CHAPTER TWELVE

RAIN POUNDED at the windows; late summer lightning split the low, gray sky as thunder rolled across the city.

Inside Laurel's kitchen, three women sat around the table. Two of them-Susie and Annie-were trying to look anywhere but at each other; the third-Laurel-was too busy glaring at her cup of decaf to notice.

" I hate decaffeinated coffee, " Laurel said. " What is the point of drinking coffee if you're going to take out all the caffeine? "

Susie's gaze connected with Annie's. " Here we go again, " her eyes said.

" It's better for you, " she said mildly. " With the baby and all. "

" I know that. For heaven's sakes, I'm the one who decided to give up coffee, aren't I? It's just that it's stupid to drink stuff that smells like coffee, looks like coffee, but tastes like-"

" Okay, " Annie said, getting to her feet. She smiled brightly, whisked the coffee out from under Laurel's nose and dumped it into the sink. " Let's see... " She opened the cabinet and peered inside. " You've got a choice of herbal tea, cocoa, regular tea-"

" Regular tea's got as much caffeine as coffee. A big help you are, Annie. "

Annie's brows shot skyward. " Right, " she said briskly.

She shut the cabinet and opened the refrigerator. " How about a nice glass of milk? "

" Yuck. "

" Well, then, there's ginger ale. Orange juice. " Her voice grew muffled as she leaned into the fridge.

" There's even a little jar of something that might be tomato juice. "

" It isn't. "

" V8? "

" No. "

" Well, then, maybe it's spaghetti sauce. "

" I don't remember the last time I had pasta. "

Annie frowned and plucked the jar from the shelf. " It's not a good idea to keep chemistry experiments in the-"

Laurel shot to her feet. 'Why did you say that? "

" Say what? " Annie and Susie exchanged another look. " Laurel, honey, if you'd just-"

" Just because a person finds something strange in another person's kitchen is no reason to say it looks like a - it looks like a... " Laurel took a deep breath. " Sorry, " she said brightly. She looked from her big sister to her best friend. " Well, " she said, in that same phony voice, " I know the two of you have things to do, so-"

" Not me, " Susie said quickly. " George is downstairs, glued to the TV. I'm free as a bird. "

" Not me, either, " Annie said. " You know how it is. My life is dull, dull, dull. "

" Dull? With your ex hovering in the background? "

Laurel eyed her sister. " What's that all about, anyway? You're not seriously thinking of going down that road again, are you? "

For one wild minute, Annie considered telling Laurel the whole story... but Laurel's life was complicated enough. The last thing she needed was to hear someone else's troubles.

" Of course not, " she said, with a quick smile. " Why on earth would I do that? "

" Good question. " Laurel shoved back her chair, rose from the table and stalked to the sink. " If there's one truth in this world, " she said, as she turned on the water, " it's that men stink. Oh, not George, Suze. I mean, he's not a man... "

Susie laughed.

" Come on, you know what I'm saying. George is so sweet. He's one in a million. "

" I agree, " Susie said. She sighed. " And I'd have bet my life your husband was, too. "

Laurel swung around, eyes flashing. " I told you, I do not wish to discuss Damian Skouras. "

" Well, I know, but you said-"

" Besides, he is not my husband! "

" Well, no, he won't be, after the divorce comes through, but-"

''To hell with that! A man who-who forces a woman into marriage isn't a husband, he's a-a-"

" A no-good, miserable, super-macho stinking son of a bitch, that's what he is! " Annie glared at her sister, as if defying her to disagree. " And don't you tell me you don't want to talk about it, Laurel, because Susie and I have both had just about enough of this nonsense. "

" What nonsense? I don't know what you're talk-"

" You damn well do know what we're talking about! It's two months now, two whole months since I got that insane call from you, telling me you'd married that-that Greek super-stud and that you'd found him in the arms of his bubble-brained mistress a week later, and in all that time, I'm not supposed to ask any questions or so much as mention his name. " Annie folded her arms and lifted her chin. " That is a load of crap, and you know it. "

