If Kellie worked things out with Leandros, maybe she wouldn’t want to go on a trip after all. Fran was hoping for that outcome. “All right then.”
The news seemed to relax Leandros a little. No doubt he was thankful for this much of a reprieve so he could talk to his wife. “Fran? I’ll bring your bags in from the car.”
Nik shook his head. “Don’t bother, Leandros. I’ll come with you and put them in my rental car.” He turned to Fran. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
After the two men walked out of the lounge, Fran put an arm around Kellie’s shoulders. “I’m sorry about this. I had no idea Nik would ask me to stay on. Frankly, I didn’t know what to say.”
“Neither of us had a choice. It would have been churlish to refuse him.”
“If I stay overnight with the baby, are you going to be okay?”
Her friend took a shuddering breath. “I thought I’d have two weeks to be away from Leandros, but this situation has changed things for the moment and can’t be helped. Wish me luck broaching your suggestion to him,” she whispered in a pain-filled voice.
“Kellie, last night we talked a lot about Karmela, but I sense there’s still something you haven’t told me. What is it?”
Her head was bowed. “I was afraid to tell you. N-night before last, I told him this vacation was more than that. I wanted a separation.”
Fran groaned. “No wonder he looks shattered.” Fran was aghast that their marriage had already broken down to that extent.
Her friend’s lips tightened. “He said I wasn’t thinking clearly before he stormed out of the bedroom angrier than I’ve ever seen him. On our drive back to Athens, I’m going to do what you said. I’ll tell him that since I haven’t gotten pregnant, I need something substantial to do and want to work with him in his private office. I’ll remind him I was once a part of an advertising agency and am perfectly capable.
“But if he turns me down flat, and I’m afraid he will, then he needs to hear what I think about the sacred Karmela. Up until now I’ve been careful about saying anything negative, but no longer. I might as well get everything out in the open right now.”
Fran would have told her not to plunge in with Leandros where Karmela was concerned yet. Let the idea of his wife working with him take hold first. But both men came back in the lounge, preventing further conversation.
Leandros put his arm around his wife. “It’s going to be a long drive. We need to get going.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Fran hugged her. “Tell him you love him so much, you want the opportunity to work with him,” she begged in a quiet whisper. “I don’t see how he can turn you down.”
When Kellie let her go without an answer, Leandros grasped his wife’s hand and they walked out of the lounge.
She felt Nik’s gaze on her. “We need a meal. Let’s drive to the hotel where you stayed last night and get a couple of rooms so we can shower and have dinner. By then we’ll feel much more prepared to spend the night with Demi.”
“That sounds good to me.” She would have said more, such as the fact that he hadn’t had any sleep last night, but she’d bring it up to him later.
He walked her out to the parking lot and helped her into the rental car. His dark eyes noticed every detail, and she was glad she was wearing her linen pants. Once he got in the driver’s side he said, “You’ll have to guide me to the hotel.”
“It’s on the southern end of the village near the main highway.” She gave him a few directions, not quite believing that he was taking her to the place where she’d found his niece. “There on the corner,” she said. He flipped a U-turn and pulled up close to the front entrance where people were dining. “Before we go in, I’ll show you the garden out in back.”
“Good. I want to take pictures while there’s still some light.”
She got out of the car before he could help her and they walked around the side to the rear of the hotel where more customers were enjoying their evening meal. Fran kept going until she came to the garden.
“I found her right there.” She pointed to the bushes in the corner. “There’s no indication she lay there all those hours. It’s still totally unbelievable to me. Finding her alive so far away from the Persephone is one of those inexplicable miracles.”
Their eyes met. “Finding her alive in time to save her constituted another miracle. That’s your doing,” Nik said in a deep voice full of emotion.
He hunkered down to examine the spot, fingering the bushes. After he stood up, he pulled out his cell phone and took several pictures. Before she could stop him, he took a picture of her, then turned and snapped a few more of the back of the hotel. “When Demi is old enough to understand, I’ll show her these pictures.”
“Let me get one of you standing there,” she said on impulse. “Demi will be thrilled to see her uncle in the very place she landed. She’ll always be known as the Greek version of Dorothy Gale, the girl from Kansas in The Wizard of Oz. But instead of being blown to Oz, Demi was caught up in a tornado and deposited in a Grecian garden miles away. What a ride she must have had,” her voice throbbed.
Something flickered in those black-brown depths. “Amen,” he said before handing her the phone. His fingers overlapped hers, conveying warmth. She backed away far enough to get his tall, hard-muscled frame in the picture with the garden just behind him.
As she finished and gave the phone back to him, the proprietor approached. “You’re the one who found the miracle baby!”
“Yes. And this is Nikolos Angelis, the baby’s uncle. I was just showing him where I discovered her.”
The owner stared at Nik. “You are the new head of the Angelis Corporation. I saw your picture on television.”
“That’s right,” he murmured.
Fran said, “His sister and her husband were killed in the tornado, but the baby survived and will be leaving the hospital tomorrow. I’ll ask them to return the blanket to you.”
“Not to worry about that. We are all very sorry about this tragedy, Kyrie Angelis.”
Nik shook the man’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Can we serve you dinner? It will be our pleasure.”
“We’d like that, wouldn’t we, Mrs. Myers?” The way he included her as if they’d been friends a long time seemed to come out of the blue. Her pulse raced for no good reason.
“Come through to the front desk and everything will be arranged,” the owner said.
“We’ll need two rooms to change in. Later my brothers will be arriving to stay the night.”
“Very good.”
Nik ushered her inside the rear door. His touch might be impersonal, but she felt it in every atom of her body.
Once behind the desk, the owner gave them each a key. “The rooms are on the second floor.”
“Thank you.” Nik turned to her. “Why don’t you go on up while I bring in our bags? I always keep one onboard the plane in case of an emergency. With a change of clothes and a good meal, we ought to be set to spend the night with Demi.”
She nodded and hurried up the stairs. It was hot out and she was eager for another shower. He wasn’t far behind with her suitcase. After walking into her bedroom, his gaze found hers. “I’ll meet you in the back of the hotel in half an hour. After we eat, we’ll take our bags out to the car and leave for the hospital.”
“Demi must be so frightened.”
He grimaced. “My brothers promised to stay with