not to think about that step now that it was here.
“You will all take your meals at the main house as usual,” he continued. Looking at Sara he said, “A respite from your duties. Feel free to visit the house kitchen if you wish, but Dimitri and his staff will prepare our family meals.”
She nodded. They were to stay aboard during the visit. No need to have employee quarters prepared when their cabins suited. She was glad she’d brought along a couple of mystery books. Without reading to look forward to, she’d be bored to tears with the inactivity in the rain.
An older man walked down to the dock, an umbrella carefully sheltering him from the rain. He had a furled umbrella in one hand.
“I see your grandfather,” the captain said.
“I’d better go.” He hesitated a moment, looking at Sara, then nodded and left the bridge.
Sara moved to the window closest to the pathway and tried to get a good glimpse of her grandmother’s second husband. He was as tall as Nikos, she thought. Perhaps Nikos would look like him when he was old.
A feeling of regret swept through. She would not get to see him grow old. Their paths would have diverged long before either of them was old. She wished for him a happy life. Maybe Gina, or someone like her, would change his warped views of family and would love him forever.
She hoped she’d find a man like that, who could make her forget the past and sweep her away into a future of love and happiness. She sighed softly and watched as Nikos met the older man on the dock and they hugged. He took the umbrella his grandfather offered, and in only moments the two of them disappeared from view as they went up to the house.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SARA didn’t see Nikos the rest of Tuesday. She took one of her books to the aft deck, pulled over one of the chaises and dried it off to sit in the fresh air and read. When the wind shifted, she felt the drizzle and gave up and went below. She could have joined the men in the salon, free for their use while on the island. But she didn’t relish the card game they were playing and couldn’t concentrate on her book with the noise of their conversation.
Not that she was exactly engrossed in the story. She kept wondering when Nikos was coming back.
Sara fell asleep in her cabin with the book across her chest. Sometime later she woke when there was a knock on her door.
She jumped up and tried to become fully awake. Opening the door, she saw Stefano.
“We’re going up to the house for dinner now. Want to walk up with us?”
“Yes. Just let me run a brush through my hair.”
“We’ll wait at the gangway,” he said, turning away.
The rain had stopped, but every shrub and tree between the dock and the house dripped. The late-afternoon sun shone beneath the lingering clouds, making the drops of water sparkle like jewels.
“Tomorrow should be a good day,” the captain said on the walk. “You can go swimming if you like.”
“I would like. The cabin is a bit small for being stuck inside all day,” she said.
He laughed. “You should have come to the salon.”
“I had a book to read.”
“Stefano said you were napping. The book not compelling enough?”
“Guess not,” she replied, smiling up at the older man. “But if I am ever troubled with insomnia, I’ll know what to read.”
Dinner was quite festive with the boat crew greeting staff members of the house like old friends. Sara was the odd person out but was quickly introduced to the others.
When the captain complimented her to the chef on her desserts, the chef’s eyes took on a speculative gleam.
“Perhaps you could spare some time to work with me while you are here.”
“I’d be very delighted,” she said. It would fill the days, which now seemed to stretch out endlessly. Nikos would make a difference—if he had time for her. In the meantime, she’d never been so conscious of their situation as now, when he was upstairs with the person she had come to Greece to see, and she was so close but still a floor away with no clear-cut way to meet Eleani.
Soon after the meal ended, Sara returned to the yacht. She watched the house for a while, the lights shining like a beacon on the hilltop. She couldn’t hear any sounds, but could imagine the talk and laughter. For the first time, she felt like an outsider. Eleani was her grandmother just like Spiros was Nikos’s grandfather. She had as much right to be there as he did. Yet no one knew that, and she doubted she’d be welcomed once the facts were revealed.
Waking early the next morning, Sara debated going swimming. With only one ship tied up, surely the water would be clean enough near the dock. Going around to the beach might be risky. She dressed in her swimsuit, pulled on shorts and a shirt and went topside to determine if she dare risk it.
“I was hoping you’d get up early,” Nikos said when she stepped out on the aft deck.
He sat in a chair near the rail, relaxed and wearing swim togs and a shirt.
“Want to go for a swim before breakfast?”
“Is the water clean enough here?” she asked. Had he been waiting for her?
“Sure, but I was thinking of a cove around the lee side of the island. It’s sheltered and has very colorful fish. We could snorkel until hunger drives us back.”
“Sounds great.”
He motioned her to the side and pointed down at a small runabout tied to the dock. “I had one of the men pull it out of the boathouse. Perfect for putting around the island.”
Sara was soon riding in the small boat, watching Nikos as he skillfully maneuvered it around the yacht and, keeping close to shore, began to go around the island. The sun was just above the horizon, not yet as burning hot as it would become later. The air was soft against her skin as they skimmed across the water.
When he turned into a small cove, Sara looked around with interest. Foliage grew to the water’s edge on most of the horseshoe-shaped cove, flowers blossomed in profusion. The tiny sandy beach, almost in the center of the cove, was pristine.
The water was crystal clear. She could see every aspect of the sandy bottom and the colorful fish that swam lazily around when the boat stopped and was carried forward by momentum. He lowered an anchor and soon they were stopped.
Nikos pulled snorkeling gear from the small locker. Sara took off her shirt and shorts and accepted the mask and breathing tube. Donning the mask and flippers, she stepped off the boat into the silken water. It was cooler than a bath, but not cold like the water off the English shore.
They swam for more than an hour, Nikos leading the way and pointing out things as they went. When they kept still, fish would swim within touching distance. A kick of a flipper would send them darting away.
Breaking the surface at last, Sara pushed her mask up on top of her head and shook off some