" It isn't. " Laurel shut off the water and folded her arms, too. " There's nothing to talk about, Annie. "

" Nothing to talk about. " Annie snorted. " You got yourself knocked up and let the guy who did it strong-arm you into marrying him! "

Laurel stiffened. " Must you say it like that? "

" It's the truth, isn't it? "

After a minute, Laurel nodded. " I guess it is. God, I almost wish I'd never gone to Dawn's wedding! "

Susie sighed dramatically. " That must have been some wedding. " Annie and Laurel spun toward her as she flushed. " Speaking metaphorically, I mean. Hey, come on, guys, don't look at me that way. It must have been one heck of a day. Annie's ex, coming on to her... "

" For all the good it's going to do him, " Annie said coldly.

" And didn't you say that friend of yours, Bethany, met some guy there and ended up having a mad affair? "

" Her name's Stephanie, and at the risk of sounding cynical, I don't think very much of mad affairs, not anymore. " Annie jerked her chin toward Laurel. " Just look where it got my sister. "

" I know. " Susie shook her head. " And Damian seemed so perfect. Handsome, rich-"

" Are you two all done discussing me? " Laurel asked. " Because if you aren't, you'll have to continue this conversation elsewhere. I told you, I will not talk about Damian Skouras. That chapter's over and done with. "

" Not quite, " Annie said, and looked at Laurel's gently rounded belly.

Laurel flushed. " Very amusing. "

" Can we at least talk about how you're going to raise this baby all by yourself? "

" I'll manage. "

" There are financial implications, dammit. You said yourself you're at the end of your career. "

" Thank you for reminding me. "

" Laurel, sweetie-"

" Don't 'Laurel sweetie' me. I am a grown woman, and I made a lot of money over the years. Trust me, Annie, I saved quite a bit of it. "

" Yes, but children cost. You don't realize-"

" Dammit, " Laurel said fiercely, " Now you sound just like him! "

" Who? "

" Damian, that's who. Well, you sound like his attorney, anyway. 'Raising a child is an expensive proposition, ' she said in a voice that mimicked the rounded tones of John Hastings. " 'Mr. Skouras is fully prepared to support his child properly. '"

Susie and Annie exchanged looks. " You never told me that, " Susie said.

" Me, neither, " Annie added.

Laurel glared at the two women. " It doesn't matter, does it? I'm not about to take a penny from that bastard. "

" Yes, but I thought... I mean, I just figured... " Susie cleared her throat. " Not that being willing to support his kid makes me change what I think of the man. Running off that way, going back to his mistress after a week of marriage... It makes me sick just to think about it"

Annie nodded. " You're right. How he could want that idiotic blonde instead of my beautiful sister... "

" He didn't. " Susie and Annie looked at Laurel, and she flushed. " I never said that, did I? "

" You said he left you, for the blonde. "

" I said he went back to New York and that I found him with her. I never said-"

" So, he didn't want to take up where they'd left off! "

" I don't know what he wanted. " Laurel plucked a sponge from the sink, squeezed it dry and began wiping down the counter with a vengeance. " I never gave him the chance to tell me. "

" What do you mean, you never...? "

" Look, when you find your husband with a naked blonde, it's not hard to figure what's going on. I just turned around and walked out. Don't look at me like that, Annie. You would have, too. "

Annie sighed. " I suppose. What could he possibly have said that would have made things better? Besides, if he'd really wanted to explain, he'd have called you or come to see you-"

" He did come here. "

Annie and Susie looked at each other. " He did? When? "

" That same night. "

Susie looked shocked. " You see what happens when George and I take a few days off! Laurel, you never said-"

" I wouldn't let him in. What for? We had nothing to say to each other. "

" And that was it? " Annie asked. " He gave up, that easily? "

Silence fell on the kitchen and then Laurel cleared her throat.

" He phoned. He left a message on my machine. He said what had happened-what I'd seen-hadn't been what it appeared to be. "

" Oh, right, " Annie said, " I'll just bet it-"

" What did he say it had been? " Susie asked, shooting Annie a warning look.

