Swift as the speed of light Andreas caught Gabi’s eye and winked. Warmth flowed through her body as she smiled back, remembering the humorous comment she’d made on Saturday about the children being fat cats.
But she couldn’t forget Leon. Though Andreas would have told him about the children ahead of time, this still had to be the most earthshaking moment of his life. She wasn’t surprised he sank down on the bench literally stupefied.
“Would you like to hold Nikos?” she asked.
“I won’t know what to do if he cries,” he murmured, ashen faced.
“He won’t.” She handed the baby to him. By now Andreas had reached for Kris and was kissing his sweet little neck.
Deciding to give them privacy, she wandered to the other side of the park and sat down to finish reading the biography she’d picked up on the life of the French chef Julia Child.
She hadn’t enjoyed a book as good as this in several years. Like Julia, Gabi had experienced an epiphany about food. But it hadn’t happened until her father had been transferred to Crete where she’d tasted her first pastitsio and developed an instant love of Greek cuisine.
During the last few months she’d been practicing in the kitchen at the consulate, determined she would raise the boys on Greek food in honor of both their parents. By now she could make pretty good spanakopita.
When she realized she’d read the next page for the tenth time, she closed the book and looked across the park. The babies had been put back in the stroller. Both men stood next to them. It seemed as if Andreas was doing most of the talking. Gabi wasn’t sure what it all meant.
Hesitant to interrupt, she waited until he started wheeling the stroller toward her with a grave countenance marring his handsome features. She put the book back in her purse and stood up, noticing that Leon had walked out to the street.
“Let me apologize for my brother.” He spoke without preamble.
“There’s no need. It’s not every day a man is confronted by instant fatherhood, especially when they’re twins.” The happiness she’d felt earlier to see the children united with Andreas had dissipated. Not in her wildest dreams would she have thought up a contingency where his twin brother was the father!
Andreas eyed her with a solemn expression. “Especially when he’s been married three years.”
A small gasp escaped her throat. Had Thea known he was married, or hadn’t it mattered to either of them in the heat of the moment?
“Obviously he’s going to need some time,” she whispered.
“You’re a very understanding woman. When he can gather his wits, I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you.” She was fairly certain Leon wouldn’t, particularly when Andreas would have already told him she planned to go home to Virginia and raise the twins. But she didn’t say anything.
“Thank you for making this meeting today possible, Gabi.”
It sounded like a goodbye speech if she’d ever heard one. Leon had probably told him he couldn’t deal with the situation. What man could? One night in a stranger’s arms wasn’t supposed to end up like this. He wouldn’t be the first father to opt out of his responsibilities.
She felt sorry for Andreas, who clearly loved his brother and had done everything he could to support him. “Of course. I approached you, remember? Thanks to you I won’t ever have to lie to the children.”
After clearing her throat, she said, “When I get back to Virginia, I’ll be reconnecting the phone and will leave the new phone number on a voice mail for you. That way if your brother ever wants to contact me, you can give him both numbers. One last thing. Please let him know I’ll never try to get hold of him for any reason.”
His eyes turned as black as his grim expression. “How soon are you leaving?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
“The day after tomorrow.” She extended her hand, not wanting to prolong the inevitable. “Goodbye, Mr. Simonides.”
Tuesday evening Gabi’s phone alerted her to a text message while she was packing the last of the babies’ clothes into the big suitcase. Her parents were in the nursery playing with the twins, their last night together for two months or more. Pretty soon it would be bedtime. Her dad wanted to put them down.
Since yesterday when she’d pushed the stroller in the opposite direction from Andreas and his brother, she’d tried hard to put the whole business behind her. She thought she’d been doing a fairly good job of hiding her feelings from her parents. Any pain they’d seen would have been attributed to tomorrow’s dreaded departure.
Little did they know she’d met the boys’ father. To her dismay he was doing nothing to prevent her from taking his children out of the country, out of his life.
Gabi hurt for his sons.
She hurt so horribly she could scarcely bear it, but she had to handle it because that was her agreement with Andreas. She would honor her commitment even if it was killing her.
With a tortured sigh she reached for the phone on the dresser. Her best friend Jasmin knew she was coming home and probably wanted to find out her flight number and time. But when she saw who’d sent the message, her adrenaline kicked in, causing her heart to thud.
I just arrived in Heraklion. When you’ve put the twins to bed, meet me at the park.
I’ll wait till morning if I have to because we need to talk. A.
She had to stifle her cry of joy. This meant Leon had been having second thoughts about letting his children slip away without making some arrangement to see them again. It meant she would have contact with Andreas one more time. Gabi wished her pulse didn’t race faster at the thought.
After shutting the suitcase, she hurried to her bedroom to change. She slipped off her T-shirt and jeans, then reached for the tan pleated pants and kelly green cotton top she’d left out to wear on the plane tomorrow.
Once she’d run the brush through her curls and put on lipstick, she poked her head around the door of the nursery. Her parents were absorbed with the children, too busy to be unduly curious about her. “I’m going out for a few minutes to pick up some things at the store.”
“Don’t be too long,” her dad cautioned in between singing to Nikos off-key. The scene melted her heart.
“I won’t.”
A minute later she waved to the guard at the sentry and headed in the direction of the park. Because of the reflection from the water, twilight brought out the beauty of the Greek islands, but never more so than tonight. It was Andreas’s fault. The knowledge he was waiting for her had added that magical quality.
Maybe this was how Thea had felt when she’d met Leon that evening aboard the yacht, as if the heavens were close for a moment and one of the twin gods from Olympus had come near enough for a human to touch.
He’d come close all right, so close he’d touched her with two little mortals, and now his twin, the powerful god Andreas, was here to parlay a deal between the two worlds. When Gabi thought of him in that light, the stars left her eyes and sanity returned.
Tonight he wasn’t dressed like a god. She spied him at the fountain wearing a cream sport shirt and khakis. No one else was about. Instead of expensive hand-sewn leather shoes, he’d worn sandals like everyone else walking along the beachfront.
He watched her coming, but didn’t make a move toward her. “Yassou, Gabi.”
“Hi!” Keep it airy. “I came the minute I got your message because Mother and I have an early morning flight to Athens.”
“I’m aware of that.” He stood with his hands on his hips, emanating a stunning male virility. “Before you go anywhere, I have something in mind I’d like to discuss