After a hard day's work negotiating prices with their
overseas clients, Stella Athas left her office at the Athens
headquarters a little after three o'clock in her new white
Jaguar XK convertible, the first car she'd ever owned. Until
she'd bought it with her own money two months ago, she'd
used the old clunker estate car to get around.
Along with her new purchase, it seemed a different hairdo
was necessary too. She'd always worn her dark hair long and
straight, but all that had changed with the convertible,
because the whole point of having the top down was to feel
the sun and the breeze. It had only taken one day of
whizzing around in it looking like the head of a mop for
Stella to go to a beauty salon and get her hair cut in a
trendy jaw-length style.
Everyone seemed to approve of her new look. Her colleagues
said it emphasized the high cheekbones of her oval face. Her
friends insisted it brought out the velvety texture of her
midnight-brown eyes.
Her oldest brother, Stasio, teased her that she'd better
watch out; she was a great beauty like their deceased
mother. All the men, eligible or otherwise, had their eye on
her now that she'd been seen around Athens in her flashy new
sports car. When was she going to get serious over Keiko and
take him for a ride in it? Didn't she know she was breaking
his heart?
Stella knew that her brother was hoping she and Keiko Pappas
would get together, but she'd been too burned by an
experience in her past to get into an intimate relationship
with another man. She preferred to remain friends with Keiko
or any other guy hoping to get close to her for that matter.
As for today, she didn't want to think about anything but
having fun because this marked the beginning of her
three-week vacation from work. It was also the end of the
school year for her six-year-old son, Ari.
Although she liked the family's town villa in Athens well
enough—after all, it had been home to the Athas clan for
three generations—she was a beach girl at heart and always
looked forward to their holidays on Andros with Stasio and
his wife, Rachel.
When Stella had attended college in New York, she'd met an
American girl named Rachel Maynard. They had become best
friends at a time when Stella had been recovering from what
she could only look back on now as a nervous breakdown. When
Theo Pantheras had deserted her and their unborn child,
she'd allowed it to almost destroy her. Of course, that had
been six years ago. She'd long since recovered, but the
experience had caused her to lose her faith in men.
Still, with a vacation looming, none of that mattered now.
She was eager to join Rachel, who'd married Stasio and who
now had two little daughters, Cassie and Zoe, who adored Ari
and he them. Everyone was looking forward to being together
at the family villa on Andros and at some point her brother
Nikos would be arriving from Switzerland with his wife
Renate to vacation with them, too.
Nikos's arrival was always a worry for Stella, because he
had a nasty temper and could make life difficult when he
wanted to. Hopefully, this time he'd be on his best
behavior, but she didn't know if it was possible.
Rather than be flown in Stasio's helicopter, Stella planned
to drive her and Ari this visit. She wanted the new car at
her disposal as she sped around the island and enjoyed the
glorious summer. Tomorrow morning they'd leave early and
take the ferry from Rafina. Ari loved ships of all kinds and
adored being on the water. So did she and couldn't wait to
get away from the city. It was starting to get overcrowded
with tourists.
Once she'd pulled around the back of the house, she parked
away from the trees and birds and hurried through the
screened-in back porch where deliveries were left. When she
entered the big kitchen, she saw the elderly housekeeper
watering a plant at the sink.
"Yiasas, Iola. How was your day?"
She turned her gray head to look at Stella. "Busy."
"Cheer up. Ari and I will be leaving in the morning. With
Stasio's family out of here, too, you'll have three weeks to
take it easy and enjoy yourself." Stella gave her a kiss on
the cheek. "I'm going upstairs to get packed."
"Everything has been washed and dried. You want me to bring
up the luggage?"
"Thank you, but my suitcase is already in my closet. We
don't need to take that much to the beach. Mine will hold
both our things."
Grabbing an apple from the basket, she took a big bite and
headed for the staircase at the front of the house. When
they weren't on Andros, Stasio and Rachel lived at the villa
on the third floor with the girls, she and Ari on the
second. Nikos's suite was on the first floor next to the
pool, but he was rarely here.
