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
