He was stumbling over his words, and I couldn’t help the hope it sent ricocheting through me. Maybe we’d get a chance to start over too? “Then I guess we’re set.” His eyes were locked on mine. Would it be too much to ask if they stayed that way forever? But they slid away.
Behind me, the bell on the shop door jingled. “Hello?” a female voice called into the bookstore.
“Sorry, we’re closed for the night,” Theo said.
“I’m actually looking for someone. An employee.” We both turned, and I was surprised to see a woman close to six feet tall, with an elegant neck, long legs, and thick black hair gathered into a high ponytail. She smiled, showing off perfectly sculpted cheekbones. “Hello, I’m Phaedra.”
Theo and I exchanged a quick glance. The bookstore wasn’t exactly teeming with employees. “Are you Ana’s friend?” I guessed.
Her smile broadened, and she straightened her shoulders, emphasizing her perfect posture. “No, I’m looking for Geoffrey. I’m his girlfriend. Or…” Her brow wrinkled. “Or at least I hope I am. We’ve been in a bit of an argument.”
An argument? Theo and I exchanged a glance and I took a step forward, my head buzzing. “But… you said your name is Phaedra?”
She laughed lightly. “Oh, he calls me Mathilde. After a character in my favorite short story.”
“Holy. Fried. Souvlaki,” Theo said.
Except that’s not actually what he said.
Once we’d scraped our jaws off the ground, it was time to go. Geoffrey was already at the Cinekamari, assisting with setup while Ana checked my dad out of the hospital. That meant Phaedra rode with us on the bus, answering the nine thousand questions we had, mainly related to the fact that yes, she really did exist, and yes, she was here to try to win back Geoffrey (Her! Trying to win him back!) because he was the love of her life and she couldn’t bear the thought of life without him.
I shouldn’t have been so surprised. Geoffrey really was a catch. And yes, Phaedra was featured on the Greek National Opera’s website. She was a principal dancer and was currently preparing for her starring role in her company’s upcoming performance of Coppélia.
Theo and I kept shooting each other surprised goldfish eyes, and it was… nice. Eye contact and all. It felt familiar and a touch of what we used to be. Mathilde said she knew who I was and why I was in Santorini, but we needed to fill her in on nearly everything else, including the event we were currently barreling toward. And by barreling, I mean sort of slowly creeping toward while every donkey in Santorini leisurely ambled in front of us.
Near Fira, we got stuck in traffic, and then there was a large commotion involving the bus driver telling off a group of beach-going tourists who were attempting to board wearing wet clothes, and by the time we made it to Kamari, my stomach was a mess of knots, but it was almost showtime.
As the bus crept into the town, I began to worry that no one would actually show up, but when we arrived, Cinekamari was packed. I recognized a lot of the faces: Maria the bakery owner, Hugo the artist, Kostas the saxophone-playing yacht captain, Vasilios and his daughter—Vasilios looking considerably less shaken—even Henrik and Hye were there, plus about a hundred more. And the guests I didn’t recognize all seemed to recognize me. People kept patting me and saying things in Greek that I didn’t understand, and I smiled and said things in English they didn’t understand. The vibe was even better than I’d imagined—festive and celebratory, a night that screamed We did something. The screen was lit up with the simple title screen Theo and I had made, FINDING ATLANTIS.
“Are they here yet?” I asked Theo, who was checking his phone.
“Three minutes.” He tilted his head toward the bar, flashing me a mischievous grin. “Want a snack? I could get you one of everything.”
I shook my head. “I’m too nervous.”
Suddenly a small warm object landed on my back, nearly knocking me to the ground and messing up my hair in the process. “I am the ninja your friends warned you about!”
“Julius!” I grabbed his arms and swung him forward in front of me, giving him a tight squeeze. He wore sneakers and a T-shirt with a tie, and the sight of him made my heart spill over. I’d been more than homesick. I’d been Julius-sick. “Julius, I’m so happy you’re here! I missed you so much.”
“You are SMASHING ME,” he yelled, squeezing out of my grasp. “Did you know I saw a donkey and a lot of boats today? And I need to tell you something important.”
I set him down and he stared up at me grimly. “Liv, I think a bad guy snuck into your room. He knocked over your sparkly eye shadow and broke it. I don’t know who!”
I bit back a laugh. “Thank you for telling me. We can figure that out later. I’m very happy to see you.”
“Me too,” he said with obvious relief. “Mom said your dad lives here. She went to get some flowers for you, but it’s a surprise, so don’t tell her I told you.”
“Cross my heart,” I said.
“You must be Julius.” Theo moved up next to me, his arm brushing mine.
Julius eyed him suspiciously, taking in Theo’s suit and shiny shoes. “Who are you?”
“I’m your sister’s friend. My name is Theo.” He crouched down so he was eye level with Julius. “Hey, Julius, what do you call an angry ninja?”
Julius scrunched up his face in concentration. “What?”
“Nothing. You run.”
Julius’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Let’s battle, Theo. Okay? You versus me. I’ll be the good guy. You can be the bad guy. Now fight.” He instantly began karate chopping and kicking with his dusty shoes, and I swooped him up before he could ruin Theo’s suit.
“We’ll do that after the movie, okay? How about you go find your dad and order some popcorn?”
“Prepare for an epic battle,” Theo said.
“Yes!” He launched one more roundhouse kick at Theo, then turned to find James.
“Thanks for that. I forgot how much he is.” I watched the top of Julius’s head disappear into the crowd.
“Exactly as described. I think he’ll find me to be a worthy opponent,” Theo said. He looked over the top of my head. “And look who it is. The man of the hour. You ready?”
“Ready.” My heart kicked things up a notch as I spun around. There he was. Dad 2.0. Ana had done some work on him. He’d gotten a haircut, and he wore a navy-blue suit that fit him perfectly. Without his regular baggy clothes, he looked slim and strong, and for a moment I forgot how sick he was. People had already begun to swarm him. My heart ached.
“You said ten years?” I didn’t have to tell Theo what I meant.
“People have been known to live on dialysis for twenty to thirty years. And knowing your dad, he’ll squeeze at least twenty to thirty thousand years’ worth of living in there.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. My chest was heavy, but I needed to get moving. Time to get this show going. It took me a moment to cut through the crowd, but as soon as he saw me, my dad’s face beamed brightly. “Liv!” He pointed to the screen. “Is it true? You really finished the documentary?”