by Jackie Braun
He turned, caught Darcie’s hand in his. His smile reflected the remorse he was feeling.
“My grandmother was right. I have let my pride get in the way of what truly matters. And you are right as well, Darcie. I already have regrets where my brother is concerned. I do not want to have more.”
She squinted at him. “So, you’re not angry with me for butting in?”
“No. I am angry with myself for many things, including what I said to you just now. A tourist just passing through.” He winced as he repeated it. “It was insulting to you and an outright lie. You are so much more than that to me, Darcie. Can you forgive me?”
She kissed him in answer. Afterward, she asked, “Does this mean you are going to the rehearsal dinner?”
“No. It means we are going.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he said, “Do not even think about backing out. I want you with me. I...need you there.”
She smiled. “I’m so happy you will give them your blessing. It is the only gift she said they want.”
Nick had already swallowed his pride, now he searched his heart and reached a decision.
“I will give them my blessing, but I can think of an even more meaningful gift to offer.”
* * *
The rehearsal dinner wasn’t at a restaurant. Rather, it was at the Costas home. More specifically, in his parents’ yard, which had been decorated with white streamers and flowers to fit the occasion.
Even though the actual wedding party was quite small, Nick’s mother and grandmother had been cooking for the past two days in preparation of the feast. In addition to his parents and grandmother, the bride-and-groom-to-be, and Selene’s parents, of course, only a few friends and close relatives would be in attendance. The size of the audience would make it easier to humble himself, Nick decided.
The house smelled of lamb and simmering vegetables when he and Darcie arrived. She’d been quiet on the drive over, but she’d rested her hand over his on the gearshift and had never let go. Nick appreciated her support. He appreciated her. If not for her interference... No, it went further than that. If not for her appearance in his life, what he was about to do would not be occurring. Nick would have jetted back to New York and remained locked in his bitter disillusionment, isolated from his family, angry with the brother who had always been his best friend.
Love is not selfish.
Now, as they walked through the door that opened into the yard, he held her hand tightly, not only because he needed her support, but because he also didn’t want to let her go. Ever.
God help him. Nick fully understood his brother’s predicament now. Love happened. Even when one didn’t go looking for it. Even when the timing was all wrong. It was terrifying and wonderful all at the same time. And denying it served no purpose.
His mother and grandmother were in the kitchen, arguing over the doneness of the roast.
“Nick!” Thea cried out when he and Darcie entered the room.
“Mama.” He kissed her cheek, wiped the tears that had started to leak from the corners of her eyes.
“Please tell me you and Darcie will be staying,” she whispered hoarsely, hopefully.
“If it is not too much trouble.”
She huffed out a breath that served as her answer. “I will set the extra plates on the table.”
While Thea bustled to the cupboard and got to work, Yiayia stood rooted in place, her hands clasped in front of her as if praying. She nodded, opened her mouth but said nothing. It was the first time Nick could recall his grandmother being speechless. He kissed her cheek as well.
“I know,” he said softly. “I know.”
“Do you want me to send Pieter inside so you can speak to him in private?” his mother asked.
It was tempting, but too easy. “No. I will go to him.” Taking a deep breath, he extended a hand to Darcie. “Will you come with me?”
“You don’t need to ask.”
Conversations dried up midsentence when he and Darcie stepped out into the yard. Selene’s parents, who he had not seen in years, looked horrified at first, as if they feared Nick was there to make a scene.
“Nick!” Selene called. Then her hand shot to her mouth, as if she wasn’t sure she should draw attention to his arrival.
Nick’s gaze cut to his brother, who was standing beside her. Pieter’s eyes grew wide in surprise. Afterward, he neither smiled nor frowned. His expression remained wary, although Nick told himself he saw hope flicker in his brother’s eyes as he closed the distance that separated them.
“Hello, Pieter. I hope I am not too late.”
“Dinner has not yet started.”
“That is not what I mean,” Nick said quietly. “I hope I am not too late to repair the damage my stubbornness has done.”
The stiffness left Pieter’s shoulders. His mouth curved in a smile. “You know better than to ask.”
In an instant, he had made his way around the table and was embracing Nick.
“Thank you,” Pieter whispered.
“One more thing,” Nick said afterward. “If you still want me to act as your koumbaro, I would be honored.”
“There is only one thing to say to that,” Pieter replied before shouting, “Opa!”
“I am sorry, Pieter.” Nick transferred his gaze to Selene then. Long ago, he’d thought he would spend the rest of his life with her. Even after their breakup, after he’d understood how ill-suited they were, he’d refused to accept how perfectly suited she was to Pieter. When he started to apologize, however, she stopped him with a shake of her head.
“The past is the past, Nick.”
For once, they were all in agreement.
* * *
“Pieter and Selene are so happy,” Darcie commented as Nick drove her back to his house later that evening.
