Under The Stars, page 8
“Yes, or at least it was, since that’s where Michael hid it.” Julian sneered.
“Okay, step back, hand me the box.” Alessandro held his hand out. “We won’t open it until we are back downstairs at the table.” Once everyone was seated, Alessandro lifted the lid, and I stood on my tippy toes and leaned over to get a look. Several people stood as well. “No one touch it,” Alessandro demanded. “We’ll get the police. Michael stashed it, Michael’s fingerprints will be on it.” Alessandro looked my father dead in the eyes. “Then your family will pay retribution.”
“Really, the police? You have a photo and the weapon.” Julian’s retort was calm, but beads of sweat were starting to show along his forehead.
“Yes, the police,” Papa demanded. “Michael says that he’s innocent. He says that you did this. If your fingerprints are on that knife, then both families will come after you. Maybe we should get your father here.”
“My father is too busy for this crap. I’m surprised that you’re bothering yourself with it as well. Did you really want your only daughter going off to America?”
“You’re missing the point. I want my only daughter happy. I want my son not to feel guilty. I want the truth. I want to know if there is someone trying to manipulate people I care about. I’m never too busy to take care of my family. Now, for the police. I want the truth, or I’ll see someone arrested for endangering the life of my daughter.”
“Screw you. I don’t have time for this.” Julian, Corban, and Constantine stood at the same time.
“We’ll see you home.” Corban patted Julian’s shoulder.
“Don’t forget us.” Demetrius cracked his knuckles.
“Papa, aren’t you going to do something?” I looked after the group of boys pushing Julian out of the house.
“What? Boys will be boys. Sometimes it is best for those who think they’re invincible to discover they aren’t.” Papa turned to Alessandro. “I’m sorry about your nephew. Maria and Christine are going over to speak with your mother. I’m hoping that perhaps they can make contact with your sister’s family in America.”
“That will be nice. From what I’ve heard, he is very sad.”
For a moment, my heart soared with the thought that maybe he was waiting for me.
George
“You about ready, George?” Mama hollered from downstairs.
“Do I have to go?” I trailed one finger along the wide cuff that I kept snapped around my right wrist. It had stars embossed in the leather. I only took it off to shower, other than that, Christine’s birthday gift to me stayed on . . . always.
“Yes, you have to go. This is family, we’ve been invited and we’re going . . . as family.”
“But I’m tired, I’ve been working so many hours, I’d like a day off,” I mumbled as I clomped down the steps.
“I know, and from what Pops says, you’ve been a godsend, but this isn’t work, it’s recreational.”
That was the thing, though. Doing my job wasn’t the hard part. What was exhausting was the day-to-day stuff, the constant reminders that Christine was back in Greece and that I’d never see her again.
“Grab that and take it out to the car for me.” Pops pointed to the suitcase.
I hesitated before hefting it off the floor. “Are you sure we have to stay overnight in Tarpon Springs? Can’t we come home tonight?”
“It’s just in case, you know your mother, she’d rather be safe than sorry.” I lugged the suitcase out and tossed it into the back of the station wagon while Pops slid the basket in. It had been a month since I’d been home from Greece, and the only thing I did in the evening was sleep in my own bed. In fact, I was in it every night just after dinner.
When my parents started to encourage me to go out, I knew they were worried. Hell, I think they’d be happy to see me try to sneak out just to prove there was something still normal about me. But why? To settle for some girl who wasn’t Christine?
My sister, Dion, and I were in the back seat, she was reading a book, and I was staring out the window, watching the landscape go by.
“So, George, Pops said that he wants to clear some of the land that we own, that acreage we’re giving you.” My mother had this incessant need for conversation.
“Oh, okay.”
“He figured that maybe you might want to start building a home of your own.”
“Why? I’m only eighteen. I have plenty of time. Besides, I’m not sure that I’m ever getting married. What if I want to live in an apartment?”
“No one wants that. You need someone to help take care of you, to cook and clean.”
“I have you.”
My mother chuckled. “Sorry, son, I’ve done my job for eighteen years. Your sister only has two more years before she goes to college. Your pops and I think it will be a great time to travel. We’re even thinking about eventually moving back to Tarpon Springs.”
“Wait. What? Who’d run the company?”
“You would,” my father interjected.
“But I still have so much to learn.” I wasn’t ready for this.
“We have two years, so there is time for you to learn.”
Would I—heck, could I be ready in two years to run the company? Yeah, I could. I’d like to. I loved building custom homes.
We all fell quiet. Mama reached forward and turned up the radio, and the song was like a punch in the gut.
“Fine, I know you hate my music. What station do you want me to change it to?” Mama asked.
“No. Leave it, this is fine.” I was being a masochist.
“Did you know that I used to hold you in my arms when you were a baby and do The Twist?”
“Is that what’s wrong with him?” Dion asked. “You twisted with him too much and now his brain is all messed up?” She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. “Just teasing, you know I love you.”
“Love you too, brat.”