Once she entered her suite adjoining Ari's, she got to work.
Ari had gone to spend the day with his school friend Dax,
and Stella planned to pick him up at his friend's house
around four-thirty. That gave her an hour.
While she started gathering tops, shorts and swimsuits for
both of them, the house phone rang once. She picked up the
receiver at her bedside table. "What is it, Iola?"
"You need to come downstairs. The postman has a registered
letter for you that only you can sign."
Stella frowned. "Anything legal goes to Stasio's office, but
you already know that."
"I told him, but he said this one is for you. He insists he
has to deliver it into your hands, no one else's."
The postman could have done that while Stella had still been
at the office. "I'll be right down."
What on earth was going on? Stella hung up the phone, eager
to straighten out what was obviously a mistake so she could
finish her packing. She hurried downstairs to the foyer and
entered the front room.
"Yiasou."
The postman nodded. "You are Despinis Estrella Athas?"
"Yes." But no one ever addressed her by her birth name.
He thrust a clipboard at her. "Please sign the card on the
bottom line to prove this was delivered to you personally."
"May I ask who sent it?"
"I have no idea."
Despite her irritation, Stella smiled while she wrote down
her signature. "Don't shoot the messenger, right?"
But her comment was wasted on the postman, who remained stoic.
He took the clipboard and handed her the letter. "I'll see
myself out."
Iola followed him to the front door and shut it behind him.
Stella wandered into the foyer, more bemused than anything
else by the interruption. "Perhaps I got caught speeding in
my new car by one of those traffic cameras. You think?"
Stella quipped.
"Aren't you going to open it and find out?"
Stella had waited too long for her vacation to be bothered
by anything now. "Maybe after I get back from our trip.
After all, if this had been brought to the door tomorrow, I
wouldn't have been here."
"But you signed for it today!"
"True. Why don't you open it and tell me what it says while
I finish packing." She handed it to Iola before starting up
the stairs to make inroads on her packing.
Stella fully expected the housekeeper to come rushing after
her with the news, yet no such thing happened. In fact it
was eerily quiet. After a few minutes Stella stepped out in
the hall and walked to the head of the stairs.
"Iola?"
Total silence.
"Iola?" Stella called in a louder voice.
When nothing was forthcoming she raced down the stairs. No
sign of her in the salon. "Iola?" She ran through the house
to the kitchen, where she found her sitting on one of the
kitchen chairs, her head in her hands. The letter lay open
on the table.
As she started to reach for it, Iola grabbed it from her and
pressed it to her ample bosom. "No! This is not for your eyes."
The loyal housekeeper had been with their family since
Stella had been in elementary school. She knew everything
that went on under their roof. Stella had no doubt Iola
would defend her to the death if the situation warranted it.
"What's so terrible you don't want me to see it?" Her
question was met with quiet sobs. Stella sat down on the
chair next to her and put a loving arm around her heaving
shoulders. "Iola? Please. Let me see it."
A minute passed before she handed Stella the one-page
letter. Her eyes fell on the missive. It was handwritten in
bold, decisive strokes that looked faintly familiar.
Stella's heart skipped a beat.
Dear Stella:
It's been a long time since the last time we were together.
After the letters I sent you came back unopened and I'd
exhausted every possibility of finding you, I left for New
York to work, but now I'm back in Athens for good.
I saw you walking near your villa with a boy who has
Pantheras written all over him. He's my flesh and blood, too.
You and I need to meet.
I can be reached at the phone number on my office
letterhead. I've also written my cell phone number here.
I'll expect your call tomorrow before the day is out. Don't
make me petition the court to secure my right to be with my
son. That's the last thing I would want to do to either of you.
Theo.
Stella's cry reverberated against the walls of the kitchen.
As she read the letter again, Theo's name swam before her
eyes. She started to get up from the chair, but her body
began to feel icy. Nausea rendered her too weak to stand.
There was a ringing in her ears. In the distance she heard
Iola cry before she felt herself slump against the housekeeper.