" I don't remember, " Laurel lied. She remembered every word; she'd listened to Damian's voice a dozen times before erasing it, not just the lying words but the huskiness, hating. herself for the memories it stirred in her heart. " Some nonsense about his bimbo threatening to drag my name through the mud unless he paid her off. Oh, what does it matter? He'd have said anything, to get his own way. I told you, he was determined to take my baby. "

" Well, it's his baby, too. " Susie swallowed hard when both women glared at her. " Well, it is, " she said defiantly. , 'That's just a simple biological fact. " She frowned. " Which brings up an interesting point. How come he's backed off! "

Annie frowned, too. " Good question. He has backed off, hasn't he? "

Laurel nodded. She pulled a chair out from the table and sank into it. " Uh-huh. He has. "

" How come? Not that I'm not delighted, but why back off now, after first all but dragging you into marriage? "

Laurel folded her hands on the tabletop. " He-he called and left another message. "

" The telephone company's best pal, " Susie said brightly.

" He said-he said that he had no right to force me into living with him. That he understood that I could never feel about him as I had about Kirk-"

" Kirk? " Annie's brows arched. " How'd that piece of sewer slime get into the picture? "

" He said he'd been wrong to make me marry him in the first place, that a marriage without love could never work. '

" The plot thickens. " Susie leaned forward over the table. " I know you guys are liable to tar and feather me for this, but Damian Skouras isn't sounding like quite the scuzzball I'd figured him for. "

Annie reached out and clasped her sister's hand. " Maybe you should have taken one of those phone calls, hmm? "

" What for? " Laurel snatched back her hand. " Don't be ridiculous, both of you. I called him and left him a message of my own. I said it didn't matter what had been going on or not going on with the blonde because I agreed completely. Not only could a loveless marriage never work, a marriage in which a wife hated the husband was doomed. And I hated him, I said. I said that I always had, that he had to accept the fact that it had been nothing but sex all along... Don't look at me that way, Annie! What was I supposed to believe? That that woman appeared at his door, uninvited, and stripped off her clothes? "

" Is that what he claimed? "

" Yes! "

Annie smiled gently. " It's possible, isn't it? The lady didn't strike me as the sort given to subtle gestures. "

Laurel shot up from her chair. " I don't believe what's going on here! The two of you, asking me to deny what I saw with my own eyes! My God, it was bad enough to be deceived by Kirk, a man I'd thought I loved, but to be deceived by Damian, by my own husband, the only man I've ever really loved, is-is... " Her voice broke. " Oh God, I do love him! I'll never stop loving him. " She looked from Susie to Annie, and her mouth began to tremble. " Go away, " she whispered. " Just go away, and leave me alone. "

They didn't, not until Laurel was calmer, not until she was undressed and asleep in her bed.

Then they left because, really, when you came right down to it, what else was there to do?

******

What else was there to do? Damian thought, as he attacked the boulder outside his house overlooking the Aegean with the sledgehammer.

Nothing. Nothing but beat at this miserable rock and work himself to exhaustion from sunup to sundown in hopes he'd fall into bed at night and not dream of Laurel.

It was a fine plan. Unfortunately it didn't work.

He had not seen Laurel, or heard her voice, in two months-but she was with him every minute of the day, just the same. The nights were even worse. Alone in the darkness, in the bed where he'd once held his wife in his arms, he tossed and turned for hours before falling into restless, dream-filled sleep.

He had considered returning to New York, but he could not imagine himself sitting behind a desk, in the same city where Laurel lived. And so he stayed on Actos, and worked, and sweated; and oversaw his business interests by computer, phone and fax. He told himself that the ache inside him would go away.

It hadn't. If anything, it had grown worse.

He knew that Eleni and Spiro were almost frantic with worry.

" Is he trying to kill himself" he'd heard Eleni mutter just that morning, as he'd gone out the door. " You must speak to him, Spiro, " she'd said.

