We’d barely joined Isabelle and Thomas on the dance floor when Nikos froze.
“You okay?” Thomas reached out to his friend.
Nikos gawked, his eyes fixed on something beyond Thomas’s shoulder.
I swung around to see what had captured his attention.
Hannah.
She looked stunning in a fitted black dress, but it was the power-wattage of her smile that lit her up as she greeted Nikos, who continued staring at her.
“Thomas invited me,” she said. “Mom’s here, too.” Captain Bailey waved as Hannah pointed her out.
“You mean she’s okay? With this?” Nikos gestured between himself and Hannah.
“Don’t know.” Hannah shrugged, grinning. “But she came, so…”
“Well, let’s go say hello. Excuse us. Moti? I promise to make it up to you.”
I laughed. “Please, not another beach picnic. Go, good luck.”
I danced with Isabelle and Thomas in a circle of well-wishers—twisting, turning, holding hands with people I’d never met before. Stars and string lights twinkled as the night bound us in a sparkling feeling of togetherness. It was bright and brilliant—an echo of another night among spinning strangers in Folegandros, when my eyes had played hide and seek with Alex.
I dropped out of the circle and lined up at the henna station.
“What kind of design would you like?” the lady asked.
“A star, on my wrist, please. But can you make it look like the letter A?” It was customary for the bride to hide her groom’s initial in the intricate pattern of her henna. Dolly and Rachel Auntie told us if the groom didn’t find it on the wedding night, he’d be dominated by his wife for the rest of their marriage. Isabelle and I smirked every time we heard the story. We knew it really meant no sex for him that night.
I waited for my henna-tattooed star to dry in a quiet corner of the deck. Bits of conversation drifted my way.
George stood by the bar, talking to Joseph Uncle. The ring-tube of underwear Joseph Uncle had intended for Isabelle and Thomas (the one he told her to get rid of after his gift-giving fiasco with her in-laws), hung like a wreath between them. Isabelle asked for it to be displayed at the reception. Joseph Uncle’s chest swelled the moment he saw it.
“I think I can make it work,” George said. “How soon can we set it up?”
“Give me a couple of weeks. I’ll send you the catalog as soon I get back. Pick the ones you want and—”
“What do I know about underwear? Just ship me some of your best sellers. The movers and shakers, you know?” George wiggled his hips.
Oh God. Thomas’s father is getting into the underwear business with Joseph Uncle.
“With my contacts and your experience, we’ll conquer the islands.” George held up his glass.
“To thongs and bikinis,” Joseph Uncle said, as they clinked their drinks.
Um, my cue to exit.
I took the stairs leading down to the water. Leaving my shoes on the last step, I strolled down the narrow beach. The sand was damp and cool under my feet, the air crisp as it came in from the sea.
Something flashed in my face as I watched silver-tipped waves shimmer under the night sky. It disappeared when I turned toward it. My eyes went back to the water and the fleet of lights gliding over the horizon—a ferry leaving the port. Maybe Alex was on it. Maybe he’d left already.
It happened again—a soft glare on my face that disappeared before I could figure out where it came from. A passing boat? A strobe over the dance floor?
I turned my attention to the star on my wrist. It didn’t look much like an A, but each of its five points stood for a month. Five months before I saw Alex again. We were going to make it work. And what better place to meet up at than the CIA? The Culinary Institute of America’s New York Campus. I smiled, thinking about how I was leaving Greece with so much more than I’d arrived with—so different from what I’d expected, and yet infinitely better.
When the annoying glint flashed over my eyes again, I swung around to catch it. Every muscle in my body stilled. Then, a grin stretched across my face, so wide that I could feel it in my cheeks.
Alex. He stood by the stairs, angling a CD so the light reflected onto my face. I flew into his arms with a delighted whoop.
