The Greek's Long-Lost Son (5 page)

Ari was his son, a boy he’d only known for three hours. The horror story of the past shouldn’t have happened. His pain was starting all over again in a brand new way. “Actually I’m flying to my home on Salamis Island.”

“Do you live with your mama and papa?” Ari asked quietly.

They are your grandparents, Ari. “No. They live in Paloukia, upstairs above the taverna.” Ari wouldn’t know what that would be like to live with so many bodies thrown together in a small space. So little privacy. The walls thin. Hand-me-down clothes. The smells from the kitchen permeating everything. “My house is on the beach about ten minutes away from them.”

“Oh.”

“Thank you for a fun hike, guys.”

“It was cool!” Dax cried with enthusiasm. Nothing from Ari of course. Stella had averted her eyes.

Theo wheeled away from them and strode toward the helicopter. He didn’t dare look back or he wouldn’t want to leave.

F
OR
one crazy minute a sense of loss swept over Stella, the kind she used to feel every time she had to leave Theo and hurry home.

No—This couldn’t be starting all over again. She wouldn’t allow it.

Like the other day she found herself speeding toward the villa while Theo’s helicopter flew overhead. But there was one difference. This time she didn’t stop to give in to her emotions or relive feeling Theo’s hands on her again. Today he’d caught her off guard. Never again.

“When we get back and anyone asks, remember that we drove around, got some treats and stopped at Batsi to do some paddle boating. Do you guys think you can handle that?”

Dax nodded. Ari didn’t say anything, but she knew he’d keep quiet. She wasn’t surprised he was in a state of shock. A full dose of Theo Pantheras for three hours would awe any child, especially when the bigger-than-life man was his own father.

Once they reached the villa and the boys hurried to Ari’s room to change into their swimsuits, Stella went straight to hers to call Dax’s mom and assure her all
was going well. This was the boy’s first trip away from his parents with her and Ari. It was an experiment of sorts. So far Dax seemed perfectly happy. Theo had made the outing so exciting she doubted the boy had given home a thought.

She sat down on the side of her bed to phone her. As soon as they talked, maybe she’d be able to enjoy the holiday she’d been looking forward to before Theo had burst on the scene like one of those UFOs they’d talked about earlier.

That particular conversation had been a natural icebreaker in ways Theo couldn’t possibly have imagined. For his age Ari showed an interest in science fiction on an adult level. After the talks with his aunt Rachel, he was determined to be an astronomer when he grew up and search for new galaxies with life on them.

All this time Stella had thought he’d picked up this passion from his aunt, but now she was convinced he’d come by it through his Pantheras genes. Ari had several of the
Star Trek
series on DVD. Who could have guessed Theo was a
Star Trek
junkie too? It only showed Stella how little she knew about Theo.

“Stella?”

“Hi, Elani.”

“How’s it going with my boy?”

“They’re having a terrific time. We just got back from a hike, and now they’re going to swim.”

“No problems yet?”

She smiled. “Not one.” For the next few minutes she told her everything they’d been doing, only leaving out the details that Theo had been along. After Stella got back to Athens, she would confide in Elani about him. For now the episode on the mountainside when she’d
been alone with Theo would be her secret. That was a mistake she wouldn’t be making another time.

“Promise to let me know if there’s any trouble with him and we’ll come for him.”

“So far so good, my friend. I’ll make certain he calls you tonight before he goes to bed. I’m sure he’ll want to.”

“You’re an angel, Stella. Talk to you later.”

They both hung up.

Stella sat there in a daze, her thoughts on Theo. Though he might have killed her love long ago, the way he’d treated their son today convinced her he didn’t want to make any mistakes with Ari.

She went over the day’s events in her mind. He hadn’t tried to influence Ari unduly or put fear in him with underlying threats of any kind. The truth was, he hadn’t done one thing wrong. Not in front of their son.

The other part had been her fault for not telling Ari to go hiking alone with his father. Instead she’d let his apprehension persuade her to join all of them for the hike.

Except that wasn’t the whole truth, and this was the part she hated admitting to herself. When Theo conned her into going with them, it hadn’t been Ari she was thinking about.

Her curiosity over the man he’d become had been her Achilles’ heel. In that moment of weakness she had given in and it had almost cost her her soul all over again. Would she never learn her lesson when it came to Theo?