Damian's mouth thinned as he swung the sledgehammer.

If the old man knew what was good for him, he'd keep his mouth shut. He'd interfered enough already. Damian had told him so, on his return to Greece.

'Was it you who permitted my wife to leave the island and follow me to New York? " he'd demanded.

Spiro had stiffened. " Ne, " he'd said, " yes, it was I. "

Damian's hands had balled into fists. " On whose authority did you do this thing, old man? "

" On my own, " Spiro had replied quietly. " The woman was not a prisoner here. "

A muscle had knotted in Damian's cheek. " No, " he'd said, " she was not. "

Spiro had waited before speaking again.

" She said that she had something of great importance to tell you, " he'd said, his eyes on Damian's. " Did she find you, and deliver her message? "

Damian's mouth had twisted. " She did, indeed, " he'd replied, and when Spiro had tried to say more, he'd held up his hand. " There is nothing to discuss. The woman is not to be mentioned again. "

She had not been, to this day. But that didn't mean he didn't think about her, and dream about her. Did she dream of him? Did she ever long for the feel of his arms and the sweetness of his kisses, as he longed for hers?

Did she ever think of how close they'd come to happiness?

Damian's throat constricted. He swung the hammer hard, but his aim wasn't true. His vision was blurred-by sweat, for what else could it be? -and the hammer hit the rock a glancing blow.

" Dammit, " he growled, and swung again.

" Damian, " Spiro's voice was soft. " The rock is not your enemy. "

" And you are not a philosopher, " Damian snapped, and swung again.

" What you battle is not the boulder, my son, it is yourself. "

Damian straightened up. " Listen here, " he said, but his anger faded when he looked at the old man. Spiro looked exhausted. Sweat stained his dark trousers and shirt; his weathered face was bright red and there was a tremor in his hands.

Why was the old fool so stubborn? The heat was too much for a man his age. Damian sighed, set the sledgehammer aside and stripped off his work gloves.

" It is hot, " he said. " I need something to drink. "

" There is a bottle of retsina in my jacket, under the tree. "

Damian plucked his discarded T-shirt from the ground and slipped it on.

" I know the sort of retsina you drink, old man. The sun will rot our brains quickly enough, without its help. We will go up to the house. Perhaps we can convince Eleni to give us some cold beer. "

" Ne. " Spiro smiled. " For once, you have an excellent idea. "

It took no convincing at all. Eleni took one look at them, rolled her eyes and brought cold beer and glasses out to the terrace. Damian ignored the glasses, handed one bottle to the old man and took the other for himself. He leaned back against the railing and took a long drink. Spiro drank, too, then wiped his moustache with the back of his hand.

" When do you return to New York? " he said. Damian's brows lifted. " Are you in such a rush to get rid of me? "

" You cannot avoid reality forever, Damian. "

" Spiro. " Damian's voice was chill. " I warn you, do not say anything more. It is hot, I am in a bad mood-"

" As if that were anything new. "

Damian tilted the beer bottle to his lips. He drank, then set the bottle down. " I am going back to work. I suggest you go inside, where it is cooler. "

" I suggest you stop pretending you do not have a wife. "

" I told you, we will not discuss her. "

" And now I tell you that we must. "

" Dammit, old man-",

" I saw how happy she made you, Damian, and how happy you made her. "

" Are you deaf? I said that we would not-"

" You loved her. And you love her still. "

" No! No, I do not love her. What is love anyway, but a thing to make men idiots? "

Spiro chuckled and folded his arms. " Are you saying I was an idiot to put up with you, after I found you on the streets of Athens? Be careful, or I will have to take a switch to your backside, as I did when you were a boy. "

" You know what I mean, " Damian said, stubbornly refusing to be taken in. " I'm talking of male and female love, and I tell you that I did not love her. All right? Are you satisfied now? Can I get back to work? "

" She loved you. "

" Never. " Damian's voice roughened. " She did not love me, old man. She despised me for everything I am and especially for forcing her into a marriage she did not want. "

