“It’s too many years, Adam. Don’t be a fool.”
After dinner, which was very good, I made up an excuse to go home early. I had a lot of thinking to do and I was exhausted. They said they’d bring Eliza’s car back in the morning. I thanked Clarabeth, and Dad walked me outside. You could hear the crickets and the steady hum of bugs. And you could smell the decaying life around the banks of the Ashley River. It was cool, so cool that I wondered if we were headed into a cold snap.
“Think about what I said, Adam. Eliza is a wonderful woman. She deserves nothing but the best. I don’t think you really want to lose her.”
“Of course I don’t. I’m too tired to think about it anymore tonight. But thanks.”
“For what?”
“Dinner and the pep talk,” I said.
I looked back at him and in the dim yellow light of the porch I thought he looked older. Someday I wouldn’t have him in my life. I knew that what had happened between Eve and me made things awkward for Carl and Eliza, but there was nothing to be done about it. I drove home wondering if I should call Eliza, but I figured she was somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean right about then.
I pulled into our garage and my cell phone rang. It was Eve.
“Hey. You okay?” I said.
“Yeah, I guess I’m okay. I just got home and Carl isn’t here. It looks like he’s moved out.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.”
“Holy shit! Look, Eve, I’ll admit that when Carl walked in the situation wasn’t optimal, but it shouldn’t be grounds for divorce!”
“I agree!”
“That said, when I got home I discovered that Eliza has taken a trip to Greece.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“As serious as I can be. And listen to me, you’re not going to like this. Eliza went to Dad’s to leave her car with him and Cookie was there and told her about you and me back in the day.”
“You don’t mean it. Please tell me you’re lying.”
“I wish I was. And she was explicit.”
“Eliza must’ve told Carl.”
“I’d bet the ranch on that one.”
“Dear God. Adam, what are we going to do?”
chapter 13
corfu
It’s so strange what I remember. When I was a child and visited Greece with my mother, we always flew to Athens and took a ferry to Corfu. I had never experienced an aerial view of the island. But now I had booked myself straight through to the airport right outside of Corfu Town. As we circled to land I looked through my window and marveled at the mountainside filled with little white stucco homes with red clay roofs. I recognized the white convent on the tiny islet of Vlacherna. And I recognized the sparkling blue water of the Ionian Sea. I remembered that someone had told me that Corfu had over three million olive trees. That’s a whole lot of olives. But I did not remember that Corfu was so green, even in winter.
The Aegean Airbus touched down gently and my own odyssey in the land of Homer was about to begin. It was around seven o’clock in the evening and the end of a thirteen-hour journey. I was bone tired and feeling pretty alone in the world. I felt like I didn’t belong in Charleston, at least not until things were right between Adam and me.
Kiki’s last e-mail said she would meet me in the baggage claim and bring me to her home in Dassia. I hoped I would recognize her. I had not been here since I was maybe seven or eight years old, and that was a very long time ago, never mind how many years.
I had cleared customs in Athens, so when we landed on Corfu it was very uncomplicated. The first thing that struck me was the delicious smell of strong coffee coming from a kiosk that sold cold water and a mountain of loukoumades, the Greek version of Krispy Kremes. I stopped to look at them. Then I realized that I resembled the woman selling them and also the majority of the people around me in the airport. It made me laugh and think to myself, Well, here I am in the land of my people. Like Moses in the Promised Land. Of course I looked like them. I was one of them. This was a good omen.
I made my way to the baggage claim area and to my astonishment, I recognized Kiki right away.
“Kiki!” I think I probably shouted her name a little too loudly, because people turned to have a look at me.
“Eliza! Welcome!”
She threw her arms wide open and hugged me hard. I was so excited to be there and to have found her. It was a marvel to me that in less time than it took the earth to take a spin on its axis, I was almost on the other side of the world, in a completely different culture.
“Oh, my! I can’t believe I’m really here!”
“Look at you! You’re beautiful! You look so young!”
“Thank you! You too! And I saw your face and knew it was you! I can’t believe I recognized you after all these years.”
“My God! How old are you?”
“Fifty-three, but don’t tell anybody,” I whispered.
“My God! I’m fifty-four, but I look like I could be your mother!”
“No! No, you don’t!”
“You’ll have to tell me everything you do to your skin! Are you hungry? No, of course you are! These airlines starve you to death these days, and who can eat the food anyhow? It’s disgusting.”
“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.”
“Listen, we eat late here. Let’s get your bags and we’ll go to a little taverna that’s owned by my friend. It’s delicious! And my husband is his partner.”
After a few minutes my bag came riding around on the carousel. I grabbed it and set it on the floor next to my feet to pull the handle out.
“That’s it? One little bag? Are you going home tomorrow?” Kiki asked, and I laughed.
“It’s deceiving,” I said. “I have clothes in here for a week.”
“Well then, let’s go!”
We left the terminal, found her car, threw my bag in the back, and hopped in. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and fastened my seat belt. I thought about Adam. I really should send him an e-mail, but had he sent me one? I checked my phone. No. I was too tired to dwell on thoughts of him. At that moment, I was thinking he should go get Eve out of his system once and for all and then we would see where we stood with each other.
Kiki reached over and patted the back of my hand.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. “There’s nothing like seeing family. Nothing.”
“Me too. I agree.”
“I was so sorry to hear about your father’s passing. He was a good man and we kept in touch, at least with Christmas cards.”
“I know, JJ told me. Thank you, Kiki. I wish I had stayed in touch too,” I said.
“The past doesn’t matter, we’re here together now, right?” Kiki smiled.
“Yes, Kiki, we are.” I smiled right back.
This had been my dream—to come to Corfu. My heart was pounding with excitement.
She backed out of her parking space and off we went.