Kellie’s voice caught. “I guess I expected a receptionist.” She spoke in Greek.
“I’ve never used one. Your name, please.”
“Kellie Petralia.”
“What can I do for you?”
“M-my husband and I are on the verge of getting a divorce and need marriage counseling,” she stammered. “Could I see you soon to discuss our situation, or are you too booked up?”
“Both of you come to my house tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”
“Both?” Kellie had planned to talk to her first and explain things.
“I never see you individually. It’s together or nothing.”
“I see.” She bit her lip. “Then we’ll both be there.”
“What’s your husband’s name?”
“Leandros Petralia.”
“Thank you. When you enter the driveway, keep going until you reach the side door. Just walk in.”
The other woman rang off without making a remark about Kellie’s husband. Ninety-nine percent of the time, people couldn’t refrain from commenting on him and the famous Petralia name. Kellie sat there blinking in surprise.
Leandros walked around to look at her. “When can she see us?”
“Tomorrow at ten. We’re to go to her house. She must work out of her home.”
“Would that we all could do that,” he murmured.
“I can’t believe she had an opening this fast.”
“My dentist always leaves the first hour free for emergencies. It sounds like she operates the same way. I’m impressed already.”
Kellie got up from the couch, unnerved by the prospect of talking to Mrs. Lasko in front of Leandros without any private time first. “She’s very different than I’d supposed.” No chitchat of any kind.
“Let’s keep the appointment. If we decide she’s not the one for us, then we’ll try someone else.”
Leandros was being so supportive, just as he’d always been during their visits to the hospital, that Kellie felt like screaming. But not at him. She was frightened, and nervous of being alone with him. “I think I’m hungry now.”
“Why don’t we drive to Chora and have an early dinner.” He was reading her mind. She needed to be around other people and he knew it. “Do you have any particular cravings at this stage in your pregnancy?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s try a restaurant you haven’t been to. The Circe is on the far side of Chora. It’s cozy and the cuisine is basically traditional Andriot.” He’d probably been there with Petra. Of course he had, you fool. If the therapy didn’t work out, Kellie would have to take part of the blame, because she couldn’t rid herself of her demons. “You’ll love their seafood mezes and froutalia.”
“I’ve forgotten what froutalia is.”
“A sensational omelet with sausage and other kinds of meat.”
“Oh, yes. That sounds delicious.”
“Good. Why don’t you freshen up first. I’ll meet you at the car parked around the side of the house.”
“I’ll hurry.”
“There’s no need. We have all the time in the world. By the time we get back, Yannis will have arrived with your luggage. You can have an early night in the guest bedroom.”
Her heart ached as she realized how far apart they’d grown. No sleeping in the same bed for the past two months. Most likely never again…
When Kellie went outside a few minutes later, he was waiting for her, and helped her in the passenger side. She glanced at his striking profile as he started the engine. Whether immaculately groomed or disheveled with a five-o’clock shadow as he was now, Leandros’s male beauty stood apart from other men’s.
Her heart thudded ferociously. A month ago she’d never dreamed she’d be on the island with him again, going to a romantic spot for dinner.
During the six-mile drive to town, she stared out the window at the fruit trees dotting the ancient landscape. When she couldn’t stand the silence any longer, she turned to him. “Have you seen Fran and Nik?”
He nodded. “They invited me to their apartment last week for dinner. Demi is thriving and has started to say words even I can understand.” Kellie smiled. “I’ve never seen two people so happy.”
Guilt washed over Kellie for the part she’d played in trying to influence Fran to stay away from the gorgeous Nik Angelis, Leandros’s good friend. The press had labeled him Greece’s number one playboy. Like Leandros, Nik was the head of his family’s multimillion-dollar business and could have any woman he wanted.
In Kellie’s zeal to protect her divorced friend’s wounded heart, she’d done everything she could to get her away from Nik. She’d been convinced he would only use Fran. But it turned out Kellie was wrong. Ultimately, he’d proved to be the perfect man for her, and had married her on the spot. Since he couldn’t give her children and she couldn’t conceive, they were adopting Demi, who’d lost her parents in a tornado. In time they planned to adopt more.
“I’m so happy for them,” Kellie said aloud.
“Me, too.”
To Leandros’s credit, he didn’t rub it in about Kellie’s behavior with her best friend before they’d flown to Philadelphia on his private jet. “I’ll phone her while I’m here.”
“She’ll be delighted. Being a mother has turned a light on inside her.”
You mean unlike me, who’s pregnant but still wants the divorce?
Kellie wouldn’t blame Leandros for thinking it, but again, he kept his thoughts to himself. That was the trouble between them. They were both festering in their own private way from behaviors that had driven them apart.
The therapist would have to perform a miracle for them to put their marriage back together. How ironic that Kellie had been the one who’d brought up the idea of counseling. Yet now that Leandros had finally agreed to it, she was only going through the motions. Deep inside she had no real hope of success.
There’d been too much damage done during those months of planning each hospital visit like clockwork. Everything had to be gauged down to the second—the temperature taking, the preparation, Leandros’s time off from work…. All of it had affected the natural rhythm of married life.
If he suggested they skip a month of going to the hospital, and give things a rest, she was afraid he was losing interest in her. Maybe he didn’t want a baby as badly as she did. When she asked him if he would still love her if she couldn’t give him a child, he’d acted incensed, which in turn made her afraid to approach him again about it.
