The plan was that Eve and Carl would stay in the precious house on the beach where Carl had the most expensive one-day vacation in his life. Adam and I wanted them to have the best property to themselves. Ted and Judy were going to stay in Yiayia’s house with us along with JJ and Tasha. There were two small bathrooms upstairs and three bedrooms. One for JJ and Tasha, one for Ted and Judy (we knew what was going on with them. They were seventy-eight, for heaven’s sake. So probably not much) and the last one for whoever snored. A snoring room sounded crazy, but no, it wasn’t.
On the trip over, after sleeping for three or four hours and a breakfast of rubber eggs and inedible fruit, Ted and Judy peppered us with questions about Kiki and Nicholas. I assured them over and over that it was not an imposition to stay in Kiki’s house and how insulted she would be if we did not.
“But remember, it’s rustic. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
“What does that mean?” Judy said.
I could see she had a little trepidation over the accommodations and spending a lot of time with people with whom she could not communicate in English.
“We’re going to live like the natives. You’ll see, Judy. I promise you it will all be fine.”
I went to check on Eve and Carl in their seats.
“Y’all okay?” I asked.
“Oh yes, we’re just great,” Carl said. “Did you sleep?”
“Yes. But I think I’ll be taking a nap this afternoon. Hey, Eve?” She looked up at me. “I kept forgetting to ask you about Cookie. Does she know we’re going to be on Corfu?”
“Yes, she sure does. I asked her to come spend a night or two with us. God only knows what she’s really gotten herself into.”
I shook my head, thinking, Oh no.
“And?” I said.
“She never responded.”
“We can hope,” Carl said.
I laughed and returned to my seat. The plane was preparing to land. As before, we cleared customs in Athens, then we found JJ and Tasha at the gate for our next leg and boarded the plane for the short flight to Corfu.
Kiki and Nicholas met us at the airport with a large van.
“Hello! Hello! Welcome back! Welcome home!”
Kiki was effusive, overflowing with love and warmth. I hugged her hard and so did Carl.
“This is Adam!” I said proudly. “And do you remember JJ?”
“Oh, on the head of my saint! It’s you! JJ! Do you remember me?”
“Yes, I sure do, and it’s great to see you again! This is Tasha, my wife.”
Carl said, “This is my wife, Eve, and that’s Ted, Adam’s father, and his friend Judy!”
“And here is my Nicholas,” Kiki said.
Everyone shook hands and over the next twenty minutes we gathered all our bags. We were a gregarious and boisterous crowd, and the people around us must’ve thought we were all hard of hearing because we were loud. Loud Americans. I hoped we weren’t offending anyone.
The plan was to get us settled and then Nicholas and Kiki would pick us up at around nine that night and we’d go to Alexandros for dinner. Aunt Anna would join us as well.
On the drive to Dassia, I realized that the island was in bloom. There were abundant flowers everywhere, cascading over garden walls, spilling out of window boxes, climbing anywhere the blooms could attach themselves. Morning glories, bougainvillea, and others I didn’t know. Oleander bushes, like the ones all over the Isle of Palms, blossomed in every shade of pink and white too.
“Looks like home, doesn’t it?” Adam said.
“It is home,” I said.
“That’s right,” Kiki said. “It is! And now it’s your home too, Adam! And Tasha!”
The first stop was for Carl and Eve. Eve’s eyes grew wide and I could see that the little white house with the navy shutters had already worked its spell on her. Bright pink blossoms of bougainvillea tumbled out of the window boxes and covered the courtyard trellis. Nicholas and Carl pulled their luggage from the back of the van and Carl, Eve, Adam, and I went inside with Kiki and Nicholas. We walked through the rooms, Kiki showing them how things worked. Eve gasped when Carl pulled the bedroom windows open.
“Oh! My! Goodness! Would y’all look at this view?”
“I thought this place was unreal in the winter, but in August it’s really unreal!” Carl said.
In Manglish, that meant it was really beautiful.
“I could live here,” Eve said. “Oh, Kiki! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome!” Kiki said. “Now, get some rest and we’ll see you all later!”
We took the short drive to Yiayia’s house, and as at the house where Carl and Eve were, our window boxes and courtyard had flowers and herbs galore. The lemon tree was loaded with fruit and the olive tree with olives. I was so happy to be there.
Judy said, “Well, this is the most adorable little house I’ve ever seen!”
“It sure is!” Ted said, with noticeable relief in his voice.
We went inside with all our bags.
“JJ? Do you remember this house?” I said.
“I do! I actually do! I can almost feel Yiayia here.”
“I’ll bet! Come see,” I said, and took him to the main-floor bedroom.
We stood before her picture, which hung on the wall right where it had been last February.
“She was a great lady,” he said.
There was a sentimental tone to his voice I didn’t often hear. I knew it was something special to JJ to be there, and it meant something to me, something important, because we were all there together. Old memories, new beginnings.
“Yes, she was. Wait until you see Aunt Anna. Yiayia is in her eyes.”
“Well, that’s creepy,” he said.
“No, it isn’t. It’s wonderful!”
Kiki took Ted and Judy upstairs with their bags. JJ and Tasha followed them. I looked in the refrigerator to see many small bottles of fruit juice, soda, and water. And there were eggs, cold cuts, fruit, butter, and the basic necessities. I was sure Carl and Eve’s kitchen was stocked as well. Kiki’s never-ending thoughtfulness was in evidence once more.
Adam was in the bedroom unpacking his bag.
“What do you think?” I said.
“I think this place is wonderful and I think you’re wonderful.”
“No, come on. Really. Tell me.”
“Eliza, I’ve never seen you so happy as you were when your foot touched the tarmac in Athens. You seemed a lot younger and just, I don’t know, really happy? I think Corfu’s going to have a similar effect on everyone. I really do.”
“I hope so. Adam, I really love it here.”
“I know you do. So I will too.”
I gave Kiki my cell phone number, and we said good-bye to her and to Nicholas and settled in for a little bit of quiet time and a much-needed snooze. We were all feeling like zombies.
When Kiki called at eight to rouse us, I was already up and dressed for dinner, too excited to sleep much. I went from bedroom to bedroom and gave everyone’s shoulders a little shake.
“Time to go to dinner,” I said, and they all groaned, even Judy.
“I was sleeping so hard,” Adam said.
“That’s what happens. We have to get on Greek time.”