She jumped up and hurried into the bathroom to put on her bathing suit. Amazing that on the way to meet Theo in Batsi, she’d imagined the outing would end in disaster, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Stella was in shock. A new Theo had risen from the ashes, yet in all the ways that counted, she found him to be remarkably similar to the younger man. That Theo
had stolen her heart before hurling it into the void where it could never be recovered.

Now he was back with a different explanation of what had happened the night she’d waited for him at the church. Wherever the truth lay, it had happened too long ago to do anything about now. The damage had been too pervasive for too many people. You couldn’t go back and pick up the pieces. It wasn’t possible.

“Mom?” Ari came running into her room.

“I’m in the bathroom changing!” Mortified that Theo was still on her mind, heat stormed her cheeks. “I’ll be right there! I had to phone Dax’s mother first.”

“Aunt Rachel wants to know if you’re coming out to the pool.”

“Of course!”

“She says Stasi’s starving and wants to eat outside now.”

When her brother got hungry, it was wise to feed him. “Tell her I’ll be right there,” she called from the doorway. A second later she walked in the room with her towel and discovered Ari still standing there. Dax had to be downstairs. If Ari didn’t want to talk, he would have run back to the pool.

“What is it, honey?”

He stared at her with the most somber expression. “Does my father want to see me again?”

Naturally it was about Theo. “You know he does. That’s why he went to all the trouble to take you on a hike today.”

“But he didn’t say anything before he left in his helicopter, so does that mean he changed his mind about me?”

Was it fear or hope she heard in his question? “Ari, come here.” She sat on the end of the bed. He walked over to her. “While we were alone, I told him our family
is on vacation right now and asked him if he would wait to plan another visit until we get back to Athens. I hope that eases your mind a little.”

By his frown, it appeared her answer didn’t satisfy him. She began to realize there was nothing she could say to help him right now.

“Will I have to go with him?”

She sucked in her breath. “I tell you what. If you don’t want to be alone with him, I’ll go with you again next time.” She searched his eyes. “He was nice to you today, wasn’t he?” Her son didn’t say anything. Stella couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind.

Ari stared at his feet. She recognized that look of uncertainty. “Did your father frighten you today in some way I don’t know about? You have to be honest and help me understand.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“But he did upset you, didn’t he.”

“Yes.”

He dashed out of the room leaving her totally desolate. She hurried through the myriad of corridors and down some steps to catch up to him. When she reached the patio he was just jumping in the pool.

“Oh, good!” Rachel called to her. “Stasio! Come on out! We’re ready to eat.”

Stella found Dax and made sure he filled his plate. She fixed herself some food too and sat on the swing next to him because Ari was still swimming.

Speaking in a hushed tone she said, “Did you really have a good time today?”

He nodded. “It was great!”

“Then could you tell me what Ari’s father did that seemed to upset Ari? Do you know anything?”

“No, but he got mad at me.”

She frowned. “Mr. Pantheras got mad at you?”

“No. Ari.”

“He did? When?”

“When we got back to the house he wouldn’t talk to me and started playing with the girls.”

That didn’t sound like Ari. “I’m sorry, honey. His behavior doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“He told me I should go home.”

Stella hated hearing that. “He didn’t mean it, Dax. Of course your feelings got hurt, but he’ll get over what’s wrong and apologize. After dinner I’ll have a talk with him.”
Another one.
“I bet he tells you he’s sorry before we finish eating.”

Except that Ari didn’t do anything typical for him. He stayed in the pool, refused to eat and teased Cassie until she got out of the water and ran to her mother in tears. Even Stasio was aware something was wrong and got in the pool to talk to him.

But Ari wasn’t having any of it and left the patio on a run. Stasio sent her a questioning glance. This wasn’t good.

“Excuse me for a minute, Dax. I’ll be back.”

With a pounding heart she chased after her son. When she caught up to him, he was on the verge of locking his bedroom door.

“Ari—” She crushed him in her arms, refusing to let him go.

It didn’t take long before the sobs came. In his whole life she’d never seen him convulsed like this.

“Tell me what you’re feeling, darling. Let me help,” she begged. “I know you’re upset over your father.”

“I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Then we won’t.”

“I’m glad I don’t have to see him until after our vacation.” He wiped his eyes. “I’m going to go back downstairs now.”

“To talk to Stasio?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Nothing.”

“Please wait—” He was about to leave. “Dax said you got mad at him. How come?”

