LITMIR.BIZ

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made—marrying to ensure the family coffers. She had believed my father to be different from who he truly was. She did not have the wisdom to see reality. She was eighteen for heaven’s sake.”

      “She wasn’t forced to wed Alexis. We thought she was captivated by him. He was only six years older, and very much in love with Damaris,” Eleani said. “We were pleased. His family is very respected.”

      “So why did your mother not return home once she realized her mistake?” Nikos asked.

      “No money. No welcome.” Sara hesitated a moment. “Pride. And she was pregnant with me. She said she wrote to her father asking for help. He refused. She swore over and over she would never ask again.”

      Eleani gave a small sound. “Ah, that stubborn pride of the Marcopusoses. Always I had to fight against it. For years I asked him to find our daughter. He finally gave in and said he’d have a private detective locate her. Weeks later he said Damaris was happy with her life and that was the end of it. He must have approached her and been rebuffed and rather than tell me, he concocted such a story.”

      Sara shook her head, frowning. “When my father vanished, she was not yet twenty, a single parent with no skills. One of her friends helped by watching me nights after her own day of work so Mum could go and clean offices. That was the best job she could get for a long time.”

      Eleani groaned softly. “My precious baby girl,” she whispered.

      “Go on,” Nikos said.

      Sara turned to look at him. “I’m telling this.”

      “Not fast enough.”

      “Let her proceed at her own pace,” Spiros said.

      “We lived in a section of London with a large group of Greek expats. It was the best thing on one hand—everyone knew everybody else. We shared the language, the food. But it constantly reminded my mother of all she’d lost.”

      Slowly, as if viewing the scene for the first time, Sara continued.

      “It was only after she was diagnosed with cancer that she began to talk about contacting you. We learned from mutual friends of her father’s death and your remarriage. My mother wrote a letter and mailed it. It was returned. By then she was really ill. She wrote the one I brought today. After her death, I tried contacting you. I ended up here.”

      “I thought she was happy,” Eleani repeated. “Stanos told me that.”

      Had her mother’s stiff-necked pride kept her from her home? Sara remembered some of the pretending they had done when she was younger—to preserve her mother’s standing with her friends. Excess pride. None of it mattered anymore. She’d fulfilled her promise. “That’s it. May I go now?”

      “No. Stay. I want to hear all about Damaris and you,” Eleani said. She lifted the letter. “Damaris asked me to watch out for you.”

      “I don’t need watching out for.” She had her own share of the family pride.

      “Bad choice of words. How about having close contact with your grandmother,” Nikos said.

      Sara flashed him a look and then returned her gaze to Eleani. “What do you want to know about Mum?”

      “Nikos has raved about your cooking. How did you choose that profession? Did Damaris ever learn to cook? We had a chef at home so she never learned as a child,” Eleani said.

      Sara smiled in memory. “Mum was okay as a cook, at least by the time I noticed such things. But nothing special. She loved the big gatherings best when everyone brought something. Authentic Greek food was what she craved, but we also ate English. I think some of my reasons for going into food preparation was to explore new dishes in self-defense against Mum’s limited choices.”

      Talking helped show Sara she no longer felt the burning ache of loss after all the months. She could remember her mother with pride and happiness, not overwhelming grief.

      “I’ll have Marsa bring you some refreshments. Talk as long as you wish,” Spiros said gently, standing and motioning to Nikos.

      Nikos watched for a moment. Sara was like a stranger to him. For days he’d been intrigued by her—now he knew the reason she behaved so differently from others. She genuinely did not want anything from him but transportation to the island. Now that she’d achieved that, what?

      Would she try to worm her way into her grandmother’s affections—become her only heir? Eleani was wealthy enough Sara could quit her job and live the life her mother should have enjoyed.

      “Do you know more?” he asked his grandfather when they left the women behind and were alone.

      “No. Eleani told me long ago that she had a daughter she hadn’t seen in years. I only knew Stanos by reputation. He was a hardliner—had his own rules and stiff-necked pride. I think I can see him in a temper, cutting off his only child.”

      “He had a private detective look into her life. He would have reported that Damaris was a single parent, that there was a little girl.”

      Spiros nodded, studying his grandson. “What of you, Nikos?”

      “What about me?”

      “Sara isn’t the person we thought her to be. She’s more than a crew member of the Cassandra. I will welcome her into our family as I would any relative of Eleani’s.”

      “It’s your home, do as you wish. I’m returning to the resort as soon as the captain can get the Cassandra under way,” Nikos said. He’d return to work and forget about the pretty chef. There’d no longer be a need for Sara to continue to work. He’d instruct his human resources office to begin a search to fill her position.

      The sooner he was consumed with business, the better.

      “Don’t leave before Monday. That’s when you originally planned, right? Stay and visit with your grandfather a little longer. Give her a few days to visit with Eleani.”

      Nikos hesitated, then nodded once. He’d stay for his grandfather’s sake.

      “Sara’s right, you know. I never told you how proud of your accomplishments I am. You have made a major contribution with the resort. I am proud of you and so is your father.”

      Nikos smiled slightly. “That’s stretching it, don’t you think?”

      Spiros shrugged. “I’m sure if he thought about it, he’d be proud of you.”

      “You seem to be taking Sara’s revelation in your stride,” Nikos said.

      “I was shocked when Eleani first told me she had a daughter. Hard as it is to hear the truth, it is best to find out. Too many lies have gone by in that family. Maybe Eleani will gain some peace knowing Sara. And I hope neither makes the same mistake Damaris and her father made.”

      “Not likely,” Nikos said, looking back out the window. “Sara is no naive eighteen-year-old. She’s almost thirty, has worked her way up in a grueling profession. Been on her own for a while. And definitely wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth.”

      “You’re angry with her. I know. It’s understandable.”

      “She used me to get to Eleani. I don’t like being used.”

      “That’s not all,” his grandfather said.

      “That’s all I’m focused on now,” Nikos said. “I’ll tell the captain we leave at first light on Monday.” He left before his grandfather could say any more.

      Nikos went to the room he used as an office. He sat and turned on his computer. But when the screen came on, he didn’t see it. He heard Sara telling him she had no family. She’d lied.

      Or did she truly believe that? Eleani seemed more than willing to accept Sara.

      She’d used him. Had all their time together been with the sole aim of getting

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