When next she had any cognizance of her surroundings, she
discovered she was lying on the kitchen floor. Iola was
leaning over her whispering prayers while she patted
Stella's cheeks with a cold, wet cloth. As the housekeeper
fussed over her, a memory of the letter filled her mind.
After six years Theo Pantheras had reappeared in her life,
as if from the dead, wanting to talk to her? The very idea
was so staggering Stella could hardly fathom it.
She'd known moments of anger in her life, but no amount of
pain compared to the violence of her emotions against Ari's
father, the man who'd come close to destroying her.
For him to think for one second she would pick up the phone
and call him was too ludicrous to comprehend. The night
she'd told him she was pregnant, he'd acted thrilled and
told her he would find a way to take care of her and their
baby. They would get married immediately despite their
families being against it.
They had arranged to meet at the church, and once Theo
arrived they would get married in secret, but Theo never
came and Stella never saw him again. It was as if he'd
simply disappeared off the face of the earth. The pain and
the shame of waiting for him pretty well shattered her.
Without Stasio's love and support, and of course the love
she had for her gorgeous Ari, she probably would have died.
"I'm all right, Iola," she assured her. Sheer negative
adrenaline flowed through her body, driving her to get to
her feet. She clung to the chair back while she waited for
her head to stop reeling.
"Drink this." Iola handed her a glass of water.
It tasted good and she drank the whole thing. "Thank you."
"Theo Pantheras has obviously been stalking you. That is not
good. You must call Stasio at once."
"No," she countered in a quiet voice. "That's the one thing
I won't do. I have Ari to think about. This is something I
intend to handle myself."
Since her parents' deaths, Stella had relied on her brother
for everything. It had almost ruined his life in the
process, but she wasn't a helpless teenager anymore. She'd
grown into a twenty-four-year-old woman with a responsible
position in the company, who'd been raising her son for the
last six years.
Stasio had done more for her and her son than any human
could expect of another. Her love for her brother bordered
on worship. The only way to repay him in some small way was
to leave him out of this. He had a wife and children he
doted on, and Rachel was expecting for a third time. Stella
wasn't about to impose her problems on him or his family.
Never again.
She stared at Iola. "Not one word of this to anyone,
especially not Nikos or Stasio. It will be our secret. You
understand?"
The older woman nodded, but she said another prayer under
her breath.
With no time to lose, Stella went upstairs for her purse.
While there she phoned Dax's mother and told her she was
coming to collect Ari. After telling Iola where she was
going, she put the letter in her purse, then left the villa
and drove to Dax's house.
As soon as Ari saw her, he ran down the steps of the front
porch carrying his backpack and got into the car. She gave
him a kiss on the cheek. "How was your last day of school?"
"Okay. We had to bring all our pictures and stuff home. Can
we fly to Palaiopolis tonight?" It was the village on Andros
where Stasio lived.
"No, honey. I'm planning to drive us tomorrow morning. I'd
like my own car while we're on vacation."
"Hooray! I love our new car."
She chuckled. "So do I."
"Stasi says I'll be able to drive a car like this one day."
"Not for years yet, honey."
Whatever Stasio said, that was it. Long ago, when Stasio had
told Stella he'd help her raise Ari, Nikos had warned Stella
that Ari would always look to Stasio as his father. No other
man could hope to compete. Nikos had told Stella that she
should put her son up for adoption so he could have a normal
life with a mother and father, but Stella wouldn't hear of
it. Ari was her life! Since Theo had opted out of all
responsibility, a boy could pray to have a surrogate father
like Stasio.
While they waited for an old man to cross the street in
front of them she glanced at her son. For six years she'd
purposely concentrated on his Athas traits, but since
receiving the letter from Theo, she was forced to take a
second look at him.
Like Stasio, Ari was tall for his age with brown-black hair.
He had Nikos's beautiful olive skin and her smile. But if
she were honest with herself, his jet-black eyes, the
musculature of his lean body, the shape of his hairline with
its widow's peak belonged to Theo.