“Because he made me mad while we were hiking.”

“I see.” Except that she didn’t. Dax was a darling boy. They’d always gotten along perfectly. “That happens with friends. You’ve had a lot of togetherness today. When you go back downstairs, do me a favor and make up with him? He’s out on the patio feeling bad. If the shoe were on the other foot, you’d be feeling pretty awful about now.”

“I don’t want to make up.”

“That doesn’t sound like you.” Stella didn’t see her son act this way very often. “You still have to apologize because he’s our guest. And while you’re at it, how about telling Cassie you’re sorry for keeping her beach ball away from her in the pool? She’s only four, honey. When a big boy like you takes her stuff, she can’t defend herself.”

“Sorry.”

“Tell
her
that. Okay?”

He nodded, then disappeared.

By the time she reached the patio, Ari had found Dax and had started to eat a lamb shishkabob with him while they talked privately. Pretty soon the boys got in the pool and played nicely with Cassie, letting her have the ball when it was her turn. Stasio flashed her a smile, glad all was well again.

Stella slipped in the deep end and did the backstroke, trying to unwind after a day she’d never forget. Ari might be acting normally right now, but she knew that deep inside, his emotions were in turmoil. So were hers.

Maybe she was wrong to ask Ari not to say anything to Stasio yet, but she wanted to believe they could handle this situation on their own. Stella hated to think she had such a weak character she always turned to her brother for help. How would Ari ever stand on his own two feet if he ran to Stasio every time there was a crisis? It had to stop.

The next day Stella walked into Ari’s bedroom with some ice water for him. They’d just come back from a day’s sailing. He’d picked up a little too much sun and complained he didn’t feel very well. While the rest of the family and Dax played in the pool before dinner, she excused herself to see about him.

He lay on his back on top of the covers with his suntanned arm covering his eyes.

She sat down next to him and felt his forehead.

“You’re hot. Drink this, honey. I’m going to get my phone and call the doctor.”

She raced to her room, then hurried back to him. Relieved to see him drink part of it, she phoned information and got connected to the doctor’s office. His receptionist said he was busy. After leaving a message for him to call, she hung up and took the glass from Ari.

“I don’t want to see the doctor. I’ll be okay.”

“Let’s let him be the judge of that.”

“I wish Dax could go home, but I know he can’t.”

Dax again.

“Of course he can. All I have to do is call Elani and
she’ll come for him.” She studied him with an aching heart. He hadn’t been the same since the hike with Theo yesterday. “Did you two have trouble again today?”

“Yes.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“No.” He turned over so he wouldn’t have to look at her.

“We have to talk, honey. Something’s very wrong. Don’t you know how much I love you?”

“Yes.”

On impulse she said, “If you need to talk to your uncle about your father, then I’ll ask him to come up here after he’s through eating.”

“I don’t want Stasi.” That had to be a first. He rolled off the bed so fast, she knew she’d touched a live wire.

“Why aren’t you getting along with Dax?”

“Because he wants to talk about stuff I don’t want to talk about.”

“You mean like personal things?”

He nodded.

On a burst of inspiration she said, “Has he been asking questions about your father?”

“Yes.”

“Like what?”

“He thinks my daddy is cool.”

“I take it Dax got along well with him.”

“They talked all the time.”

She knew she was getting closer to some kind of answer. “Dax’s father is an older man and fairly quiet. Dax probably liked Theo’s attention.”

“He keeps asking me about when I’m going to see him again so we can all do stuff together.” His eyes filled with tears. “He’s not Dax’s daddy!”

“What do you mean?”

He blinked back the tears to keep them from falling. “My daddy liked Dax better than me.”

“What?”

“I thought he wanted to be with me, but he was nicer to Dax. I hate both of them.”

“Oh, darling!” Stella reached for him and hugged him harder while she tried to comprehend that far from feeling hostility toward his father, Ari was jealous of the attention Theo had paid to his best friend.

In order to feel jealous, it meant you had to care.

This meant Ari had nursed a longing for his birth father all his cognitive life, but it had lain dormant until put to the first test.

Before yesterday she’d assumed Theo would see that it was too late to bond with Ari. She’d been positive her son would never be able to warm up to him. Ari already had a surrogate father in Stasio, the best man in the world. He didn’t need or want another one. In the end Theo would find out it was no use, but the surprise had been on Stella.