When the song was over, I felt as if Christine was being ripped from me all over again. I closed my eyes and thought back over our time in Kalymnos. The next time I went back, would she be married? Have children? She made it clear that she wanted to be a mom.
We pulled in back of my uncle’s restaurant, O Theios, which wasn’t too original of a name, since the name actually meant Uncle’s. I grabbed the basket from the back and then we all walked in to find a ton of people inside. Nothing new there.
“Georgie, look at you, you’re a man,” Uncle Philip said. “Don’t look so gloomy, there will be lots of young ladies here. I heard that you were coming, so I invited everyone. Have your pick.” Philip waved one hand in the air.
“He can’t, he’s already in love,” Dion informed him. “But she’s back in Greece and won’t talk to him.”
Philip gasped in mock horror. “Then we will remedy that and make you forget her. Go, go, look around. Find someone and I’ll introduce you.” Philip patted my back and pushed me on.
“Really, Dion? Can you not tell everyone?”
“What? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but sometimes, the truth is better kept unsaid. From now on, don’t discuss my life with anyone. If I want someone to know something, then I’ll tell them. Go find Mama and hang with her, leave me alone.” I glanced around, searching for her so I could push Dion in her direction, but Mama was talking to someone—actually, Mama was talking to a lot of people gathered in a semi-circle, but one caught my attention. Something about her was so familiar, as if I’d stared at that body a million times and would know that exact color of hair anywhere.
Shaking my head, I tried to regain a sense of reality, because there was no way. Only . . . there was. She did have family in this town. I took one step toward my mother.
“Hey, where are you going?” Dion asked, but I didn’t answer her before weaving through the crowd.
“Ahh, you find a girl already?” Uncle Philip blocked me. I pushed his hand out of the way and made it to my mother. I was standing directly behind the girl who could only be Christine. I glanced up and met my mother’s eyes, which were filled with tears that contrasted her smile.
“George, it’s about time you made it over here.” At my name, the girl standing in front of me jerked, her shoulders stiffening. “I was just telling this lovely lady how happy we are that she’s spending her final year of school in America, isn’t that right, Christine?”
Final year in America, what? The girl in front of me turned and smiled. When she spoke, her voice was raspy.
“George.” She bit her lower lip.
“You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
“We’ll let you two talk. Why don’t you go outside and go for a walk?” my mama offered.
“Thank you, Mrs. Christakos.”
“Sophie, call me Sophie, dear.” She leaned down and gave Christine a hug.
Holding out my hand palm up, I waited for her to take it. If she was here, did that mean she and the guy were over? Could I forget or forgive? When she slid her delicate hand into mine, I knew that, yes, I totally could. We strolled out into the bright Florida sunshine.
“First, I have to apologize.” Christine’s words were rushed. “I should have known better than to listen to what everyone else was saying. I should have had more faith in you, and I didn’t. When Monika told me that her mother had seen you with another girl, I believed her. I’m sorry, and I hope that you can forgive me.”
I stepped closer to her, keeping my hands firmly at my sides so I wouldn’t be tempted to reach out and brush my thumb over the tiny quiver in her bottom lip. “Of course, I can forgive you.”
“I also want to apologize for not sticking up for you more. Michael told us what Julian did—"
“I know, and it’s okay. I really do understand.”
There was a brief look of relief in her eyes before it turned to confusion. “Wait. How do you know?”
“I heard them talking at the dock that night. I never said anything because I know how much family means to you. I would rather step away than cause any harm to your family.”
“Oh, George. You didn’t cause any harm. Julian did.”
I nodded, seeing her point. “And Zoe and Monika? Do they know the truth now too? Because, I have to tell you, what they did was humiliating.” Even thinking about it had a burn of emotion sparking inside me. I understood they were just trying to stick up for their friend, but what they had done was beyond words.
“I actually don’t know.” Her chin dropped, and she twisted her fingers together and spun the silver ring with gold flecks that she had on. “I haven’t talked to them since I found out what they did.”
This girl. Did she even know how incredible she was? What a big heart she had? That she was sticking up for me in the only way she knew how?
“You should write them. I’m sure they feel terrible about it and are worried sick about you.”
“Yeah, probably.” Christine looked around at all the people who were trying—and failing—to pretend not to be listening to every word we said. Again, she tucked her chin, and a new wash of pink bloomed high on her cheekbones.
This wouldn’t do, so I took her hand and tugged her away from the crowd and over to a bench by the water.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. That’s why I’m here. Once everything got sorted out, Mitera and I went and spoke to your Yia Yia and then called your mom.”
“My mom?”
“Yeah. We decided that I’d come here for my last year of school. I’m staying with my aunt and uncle as an exchange student.”
“Are they here in Tarpon?”
“They are. Their house is on the other side of the city, but it isn’t too far away.”
This couldn’t be real. Yesterday, I didn’t think I would see Christine again, and today, she was telling me that she was going to be living here for the next year. It was almost too much for me to wrap my mind around.
