my gut I know she wouldn’t turn to Tassos or my family. She hasn’t made any friends yet.”
“That’s not exactly true.”
His gaze swerved to Yannis. “What do you mean?”
“Bulos.”
Though she’d spent ten hours a week for months with her language teacher, Nikos still ruled him out and shook his head. “Let’s go home and see if she’s back on board the
Diomedes.
If not, I’ll think about bringing in the police.”
Except that she expected him to trust her enough to take care of herself and come back when she was ready. The police would want to know why she was missing and would figure out she and Nikos were having a domestic quarrel. It would be the talk of the Oinousses.
By three in the morning it was clear she wasn’t coming back. Nikos thought he’d been at the end of his rope in the hospital, but this was agony in a new dimension. If anything untoward happened to her or the baby because of him, life wouldn’t be worth living.
Yannis made them coffee. Both of them were too wired from anxiety to do anything but pace. They were waiting for morning so they could begin their search all over again.
At five to four Niko’s cell phone rang, causing him to almost jump out of his skin. He clicked on. “Stephanie?”
“No, sir. This is Sister Sofia at the Convent of the Holy Virgin on Oinoussa. Are you Kyrie Vassalos?”
Beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead. “Speaking.” He couldn’t imagine why she’d called.
“Your wife checked into our hospice this afternoon.”
The hospice! Of course!
“But she’s been in labor ever since and is now at the hospital.”
Nikos weaved in place. “God bless you, Sister. You’ve just saved my life!” He hung up. “Yannis? Stephanie is at the hospital having the baby!”
With Yannis driving, they made it there in record time. Nikos burst inside the emergency entrance. “My wife!” he said to the surprised attendant. “Stephanie Vassalos—”
“She’s in the delivery room.”
“Has she had the baby?”
“Not yet. Dr. Panos says for you to come with me. I’ll get you ready. We need to hurry.”
The next few minutes were a blur as Nikos was instructed to sanitize his hands before being led into the delivery room. He was told to sit.
“Nikos!” He heard Stephanie call out to him.
“You’re just in time,” the doctor said without missing a beat. “Your baby fooled everyone and decided to come a few weeks early. Push, Stephanie. That’s it. One more time.”
Nikos’s wet eyes flew to his brave, beautiful wife, propped on the bed. The strain in her body and the way she worked with the doctor was something he’d never forget.
“Ah, there’s the head. This guy’s got your husband’s black hair.”
He heard his wife’s shouts of excitement.
“Keep pushing. Here comes Alexandros.” Dr. Panos held the baby up in the air by the ankles and Nikos heard a gurgle, followed by a lusty cry.
Stephanie started sobbing for joy. “How does he look?” she begged the doctor.
“You can see for yourself after I’ve cut the cord.” A minute later he laid the baby across her stomach and wiped off the fluid. “Come on over here, Papa. You can examine your son together.”
As wonderful as that sounded, Nikos leaned over to kiss Stephanie’s dry lips first. “Are you all right? I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
Her eyes were a blazing blue. “But you have been, all this time, and I’ve never been so happy in my life. Isn’t he beautiful?”
His gaze flew to the baby, who’d stopped crying and gone quiet. His dark eyes looked at Nikos so seriously, reminding him of the way Stephanie sometimes did. He studied the rest of him. His perfect hands with their long fingers were curled into fists. It was like looking through a kaleidoscope, where all the bits and pieces formed a miraculous design. This one was made from the molds of a Walsh and a Vassalos.
Nikos saw Stephanie’s mouth and chin, his brother’s ears, his mother’s black hair, his own fingers and toes, his father’s body shape.
My son. My one and only.
“He looks exactly like you, Nikos.”
He turned his head toward her. “You’re in there, too. But I want you to know that even if he didn’t look like me, it wouldn’t matter, because I fell in love with the two of you a long time ago. A miracle happened on the island.”