Finding Opa! (10 page)

It may have been that she was in ecstasy or that she felt the same as he did, but she did not stop him. Instead, she kissed his mouth and held on to his throbbing body below, extracting every last ounce of him.

After the transfer of everything that they had both physically and emotionally, he looked into her eyes, panting and speechless.
What had he just done and why didn’t he care?
He looked at her body attached to his and wondered as he tried to repress a deviant smile.

Tears sprang from her eyes as her mouth quivered. She too had felt the jolt of love and belonging that they both had been denied and had in returned denied themselves finally return after so many years.

Pulling her to him, he hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and whispering soft, calming words in to her ear. He meant them all.
I love you. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.

How’s that for slowish?
he thought to himself as she laid on top of him naked and trembling. It was more like fools rush in, and he and Stacey were first through the finish line.

Chapter Seven

As the fresh Horiatiki salad was passed to her, Hanna sat under the inquisition of her mother and father about her brother and ate her very uncomfortable meal. This was the sixth Sunday that Hunter had not shown up for dinner, leaving her alone with the vultures. And the feeling around the room was divisively ominous. She debated back and forth with her thoughts. Should she tell them all the truth? Their son was neglecting his family, because he was involved in a relationship with a
black
woman. She rolled her eyes.
Absolutely incredible.

Hunter had been the president of the Young Greeks of Seattle, the prime pick of their social circle from middle school until the day he had married Corina. And their family had even been disapproving of her, a full-bloodied Greek from a lower socio-economic class than the Fourakis family. They expected him to damn near marry royalty. Why they had always been like that, she had no idea, but they were a pretentious clan as were many of their family friends.

For as long as she could remember, Hunter had always been a proud Greek American, always ranting and raving about the permanent contributions that their culture had given to the world. Now, he was seriously dating a woman who by all standards of their family was beneath them. She wondered was he doing this to spite them all or if he had actually fallen for the woman. He claimed that she had something that he needed. Sex? Companionship? Only God knew.

“Is something the matter?” Dr. Fourakis asked his youngest daughter as he sat at the head of the table watching her suspiciously. He had a knack for knowing when something wasn’t right with his children, specifically Hanna.

Hanna gave a weak smile and picked up the salad dressing. “No, what would make you say that, Papa?”

“You seem distant,” Mrs. Fourakis chimed in. “And where is your brother? You have to know what is going on with the boy. Is he depressed again? You know how he gets during this time of the year. He should really go back to see the therapist. He needs to talk to someone.”

Paris, the eldest brother, nodded but did not answer. Mirroring his brother’s handsome face with streaks of silver in his hair and even more refinement in his poise, he sat and listened with a keen ear then looked over at his sister, Rhea, a heavier-set image of Hanna, who sat up straight with the wine glass perched to her plum-colored lips.

Paris and Rhea were not the matriarch and patriarch of the family, but it was easy to confuse them with the two. Seasoned doctors of prestige with a long line of
letters
behind their names, over 300 published studies, articles and academic papers between the two of them, they had taken on the role as the eldest of the children with a certain amount of seriousness that could not be easily ignored.

“He’s always been far too emotional for my taste,” Paris said absently of Hunter.

“He was coddled too much as a child,” Rhea reiterated. It had been her argument for years to the family.

“Or not enough.” Hanna rolled her eyes. She hated their sanctimonious bull crap. Why would anyone want to come here and visit, only to be ridiculed the entire time?

“And you’ve always taken up for him far too much,” Rhea said with a nasty snarl to Hanna.

“He’s becoming a hermit,” Dr. Fourakis said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I invited him to help with the festival this year, but he said that he had
things
to do.” He said so with a chuckle as if the boy had no life outside of work.

“Honestly, he gets worse each year. You would think that he would want to move on. I met a lovely girl at the church that I wanted to introduce him to, but he won’t even consider a date,” Mrs. Fourakis said, feeling a tinge of sympathy for her son and the sudden need to take up for him. Hunter had always been different from his siblings and more sensitive.

Hanna shook her head as they talked. They were so off. Huffing, she stabbed her lettuce and looked over at her mother. “He’s seeing a woman.” Everyone’s eyes landed on her as the words came out. A million questions swirled around the room.

“Is she a doctor?” Mrs. Fourakis asked with an inquisitive smile.

“No,” Hanna answered.

“Is she a member of the church?” Mrs. Fourakis asked hopefully.

“He doesn’t even go anymore, Ma. No,” Hanna replied.

Dr. Fourakis frowned and put down his glass of wine. “Is she Greek?” That was the most important of his concerns but not the only one.

“No,” Hanna said, raising her brow. “She’s an author though.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Fourakis said pleased. “Published?”

“Yes, a bestselling author,” Hanna said, looking at Rhea, who had attempted but failed to accomplish such a thing. It was worth it to leak Hunter’s business just to rub Rhea’s shortcomings in her smug face.

Everyone seemed interested suddenly. Maybe they had all been too hard on the boy. He was actually trying to move on with his life. It definitely explained his absence, but it only brought more attention to his love interest. Who was she?

“Well, if she isn’t Greek then
what
is she?” Dr. Fourakis exploded. He had had enough of the guessing games.

