he hadn’t had to leave the island to go on a covert operation.
Nothing would have been different. Like her father, when he’d left her mother, Nikos would have said goodbye to Stephanie, telling her the lie that he’d see her again, and that would have been the end of it.
Until his accident, Nikos’s future had been tied up with another woman. As he’d told Stephanie a little while ago, Natasa wanted children....
CHAPTER FIVE
WHEN NIKOS BROUGHT the dishes from the lounge into the galley, he found Yannis enjoying breakfast. The balding seaman needed a lot of food to keep going. He looked up. “What are your plans for today, Nikos?”
“After you finish eating, we’ll pull up anchor and head for Oinoussas. Once we’ve docked I won’t need you until tomorrow. That ought to give you some time to do what you want with Maria.” The widow who ran a small shop had become his love interest.
“She’ll like that.”
“But not you?” he teased.
Yannis stared at him. “What’s going on? You no longer act like you’re on the way to your own funeral.”
“I’m getting married tomorrow to Kyria Walsh at the church of Agios Dionysios. That’s what’s going on. I need to make preparations.”
His longtime widower friend looked shocked. “Married? To her? But what about Kyria Lander?”
Nikos started doing the dishes. He and Yannis took turns cooking and cleaning up. “She’s not pregnant with my child, Yannis. Stephanie is.”
“Ah...” The older man crossed himself. “This happened while you were on vacation in the Caribbean?”
“Yes.”
A huge smile broke out on his weathered face. “Now I understand. I told you the scuba diving there was the finest in the world. I’m glad you listened to me. She’s a real beauty, Nikos. It’s about time you had some happiness in your life. Does your father know?”
“Not yet.” Nikos was functioning on faith that she was pregnant and carrying his baby.
“There will be an explosion when your family finds out.”
“It won’t matter, because by the time they hear the news, she’ll be my wife. You’re going to be a witness, like you were for Kon.”
“I’ll be honored. Are you having a boy?”
“It’s too soon to know. Maybe in another month. For the present we’ll live on the yacht. Stephanie needs pampering and must eat for two. Since the last time I saw her, she’s lost her glow, and needs to take care of herself.” He refused to entertain the thought that she wasn’t pregnant.
The older man nodded.
“Just so you know, I’ve told her how I got injured.” He turned his head away from Yannis. “We have no secrets.”
His friend got up and added his plate and mug to the dishwasher. “That’s good. Otherwise, she’ll find out soon enough,” he said before leaving the galley. Since Nikos knew that, he would take steps to make certain Stephanie remained clueless about his PTSD.
After reaching for another roll, he headed for the lounge to phone Father Kerykes. They talked for a few minutes to settle on a time for the wedding, which was finally arranged to take place at four in the afternoon.
Next Nikos called Tassos, who seemed overjoyed to learn about the imminent marriage. He insisted that his wife and the Gregerov family would all be there to join in the festivities and take pictures. Later they would treat the bridal couple to dinner at their favorite local taverna.
Just as Nikos hung up, Stephanie walked into the lounge. Her closed expression told him little. “Did you reach your boss?”
She nodded.
“How did he take the news?”
“He wasn’t happy about it and complained it would be hard to find someone to replace me.”
“I don’t doubt it. You’re an expert diver and swimmer.”
“There are enough qualified applicants in the file drawer that he’ll have no problem. It’s my reason for resigning he doesn’t like.”
“How so?”
“Grant is the fatherly type and feels I haven’t known you long enough to consider getting married.”
“Did you tell him you’re pregnant?”
“I had to, otherwise he wouldn’t let it go. In the end he grudgingly wished me well and told me he was glad I wasn’t going to make another flight back to Florida, considering my condition. He’s really a wonderful man. I promised him that after the baby was born, I’d send him a picture of the three of us.”
Nikos liked the sound of that. But what if none of it turned out to be true? He rubbed the back of his neck. You can’t afford to think like that, Vassalos.
“He’ll send me my final paycheck when I give him an address.”
“Good. What about your friends?”
She lowered her head. “I’ll phone them after we’re married.” She’d called Melinda from Chios to let her know she’d arrived safely. “Otherwise they’ll tell me to wait. I can’t deal with that kind of pressure right now.”
Nikos knew all too well about pressure, especially the parental kind. “In that case let’s go up on deck, where you can sunbathe on one of the loungers until we dock at Oinoussa. After that we’ll enjoy lunch in town. Among other things we’ll do some shopping for clothes, since you only packed enough for a day or two.”
Her jewel-like blue eyes fastened on him in apprehension. “What other things?”
“When did your doctor want to see you again?”
“In a month.”
“Was everything fine?”
“Yes, except that I need to take iron.”
“I saw the pills. To be on the safe side I want to stop in at the clinic, so we can meet the doctor who’ll be taking care of you from here on out. Dr. Panos looks after Elianna and Ariadne, who both live on Oinoussa and have great faith in him. You’ll need to set up your next appointment.”
To his surprise she looked relieved. “I’m glad you thought of a good doctor for me. I really like my OB. He was my mother’s doctor and has cared for me since my teens. It’s hard to gain trust with someone else.”
It was hard to gain trust, period, but since she hadn’t fought him on this, Nikos was in a better mood than he’d been since leaving the hospital more dead than alive.
* * *
They were coming in to dock at Oinoussa. To Stephanie it looked surprisingly
