“Miss Joanna,” Nick interrupted her. “Please forgive me. But there will be a wedding at your father’s property in a month. The weather is beginning to turn here already. In a month, every flower will be in full bloom. The birds will have returned, and the outdoor terrace of every restaurant will be pulsating with life and activity. Spring is the most beautiful time of year in Skiathos. If you would, I would like to take you as my guest to the wedding. The marriage is between a young man and woman whom your father knew since their birth. They both loved him dearly and considered him to be their godfather. Their wedding will be as much a celebration of your father as it will be of their marriage.”
“It’s in a month?” Joanna asked.
“Nai, yes, a month. It will be on a Saturday. Surely you can arrange for a few days by then? I will show you around the island myself and introduce you to everyone who knew your father. I do this because it’s what he wanted, and because I sense anger from you. I know that if you knew George, knew more about him, you couldn’t possibly hate him.”
“OK,” Joanna agreed, impulsively. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Chapter Four
“Will this be your first time in Greece?” an older lady seated next to Joanna on the flight to Athens asked.
A month had passed since her conversation with Nick. When she had told Peter she was going to Skiathos, and that she would like to wait until she got back to move in with him, he became angry and distant.
“I just need time to process all this,” she said. “Don’t be angry.”
“We don’t even know if this guy is legit! You’re putting our life on hold for some faceless stranger from some godforsaken island in Europe?”
“That faceless stranger was my father,” she argued. “I need to find out who he was.”
He had mostly sulked that weekend, but eventually warmed up.
The last couple of days before the trip he kept asking her if she wanted him to go along too, but it was an empty gesture.
He couldn’t leave. He was in the middle of closing three multi-million dollar deals in Brooklyn.
Joanna smiled and nodded to the old woman. “Yes, it’s my first time,” she said. “I’m actually headed to Skiathos.”
“Oh my favourite island!” she enthused. “You lucky thing. Skiathos is heaven. Pure and simple. It’s a secret that only a few blessed know about.”
“What do you like about it so much?” Joanna asked, intrigued.
“Well,” the woman exclaimed and slapped the handbag on her lap. “Too much to say. I adore the Greek Islands in general but the way I describe Skiathos to people is by asking if they have a special place they travel to in their dreams. Strange, I know, but it’s the only way I can get it across. Do you have anything like that, dear? A place where you wake up while you’re still sleeping and become aware you’re in a dream. And when you realize where you are you become overjoyed? Like heaven on earth.”
Joanna shook her head.
“Me neither. Not anymore. But I did when I was younger. It was a magical land that, in my dreams, was on the other side of this forest behind my grandmother’s house. Skiathos is the embodiment of that dream for me. The air, the light, the people. Some of the old gods are still alive there, believe me. Living and breathing heaven into the water and the earth. You’ll see. Once you go there you’re never the same again.”
Joanna didn’t know what to say. That was one hell of a sell.
“I’ll leave you alone now,” said her elder companion. “I’m a Gemini, and we talk too much, or so we’re told.” She put on some headphones and began playing a word game on her phone.
Joanna looked out the window and watched New York float farther and farther away as they rose into the clouds.
Heaven on earth?
She’d soon find out.
Chapter Five
“Miss Joanna! Over here! Miss Joanna Nelson!” Joanna turned and saw an arm holding a sign with her name over everyone’s heads.
She turned towards the voice, knees still wobbly and shaking from the landing.
Land being a precious commodity on the tiny island, the airport on Skiathos was built on a small stretch of upraised ground flanked by water.
It was exactly what Joanna imagined landing on an aircraft carrier must be like. No room for errors. If you miss, well then you’re out of luck.
She had almost slept through the transfer from Athens, but had woken up to zipping backpacks and the jostling of people maneuvering their carry-ons onto their laps. She looked out the window as the plane arched and turned into alignment with the runway.
