I could not wait to get into my bed. And I was really looking forward to dinner with everyone at my aunt Anna’s house.
The next morning I woke up to sun streaming through all the windows. It was going to be another beautiful day. For some reason, I thought of Clarabeth while I brushed my teeth and dressed. I wondered then for just a few moments what she would do in my situation. Given the many husbands she had had, she would probably say to give Carl a serious once-over. Even considering Clarabeth’s age, she was a very pragmatic woman. She believed that men and women needed partners for life and that it wasn’t healthy for most of humanity to be alone. She would’ve told Adam to take a hike, because although she never came right out and said it, she had not liked what Adam and Eve did one little bit. I was sure of that much. But then, she didn’t have to voice her opinion, because she had Cookie. Cookie was more than happy to mortify Adam and Eve in public and to cast buckets of disparaging words in their direction whenever possible. It had never been in Clarabeth’s nature to dress down sinners. She was definitely a member of the love the sinner, hate the sin camp. And she knew when a thing was too broken to mend. Would she say Adam and I were too broken? No, she would say she couldn’t answer that question.
Then I thought of my mother and Yiayia as I set up the coffeepot and plugged it in. They were from such a different time and place, they’d be horrified. To them, family was everything. They would tell me to do whatever I had to do to work things out with Adam, to go home and be his good wife, to forgive him and to never speak of this unfortunate business again. They didn’t buy into that idea about pursuit of happiness being an individual’s inalienable right. Hell, no. You take the oath? You honor the oath. It was just that simple. They would tell me that I was a smart girl and that I should find a way to work Corfu and whatever else I wanted to do into the equation. But it was my job to hold the family together. Men strayed from time to time. They would probably tell me that it should be expected or that it was just a flaw in the nature of the male of the species. If a man does something stupid, it shouldn’t ruin the whole family. Besides, it ruined holidays and weddings, and, well, it would just put a nasty cramp in everything for the rest of my life if I divorced Adam.
That was all true. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I’d admit that both arguments had merit. The real question was what did I want to happen now? I didn’t know. I really didn’t know.
I straightened up the house and had a little breakfast. I wondered if Carl was awake, so I sent him an e-mail. He responded right away.
I’m drinking coffee, eating cake, and wondering why you don’t spend some of Adam’s money and get yourself an international plan for your phone so I can just call you? Ha ha! Do you want to meet somewhere this morning?
He was right. It was time to upgrade my phone service. I could meet him at one of the cafés on the main drag in Dassia. We could have another cup of coffee and then take a taxi or a bus to the city. I could wait until later to impress him with my Vespa skills. First stop in Corfu Town? The Church of Saint Spyrídon. As a doctor, he would be stunned by the uncorrupted remains of the saint and his traveling shoes. We’d have lunch at the Liston and we would map out a few trips to some other islands. But mostly, I wanted to hear what he was thinking about his marriage. And at some point, I’d find a phone store.
I e-mailed him back with the plan and he responded by saying he would meet me in the village in half an hour.
I found myself smiling for no reason as I brushed my hair. Was it because Carl was here? Yes. Was it because I was attracted to Carl? Absolutely not. Okay, yes, but only in a platonic way. I mean in reality, I wasn’t about to do something really stupid like have an affair with Carl to punish Adam and Eve. That was ludicrous. But his being here would strengthen my resolve and help me make some decisions. For better or worse, we were in this soup together.
I took one of my shopping baskets with me, dropping my phone and wallet inside with a hairbrush and a scarf to cover it all up in case I might be followed by a pickpocket. There was almost no crime in Dassia, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t be cautious. I’d buy a bottle of water and maybe a newspaper if I could find one in English. I locked the door of the house from the outside and began the short walk.
There were two cafés in the business district. One sold pastries and shots of ouzo with briki, a strong Greek coffee brewed in copper pots and frappé, a cold coffee drink. The other café sold those things as well, but it had a larger menu and was open late into the night. Both had tables outside. I spotted Carl seated inside the second one. It was called Athena, as many business establishments were.
“Good morning!” I said.
He stood and gave me a kiss on my cheek.
“Good morning, gorgeous! Sit, please.” He held my chair for me.
Carl had lovely manners. I had to give him that.
Café Athena was a modest affair. The dozen or so tabletops had brightly colored mosaic designs in their cement tops, which rested on metal bases. The chairs were ladder-backs with thick rush seats. The entire eating area was under a thatched roof over a floor of large square rust-colored tiles. It was casual but very simple and easy to maintain. Most of the tables were filled with young women with little dogs on leashes and men reading the newspapers and discussing the events of the day. And just as in coffee shops all over the world, there was a contingent of an old dudes’ club, a table of eight older men, leaning in to hear each other, nodding and drinking coffee.
“Did you eat enough?” I said. “Want to split an omelet?”
“Sure. What kind?”
“Well, you have to have feta cheese. This is Greece and you get feta with everything. After that? I don’t know. How about spinach?”
“Sounds fine to me,” he said.
We ordered the omelet and two cups of coffee. He pulled out a guidebook and we made a plan for the day’s sightseeing. Our food arrived and we began to eat, finally bringing up the obvious.
“So,” he said, “Cookie sure spilled the beans. Why do you think she did that?”
“Because she’s really as mean as a snake?” I said. “I mean, she had to know that telling the story of their teenage romance would do more harm than good. Not to mention the story of their dinner together. What were we supposed to believe?”
“Exactly. This omelet is pretty good.”
“The food here is pretty good right across the board.”