I’ll run you by the shelter.”
She got up from the table. “I’ll phone you as soon as I’ve made my flight plans.”
“I’ll be expecting your call and we’ll go from there.”
As he walked her out to the limo, he felt as if he too had undergone a life-changing experience. Of course he realized the foundation was helping many people. But for the first time since he and his brother had established the two centers, he had a personal interest in one of the former patients who had recovered.
She’d been so open about her family it triggered memories for him about his father and the life the three of them had enjoyed together before he’d died. Despite their poverty they’d had fun, too. He’d forgotten that aspect until Zoe started talking about her life. Because of her comments about family, he was seeing his own past through fresh eyes. Her story tugged at his heart and Vasso found he was no longer the same emotionally closed-up man who’d flown to New York on business.
August 17, Athens, Greece
Prickles of delight broke out on the back of Zoe’s neck as the plane made its descent through a cloudless sky toward the runway. From her coach-class window seat she looked out at the sea, the islands. Closer still she made out the clay-roofed houses lining Athens’s winding roads. This was Vasso Giannopoulos’s world.
A sense of wonderment accompanied these sensations because she still couldn’t believe she was coming to a place where she’d never been before and would be working. No doubt her ancestors experienced the same feelings when they arrived in the US, ready to embark on a new life.
How easy her life was by comparison! Instead of reaching the US by ship, she was on an airliner. Instead of having to undergo a holding time for immigrants, she’d been given safe passage right through to the Athens airport where she’d be taken care of. A job was waiting for her. So was the man who’d made all this possible. He was so wonderful she couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met him.
Kyrie
Giannopoulos and his family were responsible for everything that had happened to her since she’d been admitted to the Giannopoulos Center in Astoria a year ago. Somehow he’d made it possible for her to work for his foundation. He’d said he’d be waiting for her when her plane landed.
The thought of seeing him again gave her butterflies. Surely meeting him a second time wouldn’t cause her legs to almost buckle as they’d done the first time. The mere sight of such a magnificent-looking man had haunted her thoughts whether she was awake or asleep.
After the plane touched down and taxied to the hangar, the seat belt came off and Zoe reached for her secondhand overnight bag. She followed the other passengers out of the plane to the terminal lounge where they went through customs. Her bag was searched. After she’d presented her passport and answered a few questions, a female airline attendant came up to her.
“You’re Zoe Zachos?”
“Yes?”
“Come with me, please.”
She got on a cart and was driven some distance to an elevator that descended to the ground floor. After another little ride the airline employee stopped the cart in front of a door. She got out and opened it. “Your ride is waiting out there.”
The second Zoe walked through the door onto the tarmac where the hot sun beat down she saw a limousine in the distance. Once again her legs seemed to go weak when she spotted her benefactor lounging against the passenger side wearing sunglasses. This morning he’d dressed in a light blue sport shirt and tan chinos. He looked so wonderful she moaned before she realized he could have heard her.
“Thespinis
Zachos, welcome to Greece.”
No man should be this handsome
. Zoe felt out of breath. “Thank you for meeting me.”
“Of course. I hope you had a good flight.” He took her bag and opened the rear door for her to get in.
“It was fine.”
He went around the other side and got
Carmen Caine, Madison Adler