She got misty-eyed just thinking about how the brothers had embraced and the joy on Thea and George’s faces after Nick agreed to act as Pieter’s koumbaro at the service. She wished she would be there to see it.
As if he could read her mind, Nick said, “I know you are scheduled to fly back to the States, but I would like for you to attend the wedding with me.”
It’s what his family was expecting. What they had been expecting since the first time they met Darcie. Only she and Nick had known that her flight was scheduled to depart before the nuptials ever occurred and that he had intended to attend on his own.
“My family will be disappointed if you are not there to share in the celebration. They credit you for making me come to my senses, you know.” He cast a smile in her direction, and then sobered. “I do, as well.”
Something about his expression was different. Darcie couldn’t quite put a finger on it. “I think you would have eventually.”
“Perhaps. But not in time for their wedding. Not in time to ease their hearts with my blessing or to act as my brother’s best man. So, will you come with me, Darcie?”
“I want to, Nick,” she said slowly.
He studied her a moment. “Saying that you want to is not the same as saying you will. Please say yes.”
Darcie took a deep breath and gave herself over to fate. “Yes.”
* * *
“You’re staying in Greece?”
“Sheesh, Becks, you make it sound like I’m moving here for good,” Darcie replied on a laugh. “It’s only for an extra couple of days. You and I will still meet for coffee and gossip when I get back. It will just have to wait until Tuesday now.”
Darcie had already called her father with similar news since he had volunteered to pick her up at the airport. He’d taken the change to her itinerary in stride, probably because Darcie had left him with the impression it was the result of the airline overbooking her return flight. She felt a little guilty about that, but figured the whi
te lie was better than having him worry.
Becky, however, wasn’t buying it.
“What’s really going on? And, no, I will not wait until Tuesday for an explanation. I want to know right now.”
“Okay.” Darcie sighed. “You know how I mentioned before that Nick and his brother were estranged, and the rift between them was a source of friction for the entire family?”
“Uh-huh. You said that was why his mother and grandmother kept trying to set him up on dates,” Becky said.
“Right. So, he was pretending to be dating me so they would cease and desist.”
“Uh-huh. His family wanted Nick to find happiness himself so he would— Oh, my God!”
An ocean away, Darcie could see her friend jumping to conclusions. “Becky, no. It’s not—”
But her friend was shouting excitedly, “He’s in love with you! That gorgeous Greek man is in love with you!”
“No.” Despite the denial, Darcie’s heart took off at a gallop. She swallowed and forced it to slow down. “He hasn’t said anything about love. He’s patched things up with his brother, and now he’s asked me to stay and attend the wedding. It’s his way of saying thanks, I think. Because...I don’t know...I helped him put aside his lingering feelings of betrayal and move on.”
“And how do you suppose you managed to do that?” Becky asked, her voice laced with triumph. “The man has moved on...to you! Are you in love with him?”
“I just broke off my engagement.” Darcie’s protest sounded weak even to her own ears.
“The timing sucks, I’ll give you that. But your breakup with Tad was a long time coming, and we both know it.”
“Nick and I hardly know one another,” Darcie said, well aware that the explanation carried little weight. True in terms of time, they had only just met. In other ways...it was as if she had known him forever. He understood her so well.
“My mom and dad met on a blind date, eloped a month later and have been going strong for thirty-five years.”
“Becks—”
“You knew Tad for years, Darcie. Years! And you still weren’t sure in the end. Doesn’t that tell you something? When it’s right, it’s right. And you just know it. The amount of time doesn’t matter.”
“I’ve got to go.”
“Darcie—”
“See you Tuesday,” she said and quickly disconnected.
She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to think about it. What Becky suggested was preposterous, outrageous and very, very probable, at least on Darcie’s end. As for Nick...well that was a whole other matter.
* * *
Rain was forecast for Pieter and Selene’s big day. The sky was thick with fat dark clouds when Darcie and Nick entered the church, but nothing could dampen the excitement of the guests assembled in the church’s pews. When the bride started up the aisle, all eyes were on her, and even the insistent tapping of rain against the stained-glass windows was ignored. Selene made a gorgeous bride. And she was so obviously in love.
Darcie had never attended a Greek wedding, but in many ways it was not so different from the American ones she had attended, even if she didn’t understand much of what was being said. Love and commitment, such things were universal. At Nick’s family’s insistence, she was seated in the front row, wedged between his mother and grandmother. Even before the ceremony started, Sophia had stuffed a lace-edged hankie into her hand.
“You will need this,” the older woman predicted.
Thea had nodded, dabbing her eyes.
Nick, of course, was on the altar with the bride and groom during the exchange of vows. He looked as handsome as ever in formal attire, his dark hair tamed for the event. As the koumbaro, he placed the crowns on their heads at the appointed time, and then switched them back and forth three times to symbolize their union.
