“I was a good six feet from them. It seems to me you’re overreacting a little, since you don’t know if they’re contagious or not.”
“There’s a difference between overreaction and caution.”
“Maybe that’s just something you tell yourself.” She folded her arms and stared him down. “Are you going to be bossy like this when we go up to the caves?”
“I’m only bossy when I have good reason to be.” In spite of his frustration with her, he nearly smiled at the mulish expression on her face. She was toughness all wrapped up in softness. “So the answer is yes. I’m staying outside the caves and you are too.”
“I’m an archaeologist, Dr. Drakoulias. Detective work is part of what we do. The Wagners are my bosses and my friends, and I’m going to do whatever I can to help. The caves are part of the excavation I’m doing my dissertation on, and, with Mel and Tom sick, I’m in charge now. I have to learn exactly what they’re doing there and maybe in the process spot something that could have made them ill. Since I’m pretty sure you don’t own Mount Parnassus, I’m going into the caves.”
“You say I’m bossy? How about I say you’re stubborn?” He let out an exasperated breath. “If there’s a fungal contagion, possibly connected to the caves, no one should go in who hasn’t been there already. Hell, no one should go in there, period, until we have some answers. But if they have to, they need to wear masks. Which I’ll provide. You, though, have to stay out for now.”
“Are you afraid Apollo’s python may be lurking in there too, ready to strangle me?” Her voice was silky sweet, at odds with the sparking blue flash in her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring my bow and arrows just in case.”
Clearly, the woman had serious issues with being told what to do. “Listen, Laurel, you—”
“Daddy!”
He swung around in horror when he heard his daughter’s little voice, and the sight of her standing just inside the door of the hospital wing with his sister and nephew, smiling her big bright smile, sent his heart pounding and adrenaline surging. His baby could not be in there when God knew what contagion might be in the very air. “Cassie. You can’t be here right now.”
“Why, Daddy?” Her eyes shone with excitement. “Is there really a python? I want to see!”
LAUREL HAD BARELY blinked in shock at the little girl calling Andros “Daddy” when he’d strode to the child, snatched her up in his arms, hustled out the woman and little boy, too, and shoved the hospital doors closed behind them.
Heat surged into Laurel’s face when she realized the man she’d been thinking of as dreamy Dr. Drakoulias, the man she’d been having some pretty exciting fantasies about all last night when she couldn’t sleep, was apparently a married family man.
Why in the world had she just assumed he was single? Clearly, her instant attraction to him, along with wishful thinking, had blotted any other possibility from her mind.
Disgusted with herself, and, okay, disappointed too, she watched Andros crouch down next to the little girl. Surprisingly, he spoke to her in English. Why wouldn’t the child speak Greek, instead?
“Cassie. There’s no python. The pretty lady was just talking about the old story of god Apollo slaying the python dragon with arrows. Remember it?” The little girl nodded and Andros flicked her nose. “Know what, though? Remember when you didn’t feel good with your tummy bug? There might be some germs in the clinic I don’t want you to be around. I want you to go back with Petros and Thea Taryn, and I’ll be home later.”
Thea Taryn? Laurel didn’t know a lot of Greek words, but she did know thea meant aunt. Which presumably meant the attractive, dark-haired woman was either Andros’s sister or sister-in-law. Not that Laurel cared one way or the other, she thought with a twist of her lips. Married was married, and the thought of tromping over Mount Parnassus with him to talk to the crew together didn’t seem nearly as appealing now.
Despite what she’d boldly stated, the truth was she didn’t have a clue how to look for a fungus or whatever else could cause the kind of illness Mel and Tom had. She hadn’t been in a lot of caves, but weren’t most filled with all kinds of biological life she didn’t know much about? Probably, she should simply focus on getting the excavation finished and hope no one else got sick. Getting it done was critical for a number of reasons, and Mel and Tom would doubtless want her to concentrate on that as well.
The cute little girl wrapped her arms around Andros’s neck as he folded her close. Laurel’s throat tightened as she watched the sweet moment, thinking of her own dad and all the times he’d held her exactly the same way. Thinking of how much he’d loved his four daughters, and how much they’d loved and admired him. Thinking how lucky the child was that Andros seemed to be a supportive and involved dad. One whose work enabled him to be with her all the time, and not away for months as her own parents had been.
She began to turn away at the same time Andros’s head came up, and his eyes—dark and alive—met hers. He gestured to her to come over. She hesitated, then realized it was silly to feel embarrassed at her former hot fantasies. After all, he didn’t know about them, thank heavens, and she was already over it. It wasn’t as if she had time for any kind of relationship anyway, hot doc or not.
He stood. “Laurel Evans, this is my sister, Taryn Drakoulias, and her son, Petros.”
That answered that question, she thought as they shook hands, though she should have seen the resemblance. Same dark hair, nearly black eyes and a slightly amused smile that implied maybe they both were privy to secrets no one else was privy to. His daughter had the same dark eyes, but her hair was a much lighter brown.
Laurel wondered if Taryn was divorced or had been a single mom, since she still used her maiden name. Or if she’d simply kept her name, but that seemed less likely, since Greece was still a very traditional country.
“This is my daughter, Cassandra.” Andros smiled down at the girl, his eyes and face softened from the intense concern that had been on it just a moment ago. “Cassie, I’d like you to meet Laurel. She’s an archaeologist, working on the dig up the mountain. You’ve learned a little about that, haven’t you?”
“Yes! I have!” The child’s eyes, so like her dad’s, stared up at her. “Have you found lots of statues and gold treasures?”
If only. “Many things that are treasures to archaeologists, but not much gold, I’m afraid. Like father, like daughter, I see.” Laurel smiled up at Andros then turned back to Cassie. “Do you dig holes trying to find ancient treasure, Cassie, like your dad said he used to do?”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head, her chin-length hair sliding across her cheeks as she did. “Fairies are scared of big holes. I don’t want to scare them. I want them to sleep under our plants so they’re in the shade and live in the little houses they build in the ground under special rocks. They stay cool that way.”
“I see.” Laurel’s smile grew, remembering how much she’d loved pretend things as a little girl. Probably part of the reason she still loved classical myths today. “Have you seen the fairies?”
“Oh, yes.” She nodded, very serious. “Sometimes they dance at night when there’s a moon, and you can see them better. Sometimes they dance on my bed too, when they think I’m asleep.”
Laurel looked at Andros again to see what he thought of his daughter’s imagination. The lips she’d fantasized about were curved, and his eyes had attractively crinkled at the corners again.
No. Not attractively. Married, remember? Then again, he wasn’t wearing a ring, so maybe he wasn’t. That thought perked her up so much she nearly chuckled at how ridiculous she