of the study door. Her pulse quickened for no good reason the second a pair of jet-black eyes beneath black brows zeroed in on her.
Both men stood when she walked in wearing the same skirt and blouse she’d worn earlier. She only had three or four outfits because no more was necessary living at the hospital. But now she needed to do some shopping for a wardrobe with the money she still had left in her bank account.
Over the years Zoe had been in the priest’s study many times with other people, but she’d never laid eyes on any man as gorgeous as Vasso Giannopoulos. The thirtyish-looking male possessed facial features and a hard-muscled body that were as perfectly formed as her favorite statue of Apollo she’d only seen in pictures. No other man could possibly compare.
Her first meeting with him had been so important, she hadn’t had the luxury of studying him the way she could now. He was probably six foot two and topped the priest by several inches, having an authority about him not even Father Debakis possessed. The dark gray suit toned with a lighter gray shirt gave him a rare aura of sophistication.
“Come in and sit down, Zoe. Kyrie Giannopoulos requested that I be in on this visit with you.”
“Thank you.” She found an upholstered chair next to the couch where he sat.
Father Debakis took his place behind the desk. He nodded to the younger man. “Go ahead and tell her why you’ve asked for this meeting.”
Vasso sat forward to look at her with his hands resting on his thighs. Her gaze darted to his hands. He wore no rings. “After you left the hospital, I phoned my brother to tell him about you and your situation. We would be very happy to have you come to work for the foundation, but the position we’re offering would be on the island of Paxos in Greece.”
Zoe decided she had to be dreaming.
“Have you ever been there?”
She shook her head. “No, though I did go on a two-week university tour to England right before the fire broke out. As for our family, we took trips up and down the East Coast and into French Canada.”
After a quick breath she said, “My great-grandparents left Florina in Macedonia to escape communism after the Greek Civil War and came to the US in 1946. It was in New York my father met my mother whose family were also refugees. They’d planned to take us on a trip back there for my graduation present, but it didn’t happen.”
“Maybe now it can,” he said. “The center here in New York is fully staffed, and it might be a long time before there’s a vacancy. But our center on Paxos has needed an assistant to the manager since the last one left to take care of a sick parent.”
Zoe could feel her pulse racing. “You’ve established another hospital?” That meant she wouldn’t have to work under Ms. Kallistos?
“Our first one actually. My brother and I have interviewed a number of applicants, but the manager hasn’t felt he could work with any of them.”
He? “What makes you think he would feel differently about me?”
“I have a feeling he’ll welcome you because you have one credential no one else has possessed to date. It’s more important than any college degree.”
Her heart was pounding too hard. “What’s that?”
“Compassion. You’ve lived through the agony of having been diagnosed with lymphoma, being treated for it and beating it. The year you’ve spent in the center here has given you the most valuable knowledge of what it’s like to know you have the disease, and to have survived.”
“Still, Ms. Kallistos said—”
“Let me finish,” he cut her off, not unkindly. “For that kind of learning experience, you’ve paid a terrible price. Yet it’s that very knowledge that’s needed to work with patients because you conquered the disease. Everyone in the hospital will relate to you and your presence alone will give them hope.”
“She does that at the hospital every day,” the priest inserted.
Her throat swelled with emotion. “What’s the manager like?”
“Yiannis Megalos served as a rear admiral in the Greek Navy before his retirement.”
A man who’d been an admiral. How interesting. “Then he must run a very tight ship.”
The smile he flashed turned her heart over. “He’s an old family friend and came to us about a position with the foundation after losing his wife to cancer, in order to work through his grief. In that respect you and he already share something vital in common by having a burning desire to help. I don’t need to tell you his organizational skills and his work with the wounded during his military career made him an excellent choice.”
“He sounds remarkable.”
“Yiannis is a character too,” he added on a lighter note. She felt his eyes travel over her. “If I have any concerns, it’s for you. Leaving New York to live in a new country is a huge decision to make. If you’ve got anyone special you don’t want to leave, that could prove difficult.”
She shook her head. “There’s no one.”
“Even so, you may not feel that you can uproot yourself from friends. It might be hard to leave those here at the church who’ve helped you. That’s why I wanted Father Debakis to be here in case you want to discuss this with him in private.”
“Of course I’ll miss everyone, but to be given a chance to work for your foundation means more to me than anything.”
“We can come to terms over a salary you’ll feel good about. You’ll need a place to live. But all of those matters can be discussed once you’ve determined that you want this position. Talk it over with Father Debakis. Take as long as you need.”
Zoe was so thrilled to have been offered a job it took a minute for her to comprehend it. She fought back her tears. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for this offer, not to mention the generosity of your family’s foundation.”
He got to his feet. Again she felt his scrutiny. “Be sure it’s what you want,” he warned in a more serious tone of voice. If she didn’t know anything else, she knew deep down this was what she wanted and needed. “In the meantime I have to fly back to Athens tonight. You can phone me when you’ve made your decision.”
Seize the moment, Zoe. “Before you leave, could I ask you a few more questions?”
“Of course.”
“What’s the weather like right now?”
“It’s been in the low eighties all summer and won’t drop to the seventies until later in September. Usually the night temperature is in the sixties.”
“It sounds too good to be true. Are there shops near the hospital to buy clothes?”
“The center is on the outskirts of the small seaside village of Loggos. There are a few tourist shops, but I’d suggest you do your shopping in Athens first.”
“Then that solves any problems I’ll have about luggage. I lost everything in the fire so I’ll replenish my wardrobe
