Nick laughed. “No, Miss Joanna. It’s big enough. And of course there’s always room for you. Come, come. Let’s get you there so you can see. See what your father left for you.”
They exited the airport and the first thing Joanna noticed about Skiathos was its air. It possessed an element of sweetness to it. Like a bale of flowers, but more herbally and purposeful. The smell of the sea was present too but, it didn’t smell like anything you’d find on the East coast of the US.
She breathed it in again deeply through her nose.
Gently aromatic, yet still cool and heavy from the Aegean sea, which was mere moments away.
Walking behind Nick she couldn’t help but also check out his body.
His back and shoulder blades...Wow.
Nick sensed her staring and turned around, and she quickly diverted her eyes as if she was taking in everything around her.
Parked in the shade of two tall cypress trees, Nick’s car was a tiny light blue Volkswagen from the sixties, with the back two seats taken out for extra storage. He popped the trunk and threw her luggage in, and then opened the passenger door for her.
Peter never opened doors for her in New York— be it a taxi, convenience store, restaurant. Never.
Nick did it without a second thought.
She thanked him and got in. The seats were leather and deliciously warm.
Nick got in the driver’s seat, then turned to Joanna and seemed to consider something about her before nodding and pointing to her.
“Your father was right. You needed to come. Something about you has already changed since you’ve been here these few short moments.”
Joanna furrowed her brow and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Your avra. It’s clearer already.”
“My avra? What’s an avra?
Nick traced her body three feet away in the air. “Your avra. You know avra.”
“Do you mean my aura? You can see my aura?” Joanna laughed, skeptical.
He didn’t answer, but continued, “People would say you’re just excited to finally be off the flight, but it’s more than that, I think. You’ll feel it, too, once you get a good night’s sleep.”
Joanna couldn’t help but scoff at him, but wasn’t able to keep herself from blushing either.
This guy was a charmer.
Chapter Six
The drive from the airport was surprisingly pleasant. After that plane landing she’d feared the romance movie cliche of crazy drivers in the Med might actually be true.
But it wasn’t. Nick didn’t speed or see any need to show off any nonexistent driving abilities. He drove like they had all the time in the world.
“This isn’t the fastest way, Miss Joanna,” he commented, with the window down. He grinned at her, wearing dark Rayban sunglasses and added, “Actually it’s the farthest, but I thought you might like to see a bit of our homeland. The Skiathos National Airport is on the southeastern side of the island. We’re driving north of it now, but your father’s place is to the southwest. Most people who live on Skiathos live on the southern tip along the coast. North of the southern coast is mostly unbridled land. Where we’re driving there was actually a great fire some ten years ago.”
Joanna sat up to see the green rolling hills and rising mountains and looked questioningly at him.
“It’s so green, I know,” Nick boasted. “The land here recovered, and within a year everything was back.”
“How did it happen so quickly?” she asked.
“A geologist could answer that question better than me. I’m sure there’s a technical reason with nothing magical to it. But to all of us who lived here, who lived through it and survived, it was nothing short of a miracle. There are a lot of churches on the island. Greek Orthodox. But every one of us, without talking to one another, felt it was old magic. Something, someone from the days of mankind’s infancy.”
“Zeus or Apollo maybe?” Joanna jokingly offered.
