Bloom by Marilyn Grey Page B

me for coming and Vasili picked her up and put her on his shoulders. “Soon you’re going to be too big for this.”
    “Probably not.” She smiled.
    “Ella, ella,” their mother yelled from the kitchen.
    “Time to eat,” Kyriakos said.
    We sat down at a large dining room table. Yanni stood and said a prayer while the rest of the family prayed in unison and made crosses over their chests. I felt uncomfortable, but everyone welcomed me with such warmth that I almost felt like part of their family. And I liked it. I enjoyed them.
    During dinner I caught Vasili staring at me several times. Mainly when I laughed and smiled, which I did a lot. Kyriakos and Yanni bantered like five year olds and their mother, who they told me to call Mama, occasionally whacked them both with a dish towel. I’d end up laughing so hard I’d cry and every time I looked up Vasili looked away. I didn’t understand. He stared at me the way a man stares at a woman he finds alluring. But he was engaged. And I was everything but alluring.
    After dinner we sang Happy Birthday in English and something in Greek, then we settled on the couch and I checked my phone. Five missed calls and one text. James.
    Please call me Sarah. I love you and I’m falling apart. Please.
    “Everything okay?” Kyriakos sat beside me. “You look tired. If you need a ride ho—“
    “I’m fine. Relationship problems.”
    Vasili glanced my way, but said nothing.
    “Spill it,” Eleni said as she scooted close to Kyriakos. “What’s going on?”
    “Eleni is getting her bachelors in psychology,” Sophia said.
    “It’s a long story,” I said.
    Anastasia leaned into the arm of the couch next to me. “You are way too pretty to have relationship problems.”
    “Thank you, sweetie, but that’s the last trait I’d use to describe myself at this point.”
    “Then maybe you should let us describe you,” Vasili said.
    I think I blushed so severely my cheeks nearly felt bruised. Everyone looked at Vasili, then me, then Vasili.
    “Okay,” Kyriakos jumped up and rubbed his palms together. “Anastasia insisted we play pin the tail on the donkey, but that’s far too boring.” He unfolded a large poster. “So I thought we could all play pin the tail on Vasili.”
    He taped the poster to the from door and we all laughed at the image of a donkey with Vasili’s head morphed into its face.
    “Very funny,” Vasili said, snatching the blindfold from his brother.
    I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. I’d pay for it later tonight and probably the next three days, but every second of pain would be worth the way I felt right now.
    Mmm, I breathed in. Welcoming life back into my heart. “Life,” I whispered to myself. “I love you.”
    Anastasia reached her arms around my neck and squeezed. “Life loves you, too.”
    Amazing how much more you appreciate the little things when all the big things are taken from you.

Ten
    After a week of ignoring James, he showed up at Ella’s house while I was taking a nap. Gavin wouldn’t let him inside, so I woke to him screaming from the lawn for me to talk to him one last time.
    I guess I felt bad.
    I asked Ella and Gavin to let James come upstairs.
    When he entered my room I didn’t recognize him. Not with the disheveled hair, messy clothes, and droopy eyes.
    He tripped over his shoelaces as he walked toward me, then slurred some kind of words together. Obviously he enjoyed one too many drinks. When he stood beside my bed I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
    “Please, baby,” he said. “I’m nothing without you.”
    “What happened to Cheyenne?”
    He slammed his fist on the table beside my bed.
    Gavin entered the room within seconds. “Sarah? Are you okay?”
    I nodded.
    “James.” Gavin stepped toward him. “Maybe this isn’t the best time to talk.”
    “There is no best time,” James said, his tone rising with each shade of pink that covered his face. “My life is ... do you know what it’s like to feel like