" She loved you, " Spiro repeated. " I know this, for a fact. "

" She loved another, you sentimental old fool"

" It is not sentiment or foolishness that makes me say this, Damian, it is the knowledge of what she told me. "

Damian's face went pale beneath its tan. " What the hell are you talking about? "

" It is the reason I sent her after you. She said she loved you deeply. "

For one sweet instant, Damian felt his heart might burst from his chest. But then he remembered the reality of what had happened: the swiftness with which Laurel had accepted the ugly scene orchestrated by Gabriella, the way she'd refused even to listen to his explanation... and the message he'd found on his answering machine, Laurel's cool voice saying that she'd never stopped hating him, that what they'd shared had been nothing but sex...

" You misunderstood her, old man. You speak English almost as badly as she spoke Greek. "

" I know what she told me, Damian. "

" Then she lied, " Damian said coldly. He picked up the bottle and drained it dry. " She lied, because it was the only way she could get you to agree to let her leave the island, and you fell for it. Now, I am going to work and you are going to stay out of the sun before it bakes your brain completely. Is that clear? "

" What is clear, " the old man said quietly, " is that I raised a coward. "

Damian spun toward him, his eyes gone hard and chill.

" If any other man but you dared say such a thing to me, " he said softly, " I would beat him within an inch of his life. "

" You are a coward in your heart, afraid to face the truth. You love this woman but because she hurt you in some fashion, you would rather live your life without her than risk going after her. "

" Damn you to hell, " Damian roared, and thrust his face into the old man's. " Listen, Spiro, and listen well, for I will say this only once. Yes, I love her. But she does not love me. "

" How do you know this? "

" How? How? " Damian's teeth glinted in a hollow laugh. " She told me so, all right? Does that satisfy you? "

" Did you ever tell her that you loved her? "

" Did I ever... ? " Damian threw his arms skyward. " By all the gods that be, I cannot believe this! No, I never told her. She never gave me the chance. She came bursting into my apartment in New York, found me with another woman and damned me without even giving me an opportunity to explain. "

Spiro's weather-beaten face gave nothing away. " And what were you doing with this woman, my son? Arranging flowers, perhaps? "

Damian coloured. " I admit, it did not look good... "

" You were not arranging flowers? "

" What is this? An interrogation? I had just come out of the shower, okay? And the woman-the woman was trying to seduce me. I just admitted, it did not look good. " He took a deep breath. " But Laurel is my wife. She should have trusted me. "

" Certainly she should have trusted you. After all, what had you ever done to make her distrustful, except to impregnate her and force her into a marriage she did not want? "

" How did you-"

" Eleni says that there is a look to a woman's face, when she is carrying a child. Any fool could see it, just as any fool could see that when you first brought her here, neither of you was happy. " Spiro smiled. " But that changed, Damian. I do not know how it happened, but you both finally admitted what had been in your hearts from the beginning. "

" All right. Yes, I fell in love with her. But nothing is that simple. "

" Love is never simple. "

Damian turned and clasped the railing. He could feel his anger seeping away and a terrible despair replacing it.

" Spiro, you are the father I never knew and I trust your advice, you know that, but in this matter-"

" In this matter, Damian, " the old man said, " trust your heart. Go to her, tell her that you love her. Give her the chance to tell you the same thing. "

Damian's throat felt tight. He blinked his eyes, which seemed suddenly damp.

" And if she does not? " he said gruffly. " What then? "

" Then you will return here and swing that hammer until your arms ache with the effort-but you will return knowing that you tried to win the woman you love instead of letting her slip away. " Spiro put his hand on Damian's shoulder. " There is always hope, my son. It is that which gives us the will to go on, ne! "

Out in the bay, a tiny sailboat heeled under the wind. The sea reached up for it with greedy, white-tipped fingers. Surely it would be swallowed whole...

The wind subsided as quickly as it had begun. The boat bobbed upright.

There is always hope.

Quickly, before he could lose his courage, Damian turned and embraced the old man. Then he headed into the house.