“She’s black,” Hanna bit out. She looked down at her food. The room became silent. The clink of silverware falling against plates expressed the consensus. Disapproval.

“Black?” Mrs. Fourakis asked, looking around confused.

“Yes, mother. Black. She’s a black author. She writes romance, and she’s a patient at the practice, though that is not the way that they initially met,” Hanna said quickly.

“Completely unprofessional,” Rhea said in a huff.

Hanna shot Rhea a dirty look out of the side of her eye. Leave it to Rhea to be disapproving, though she was still lacking a man or any semblance of a stable relationship.

“How
did
they meet?” Dr. Fourakis asked.

“Is this a joke?” Mrs. Fourakis asked with a half-grin. She still had not caught up to the rest of the conversation. She was still focused on her son seeing a black woman.

Hanna was quiet. She looked at her mother and smirked. “He wants us to stay
out
of his business. And it is serious. He hasn’t been home in a few days. He comes to the office and then he goes straight to
her
house. And I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but it sounded like a better option than you berating him behind his back.”

“We weren’t berating…” Rhea started to defend.

“You were,” Hanna said, picking up her fork.

“A black author? Really?” Paris asked intrigued. “Do you know her name?”

“I’ve said enough,” Hanna said, refusing to say more. “The point is that he’s no hermit.”

Dr. Fourakis sat back from the table disgusted. Wiping his face off with the white napkin beside him, he stood up with his hands fisted and stomped off from the table leaving his food uneaten. The maid in the corner quickly stepped forward and pushed his seat up to the table then removed his plate.

Mrs. Fourakis sat in shock. Her dear boy was dating a woman and had not bothered to tell her. He was finally in love and had not shared such a marvelous fact. Hurt to her heart, she stood up from the table. “If you’d excuse me, I’m going to go and check on your father,” she said, holding her diamond-covered hand to her St. John powder blue jacket.

Paris nodded and patted his wife’s hand as she sat quietly listening and eating her food. “Another dinner at the Fourakis house,” he said, turning to Hanna. “You and your brother are absolutely amazing. He ruins dinner by not coming, and you ruin dinner by doing the complete opposite.”

“The words
pompous
and
prick
ring a bell when I see that grin of yours,” Hanna said to Paris.

“Funny,” Paris said snidely. “And where is Jack this evening?”

“He’s on duty at the ER,” Hanna said, narrowing her eyes.

“Right,” Paris said, standing up. “Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”

Chapter Eight

Wednesday was damp and rainy. Looking out of his office window, Hunter fought with his thoughts as he talked into his recorder. Under the sterile fluorescent lights in his office, he paced back and forth trying to decide which birth control would be best for Mrs. Alderman considering her desire to continue smoking. Her unhealthy habit could lead to blood clots or even a heart attack in view of the fact that she was already over thirty-five.

“Oh, good. You’re still here,” Hanna said, coming into the office. She closed the door behind her. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Hunter looked at his watch, hoping that whatever she wanted wouldn’t take long. “Sure. What’s up?”

“How have you been?” she asked with a small grin. “You’ve been like a ghost in here. You’re in. You’re out. I hardly see you.” Hanna shrugged as she held his gaze.

Hunter put down his recorder on the table. Something was up. His eye twitched at the thought of what it could be. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve just been a bit busy.” He walked over to his desk and turned on his computer monitor.

“Well, you missed the family dinner again, and now everyone is getting worried,” she said, trying to sound concerned.

“I’m a grown man, Hanna. I have other things to do with my Sunday’s than sit and fight with Paris and Rhea.” He went to
Google
and typed something in. Turning his eyes from her, he tried to calm his defenses. It seemed that he had to do that a lot lately with her.

“The family is talking, Hunter. They’re worried,” Hanna explained in a strained voice.

Hunter stabbed the keyboard with his finger and breathed through his flared nostrils. “Why are they worried
now
?” He turned towards her.

She hunched her shoulders again. “I told them about your friend.”

He shot her a dirty look but kept quiet.

She put her hands up in protest. “But it was in your own defense. They were starting in again about how depressed and detached you had become and…”

Hunter growled. “Dammit! Don’t you people understand that I need my privacy? The family was totally against me and Corina getting married and then tried to act so fucking destroyed when she was killed in Iraq. Now, they are suddenly
concerned
? I thought that I made it perfectly clear that I didn’t want to be the recipient of their
concern
anymore.”

Hanna loosened her balled-up fists and took a deep breath. “Maybe if you would just talk to them, they would stop probing me.” Hanna thought it really wasn’t her fault but his. He was the one avoiding his family. He was the one seeing a black woman. He was the one who was still sulking so many years after Corina’s death. Yet, she was the one who was being blamed for everything.

“And maybe I don’t care if they are concerned or not!” He stood up and snatched off his smock. “I’m out of here. Tell the wolves that they can circle if they like, but I’m not defenseless this time. If they try to ruin this for me, I’ll cut all ties. I swear it, Hanna.” He stared down at his sister and grabbed his keys. “And you had no right to run your mouth about me and Stacey. It’s none of your damned business. I don’t’ bother you about Jack.”