cross and chain to give their baby, the first olive branch toward a reconciliation with his son. At that same moment Tassos lit a candle.
Stephanie slid a covert glance to her husband, whose black eyes filled with liquid. She grasped his hand before they walked around the font three times. Earlier, Nikos had told her it symbolized the dance of joy.
With the circle complete except for Stephanie’s mother, who Stephanie felt was watching from heaven, they witnessed their adorable son’s first communion. Stephanie followed Nikos’s lead and kissed Tassos’s hand before he handed her the baby. Everyone murmured, “Na sas zizi,” which meant “life to Alexandros.”
They’d planned a party back on the yacht afterward, but for Stephanie the real celebrating was going on right here, seeing the beginning of peace for both families after years of turmoil.
On the drive back to the yacht, Nikos pulled her tight against him. “I have two presents for you, my love. One is a home I’ve bought for us on Oinoussa. Now that we have a son, he needs a place to play besides the deck of the Diomedes.”
She hugged him hard. “I agree.”
“Your other gift is in my pocket. I was planning to show it to you tonight, but after seeing my father show up, I’ve decided I can’t wait.”
Nikos sounded exceptionally excited. “What is it?” she whispered against his lips.
“The private investigator I hired has found your father.”
“Nikos!”
“This is a picture of him.” He reached in his breast pocket and pulled out a small photo. The second she saw the dark blond man, she knew it was her father. “We look so much alike!”
Nikos nodded. “He works at a bank in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he was born. He’s married with a son and daughter, who are both in college. When he met your mother, he was on leave from the army. Like me, he had to go back and serve another tour of duty. Four years later he got out of the army and married.”
“D-does he know about me?”
“No.”
“Thank heaven!”
A look of confusion entered Nikos’s eyes before he kissed her. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he’s an honorable man who made a good life for himself.” Her voice shook. “I don’t want to disrupt it. Since Mother chose not to find him, I want to leave things alone.” She grasped Nikos’s face in her hands. “It’s enough to know what he looks like and who he is.”
She crushed her husband in her arms. “Thank you, darling, for such a precious gift. What really matters now is our family, our son. I married the most wonderful man alive and I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you what you mean to me. I love you, Nikos. I love you.”
* * * * *
CHAPTER ONE
“YOUR BOSS MADE the paper again.”
Plop! The folded tabloid landed smack in the middle of Delilah St. Germain’s desk, sending papers flying. “Hey! I just organized those.”
She threw the two women standing in the doorway of her cubicle a good-natured glare. “Some of us have work to do.”
“Some of us would like to point out it’s seven-thirty in the morning,” Chloe Abrams replied. “We’re the only people in the office.”
Without waiting for an invitation, she and Larissa Boyd grabbed a pair of chairs from the empty cube across the aisle and sat down. “Besides, we brought coffee.”
“Oh-my-God-I-love-you-where?” Spying the two large paper cups in Larissa’s hand, she snatched one. “You have no idea how badly I need this.”
“No,” Larissa said, “but we could guess. How you been, stranger? We haven’t seen you all week. You still working on that client pitch?”
“Bartlett Ale? Not at the moment.” The potential account had her burning the candle at both ends the past couple of weeks. “But I’m behind on everything else.” She lifted off the cup lid and breathed deep. It was still warm, too. “You two are lifesavers.”
In more ways than one. Chloe and Larissa had been her best friends since corporate orientation four years ago. Delilah was pretty sure she wouldn’t have survived her move to the Big Apple without them.
“Hey, what are friends for if not to keep you caffeinated when you’re overworked?” Chloe replied. “What time did you get here anyway?”
“Not that long ago. Six-thirty, seven.” Earlier than usual.
Her two friends shook their heads. “There are easier ways to impress the boss than making sure you’re in before he is,” Chloe told her.
“I’m not trying to impress the boss,” Delilah immediately shot back. Not too much anyway. “And you two should talk. I don’t see either of you sleeping in.”
“Hey, this hour of the day is the only time I can get any wedding planning done, since Tom is always hogging the Wi-Fi,” Larissa pointed out. “I came in to surf for bridesmaid dress ideas.”
“And I like to beat the line at the coffee shop,” Chloe replied.
“So she can have plenty of time to flirt with the barista,” Larissa shot back.
“You’re just jealous because he gave me a free size upgrade.”
“I could so make a joke about that comment right now.”
“Please don’t,” Delilah said. “I already have the image in my head.”
Speaking of images.... She reached for the paper Chloe dropped on her desk. Sure enough, there was Simon Cartwright, a third of the way down the column, a beaming blonde draped on his arm.
“Finland Smythe again,” Chloe read over her shoulder. “She’s lasted a while.”
“Two months.” Longer than most. Their boss tended to collect girlfriends the way Delilah’s grandmother used to collect souvenir spoons. Fashion models, actresses, would-be fashion models and actresses, a literal parade of beauty, every one of them wearing the same thrilled expression.
Who could blame them? Delilah stared at the black-and-white image. What she wouldn’t give to be a woman exceptional enough to capture Simon Cartwright’s attention.
Like that was possible. Simon was... She nearly sighed out loud. What wasn’t he? The man was handsome, intelligent, sophisticated. You could literally feel the energy change in the room as soon as he walked in.
Her laptop had a better chance of attracting his attention.
“Ooh, look, here’s an ad for that bridal expo I was telling you guys about.” Larissa pointed to a bold-bordered box next to the society column. “You’re both still coming with me, right?”
Both Delilah and Chloe