“Can I come see you? Every weekend?”
“I’d like that.”
“And when you’re done with school?”
“Well, I would hope you’d still want to see me.”
“Oh, I doubt there is any chance of that not being the case, but I meant what are you doing after you graduate? Are you going to go back to Greece?”
“That depends . . .”
“On what?”
The smile she gave me as she leaned a fraction closer about stole the breath from my lungs. “It depends on where you are, because where you are is where I want to be.”
I cupped her face in both hands as if I were holding something priceless and just took a second to take in the way her skin felt against mine before asking, “Christine, may I kiss you?” Her eyes dropped to my lips and stayed there as she murmured, “Yes.”
Slowly, savoring each moment, I lowered my mouth to hers, tasting her and teasing her lips until her tongue brushed tentatively against mine.
No, this girl had no idea just how incredible she really was, but right then and there, I decided that I would be the man to remind her each and every day that she was nothing less than my everything.
Epilogue
Two years later . . .
Kalymnos, Greece
I signed my name on the marriage license in broad, sure strokes of the pen and slid the paper to my new bride. “Your turn, Mrs. Christakos.” Would I ever get tired of saying that or looking at her?
No. No, I wouldn’t.
When she was done signing, we walked out hand in hand and were greeted by our friends and family.
“Opa!” everyone shouted as we stood on the steps of the church.
The street was filled with people spitting at us. Weird in America, but here, it was customary for luck.
“Are you happy, asteri mou?” I asked as we dodged overzealous spitters and made our way to the tent in the field.
“Very. But I’m ready to go home.”
“Tomorrow, we head home tomorrow, and then you’ll see your surprise.”
I pulled her into my arms and enjoyed the feel of her, the way she curled against me. We were taking a cruise from Greece back to America for our honeymoon and then spending a week in our new home, which I’d kept a surprise before I had to return to work. A home where we would raise our children someday.
By the time the festivities had died down and the ouzo had finally stopped flowing, I was itching to get out of there and be with my wife.
“Are you ready to go to the hotel?”
Christine nodded, and I tugged her toward the first group of people we needed to say goodnight to. “Take care of my little girl,” Christine’s father, Ian, said as his voice broke on the words.
“I will, sir, I’ll cherish her. I promise.”
“Only sleep with your husband on nights that end with Y, that’s how you have big strapping boys,” Christine’s mother whispered, and she giggled.
We moved on to my parents.
My mother reached for Christine and pulled her into her arms. “I never raised him to be a son, I raised him to be a husband. He’ll be a good one."
Everyone we passed had a few words of wisdom they wanted to dole out.
“Over two years ago, your mama and I sent you to Greece to be who we wanted you to be. What we got back was who you were supposed to be. He’s better than any son I could have ever prayed for. I’m proud of you. You’ve chosen a great wife.” I hadn’t realized it until that moment, but I had needed to hear those words from my father.
When we finally escaped and made our way down the street to the small inn where we were staying the night, my heart was pounding. Making our way up to our room, I smiled when I opened the door to see that everything was perfectly set.
“Are you nervous?” I cupped Christine’s face as I gazed into her eyes.
“No. Anxious.” She bit her lower lip.
“Do you need help out of this fluffy thing?” I waved my hand over all the yards of fabric as she spun so her back was to me. I hunted through the mounds of lace and shimmery stuff until I found the long line of tiny loops. Then I had to force my hands not to shake as I slowly worked them free. For two years, I’d taken cold showers and had waited for this day, so I refused to rush through even a second of it.
Peeling her dress off her was like unveiling the crown jewels. Each layer slowly falling away to expose her beautifully sun-kissed olive skin.
Trailing kisses along the curve of her neck, over her shoulder, and down the stretch of her arm to her fingers, I savored every single inch of her. She was trembling from nerves and anticipation, and it made me feel a bit better that I wasn’t alone in my emotions.
“Asteri mou, I love you. God, I’m so in love with you.” She blushed, so I kept going. “I love it when you blush, I’ll need to find ways to make you blush for the rest of our lives so that I know my words always still get to you.” I moved one hand to her belly.
“Please, George, I want to see my husband.”
“You will, I promise, but let me take in the beauty that is my wife first.”
The smile she gave me was heart-stopping, and she relaxed as I danced my lips across hers and caressed her gorgeous curves, slowly slipping the dress down her body. She followed my lead as I guided her toward the bed. The rhythm pulsating through our bodies and around the small room picked up tempo, and I naturally matched the beat. We were no longer slow, we were fast . . . almost a disco.
Her fingers shook as she moved to help me unbutton my shirt and unfasten my tie. I dropped my tuxedo jacket to the floor and it lay there in a crumpled heap with her wedding dress, a souvenir of the life we were beginning.
Slowly, I peppered her with kisses. This girl, this woman, was mine. I was the only man to have her, the only man who would ever have her. I knew that I’d never take that for granted.
“Promise me one thing?”