******

They were wrong. Dead wrong.

Laurel pounded furiously at the lump of sourdough. What did Annie and Susie know, anyway? Annie was divorced and Susie was married to a marshmallow. Neither of them had ever had the misfortune to deal with a macho maniac like Damian Skouras.

Damn, but it was hot! Too hot for making bread but what else was she going to do with all this pent-up energy? Laurel blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, wiped her hand over her nose and began beating the dough again.

They were driving her crazy, her sister and her friend.

Ever since yesterday, when she'd been dumb enough to break down in front of them and admit she'd loved Damian, they hadn't left her alone. If it wasn't Annie phoning, it was Susie.

Well, let 'em phone. She'd given up answering. Let the machine deal with the cheery " his and the even cheerier " Laurel? Are you there, honey?

This morning, in a fit of pique, she'd snatched up the phone, snarled, " No, I'm not there, honey, " and slammed it down again before Annie or Susie, whichever it was, could say a word. Why listen to either of them, when she knew what they were going to say? They'd both said it already, that maybe she'd misjudged Damian, that maybe what he'd told her about the blonde was the truth.

" I didn't, " Laurel muttered, picking up the dough and then slamming it down again. " And it wasn't. " And anyway, what did it matter? So what, if maybe, just maybe, Blondie had set him up? He'd left her, damn him, in the middle of the honeymoon, he'd gone off without a word.

Because you hurt him, Laurel, have you forgotten that?

No, she thought grimly, no, she had not forgotten. So she'd hurt him. Big deal. He'd hurt her a heck of a lot more, not telling her where he was going or even that he was going, not saying goodbye...

Not loving her, when she loved him so terribly that she couldn't shut her eyes without seeing his face or hearing his voice or-

" Laurel? "

Like that. Exactly like that. She could hear him say her name, as if he were right here, in the room with her...

" Laurel, matya mou... "

Laurel spun around, and her heart leaped into her throat. " Damian? ',

Damian cursed as her knees buckled. He rushed forward, caught her in his arms and carried her into the living room. " Take a deep breath, " he ordered, as he sat down on the sofa with her still in his arms. " You're not going to pass out on me, are you? "

" Of course not, " she said, when the mist before her eyes cleared away. " I never pass out. "

" No, " he said wryly, " you never do--except at the sight of me. "

" What are you going here, Damian? And how did you get in? "

" That George, " he said, smoothing the hair back from her face with his hand. " What a splendid fellow he is. "

" George gave you my spare key? Dammit, he had no right! You had no-"

" And I see that I got here just in time. " A smile tilted at the comer of his mouth. " You've been doing experiments in the kitchen again. "

" I've been making bread. And don't try to change the subject. You had absolutely no right to unlock the door and-"

" I know, and I apologize. But I was afraid that you'd leave me standing in the hall again, if I asked you to let me in. "

" You're right, I would have done exactly that. " Laurel put her hands on his shoulders. " Let me up, please. "

" I love you, Laurel. "

Hope flickered in her heart, but fear snuffed it out. " You just want your child, " she said.

" I want our child, my darling wife, but more than that, I want you. I love you, Laurel. " He took her face in his hands. " I adore you, " he said softly. " You're the only woman I have ever loved, the only woman I will ever love, and if you don't come back to me, I will be lost forever. "

Tears roses in Laurel's eyes. " Oh, Damian. Do you mean it? "

He kissed her. It was a long, sweet, wonderful kiss, and when it ended, she was trembling.

" With all my heart. I should have awakened you that night and told you I had to leave, but you were so angry and I-I was angry, too, and wounded by the knowledge that you'd once loved another. "

Laurel shook her head. " I didn't love him. I only talked about Kirk to hurt you. I've never loved anyone, until you. "

" Tell me again, " he whispered.

She smiled. " I love you, Damian. I've never loved anyone else. I never will. There's only you, only you, only-"

He kissed her again, then leaned his forehead against hers.