Darcie might not have understood the words being spoken but the emotions translated perfectly. She found herself sniffling and dabbing at her eyes right along with Thea and Sophia, grateful for the hankie.
“Thank you,” Nick’s mother whispered to Darcie as the bride and groom shared their first kiss as husband and wife. “You have given me back my sons.”
“I...oh. Actually, Nick—”
“Nick is so happy.” Thea smiled. “Maybe soon Pieter will be switching the crowns on your heads.”
Darcie’s eyes filled and the tears spilled over. As Thea squeezed her hand, Yiayia wiped them away with a knowing smile.
* * *
By the end of the ceremony, the storm had passed. As they left the church for the reception hall, patches of blue were visible in the sky. It was fitting given all that had happened.
Darcie had never enjoyed herself at a wedding reception more, especially when the dancing began. Nick and his family showed her some of the basic steps to traditional Greek dances.
“I’m afraid I have two left feet,” she told him after one dance, during which she had stepped on his toes at least half a dozen times.
Now they were seated at a table, enjoying a glass of wine. Darcie had sworn off the ouzo after the first toast. The inside of her throat still felt as if it were on fire from the strong spirit.
“You were doing well for just learning. It takes time.”
Time that she didn’t have. “I can’t believe I’ll be going home soon.”
“Let’s not speak of that now.” The band began to play a new song. The melody was familiar, if old. Darcie placed it by the time Nat King Cole started to sing “Unforgettable.” Nick stood, held out his hand. “I requested this one especially for you.”
“Am I unforgettable?” Darcie found the courage to ask.
“What do you think?”
Gazing into his dark eyes, she chickened out. “I think I have had the best vacation ever, and I’m going to be really sorry to see it end.”
On the dance floor, Nick gathered her closer and rested his cheek against hers. It was just as well that he could no longer see her face, because despite Darcie’s best efforts, her eyes began to tear.
TWELVE
“Is this goodbye or is it ‘see you later’?” Darcie asked Nick as they sipped coffee in a crowded Newark airport café.
The question had been weighing heavily on both their minds, but Darcie apparently was the only one brave enough to give it voice. Another time her newfound courage might have made her smile. After all, mere weeks ago, she had been a go-along-to-get-along girl. Right now, her transformation took a backseat to heartache.
Her connecting flight to Buffalo wouldn’t board for another hour yet. She’d insisted he didn’t need to wait with her, but Nick was just as insistent that he would—prolonging the inevitable.
Neither of them had slept on the long flight from Athens. They’d spent the time talking, each sharing details of their lives from the mundane to the profound. Even so, they had scrupulously avoided making any reference to their relationship and the future.
Until now.
“Is there a difference?” he asked.
“You know there is.” She gathered up the empty sugar packets and crushed them into a ball. Her gaze was fixed on her fist when she continued. “I’m only asking because if this is the last time I’m likely to see you, I’m going to want to make my kiss count.”
“They have all counted,” he assured her.
“True. Some more than others,” she added thinking about their lovemaking.
Back at his home after the wedding, Nick had undressed Darcie slowly, hands caressing her skin as if memorizing her body’s every dip and curve. The exquisite tenderness of his touch, the soft cadence of his voice as he spoke in his native tongue, both had been in stark contrast to his fierce expression and ultimate possession.
Afterward, he’d gathered her close.
“Tonight, I will stay,” he’d told her. “I want to watch you wake.”
True to his word, when Darcie opened her eyes early the next day, Nick had still been beside her and already awake. Indeed, given the shadows under his eyes, she’d wondered if he’d slept at all.
“Just as I suspected,” he’d said quietly.
“What?”
“You are even more beautiful in the morning.”
So, now, she had to know. “Will we see each other again, Nick? Whatever the answer is, I promise I can handle it. I’m not fragile.”
No, Darcie wasn’t fragile, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be hurt or manipulated. She had been in the past. Nick was determined to do neither. Unfortunately, he found himself in a predicament. The past two weeks had been amazing, so much so that he didn’t want them to end. They made for a great beginning. But...
It would be much easier if they lived in the same city. Then they could fully explore their feelings and decide over time where they were heading. But Darcie lived on the other side of the state, which was better than being on the other side of the ocean, but still not close enough for a relationship to develop naturally. As it was, what had occurred between them in Greece had been shaped by outside forces, not the least of which were her broken engagement and his strained family ties.
Now that they were returning to their everyday lives, what would happen? In the light of a new day, would she look back on her time in Greece and see it as a romantic holiday dalliance and nothing more? That was how it had started. That was all it was supposed to be.
Nick didn’t wonder how he would feel once he was back in his old routine. He knew. He loved Darcie.
So, he said, “I want to see you again.”
“You don’t sound happy about that.”
“I am being cautious, I suppose. For both of our sakes.”
“Are you worried that I’ll suddenly realize I still love Tad or that I want to go back to my old job as a fact-checker?” she asked.
