The Greek's Long-Lost Son by Rebecca Winters Page A

enough to reach for her phone on the dresser.
    She recognized the blank caller ID. It was Theo! She almost bit her lip all the way through before answering it. “Hello?”
    “Stella?” The sound of his deep voice permeatedthrough her body to the soles of her feet. “I promised you I wouldn’t try to see Ari until after your vacation, but I need to see you tonight. Alone,” he added, sending a shock wave through her body. “I’m here in Palaiopolis at a small bistro called Yanni’s. I’m seated at a table on the terrace overlooking the water and will wait an hour for you to come.”
    Stella’s pulse sped up. She’d been there once with Rachel, but it was a romantic spot meant for couples so she had never gone to that particular restaurant again. “I-is there something wrong?” she stammered.
    “Yes. I’ll tell you when you get here.”
    She shifted her weight nervously. “I don’t know if I can come without arousing suspicion.”
    “It’s important.” After a slight pause, “While you’re thinking about it, I’d like to talk to Ari for a minute and tell him how much our outing meant to me yesterday. With Dax around I couldn’t say all the things I wanted to. Do you think he’d be willing to come to the phone or call me back? If he doesn’t want to do either, then I’ll leave it alone.”
    Stella couldn’t believe the timing of his call or the reasons for it. But she heard something in his voice that sounded like he was anxious. “Just a minute and I’ll check.”
    She put it down on the dresser and walked over to Ari. “It’s your father on the phone. He’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
    That brought Ari’s head around. “What does he want?”
    Her poor boy had been suffering all last night and today. She’d known it, but she hadn’t known about the jealousy.
    “He said there are things he wanted to tell you but couldn’t because Dax was there. You don’t have to talkto him now. He said you could call him anytime or not at all. It’s your choice, honey.”
    He took a long time making up his mind before he walked over to pick it up.
    She held her breath as he said a tentative hello.
    At first it was a very one-sided conversation with Theo doing most of the talking. She thought it would end fast, but like every assumption she’d made since he’d come back into her life, he surprised her with the unexpected.
    In a minute Ari grew more animated. He actually laughed at one point. Before the phone call, she hadn’t thought it possible. The call went on another five minutes.
    All of a sudden he said, “Mom?”
    “Yes?”
    “Do I have to wait till our vacation is over to see my father again?”
    How utterly incredible! She’d died and come back to life several times since Theo had returned to Athens. “What about Dax?”
    “Dad says I can ask him to come with us if I want. It’s up to me.”
    Amazing. Theo had taken the sword out of their son’s hand without knowing it. “Then it’s fine.”
    Stella couldn’t believe she’d just said that, but after Ari had been honest with her just now, she was thankful tonight’s crisis had been abated by the only person who could help their son.
    The fact that Theo was the cause of all the trouble in the first place hadn’t escaped her, but none of that mattered in light of Ari’s pain which seemed to have vanished at the sound of his father’s voice. She would call the doctor back and tell him everything was okay after all.
    “Mom? Do we have anything planned for tomorrow?”
    That soon?
    “Nothing special.”
    More conversation ensued before he walked over with her phone still in his hand. She waited for him to say something.
    “Did you make plans?”
    He made an affirmative sound in an offhand manner like it was no big deal, but the light in his brown eyes told her it was a very big deal.
    “Mind filling me in first?”
    “Dad’s going to fly us to Meteora at four o’clock. He says that’s where the monasteries are.