" What I told you about Gabriella was the truth. I didn't ask her to my apartment. She-"

Laurel kissed him to silence. A long time later, Damian drew back.

" We'll fly to Actos, " he said, " and ask that interfering old man to drink champagne with us. "

Laurel linked her arms around her husband's neck and smiled into his eyes.

" Did anybody ever tell you that you can sound awfully arrogant at times? "

Damian grinned as he got to his feet with his wife in his arms.

" Someone might have mentioned it, once or twice, " he said, as he shouldered open the bedroom door.

Laurel's pulse quickened as he slowly lowered her to the bed.

" I thought we were going to Actos, " she whispered. " We are. "

Damian gave her a slow, sexy kiss. " But first, " he said, as he began to undo her buttons, ''first, we've got to get reacquainted. "

Laurel sighed as he slipped off her blouse. " And how long do you think that's going to take, husband? "

Damian smiled. " All the rest of our lives, wife. "

Slowly he gathered her into his arms.

EPILOGUE

No ONE ON THE ISLAND of Actos had ever seen anything quite like it.

There were always weddings, of course, young people and life being as they are, but even the old women at the fish market, who usually argued about everything, agreed on this.

There had never been a wedding the equal of Damian and Laurel's.

Of course, as the old women were quick to point out, the Skourases were already married. But the ceremony that had joined them meant nothing. It had been performed all the way across the sea, in America, and--, can you imagine -- a judge had said the words that had made them man and wife, not a priest.

No wonder they had chosen to be wed all over again, and in the proper way.

The day was perfect: a clear blue sky, a peaceful sea, and though the sun shone brightly, it was not too hot.

The bride, the old ladies said, was beautiful in her lacy white gown. And oh, her smile. So radiant, so filled with love for her handsome groom.

Handsome, indeed, one of the crones said, and she added something else behind her wrinkled hand that made them all cackle with delight.

It was just too bad the bride wasn't Greek'... but she was the next best thing. Beautiful, with shining eyes and a bright smile, and Eleni had told them that she was learning to think like one of them, enough so that when her groom had teasingly warned her that marriage in a Greek church was forever, she'd smiled and put her arms around him and said that was the only kind of marriage she'd ever wanted.

And so, in a little church made of whitewashed stone, with the sun streaming through the windows and baskets of flowers banked along the aisle and at the altar, and with friends and relatives from faraway America flown over for this most special of days, Laurel Bennett and Damian Skouras were wed.

" Yes, " Laurel said clearly, when the priest asked-in English, at Damian's request-if she would take the man beside her as her husband, to love and honour and cherish for the rest of her days. And when Damian offered the same pledge, he broke with tradition by looking deep into his wife's eyes and saying that he would cherish forever the woman he had waited all his life to find.

The old ladies in black wept, as did the two stylishly dressed American women in the front pew. Even old Spiro wiped his eyes, though he said later that it was only because a speck had gotten into one.

Retsina and ouzo flowed, and bubbly champagne flown in from France. Everyone danced, and sang; they ate lobster and red snapper and roast lamb, and the men toasted the bride and groom until none could think of another reason to raise his glass.

It was, everyone said, an absolutely wonderful wedding-but if you'd asked the bride and the groom what part was the most wonderful, they'd have said it came late that night, when the crickets were singing and the air was heavy with the scent of flowers and they were alone, at last, on their hilltop overlooking the sea.

The groom took his bride in his arms.

" You are my heart, " he said, looking deep into her eyes, and she smiled so radiantly that his heart almost shattered with joy.

" As you are mine, " she whispered, and as the ivory moon climbed into the black velvet sky, Damian swept Laurel into his arms and carried her up to their bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, Laurel awoke to the ring of the sledgehammer.

She dressed quickly and went outside, to where the boulder stood.

" Damian, " she called, and her husband turned and smiled at her.

" Watch, " he said.

He swung the hammer against the boulder. The sound rang like a bell across the hilltop, and the rock crumbled into a thousand tiny pieces.

⇐ Предыдущая 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1314