One Greek Summer Wedding

Chapter 59

All Akis could do was watch her. It was killing him not to do something, anything to try to ease her pain. But she had said loud and clear that she didn’t want him to touch her so, as hard as it was, he was going to stand right here and try to help from a distance. After a few minutes, the worst seemed to be over: her shoulders stopped shaking and her breathing evened out. And then she pulled her face from the sofa, slowing turning her body around until she was sat on the floor with her back to the couch.

‘Do you… have any tissues?’ she asked with a sniff.

‘Yes, sure, give me one second.’ He moved to the kitchen area, then came back with a box. ‘Here.’

She took it and he watched her pluck some out and wipe her eyes.

‘Will you sit with me?’ she asked when she was done.

‘Sure,’ he answered. He moved closer then got down on the floor, crossing his legs, sitting opposite.

‘I’m sorry,’ Cara said, voice still thick with emotion.

‘Don’t be sorry,’ Akis said. ‘You should never be sorry to let how you are feeling come out.’

‘I’m sorry that lately it always seems to be in front of you.’

‘The confessional is always open,’ he said, smiling and spreading his arms a little.

She smiled back. ‘You know when Margot told me about Seb cheating I felt this utter shock… but not in the way I should have felt it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The shock was more about Margot having orchestrated his departure than it was about him cheating.’ She shook her head. ‘And how does that sound now I’ve said it out loud? I wasn’t surprised that the man I was going to marry was cheating on me. What does that say about the dynamic of our relationship?’

‘It says to me,’ Akis began, ‘only that he was stupid. Or also that maybe there was a part of you that already knew what you had together wasn’t meant to be.’

He had to be objective now. He respected her decision to take time for herself even though it tore at him.

‘I think a lot happened to me in a very short space of time and it all got overwhelming,’ she said.

‘It happens,’ Akis said, nodding. ‘A little like my brother’s wedding. Then my grandmother being sick.’

‘How is Irini?’ Cara asked, wiping at her nose.

‘A little better. Eating avgolemono soup. Yiannis is making it.’

‘What’s that?’

‘It is a soup with chicken, lemon and rice. It is very good. And it seems to be restoring her health, so it is medicine.’

‘That’s good.’

‘And the wedding venue is set. As of an hour ago.’

‘Really?’

‘I do not know if I really believe it, but my mother texted everyone and said it will be at our family home and that the snakes will be arriving tomorrow for the blessing.’

Cara nodded. ‘Your family does have a beautiful home.’

‘My family has a house with nice things. It will look good for the photos.’ He took a breath. ‘I think a beautiful home begins with the people inside it not the décor.’

‘Agreed,’ Cara said, yawning.

‘My mother needs to work on how she ranks the importance of things. I think she did listen to my grandmother and perhaps deciding the wedding should be at home is a first step to acknowledging that.’

‘Home should be safe,’ Cara spoke. ‘A safe place where everyone feels valued and… loved.’

Her sentiment resonated deep, it was what he had always believed, what he had always wanted for his siblings, what he perhaps one day hoped for for his own children…

‘I think people underestimate “safe”,’ Cara continued. ‘They think it means boring or unadventurous but… I don’t know… knowing that you’re warm and cherished and comforted. I think that’s one of the most exciting things ever.’

She’d said the last line slowly and her head was resting back on the sofa cushion now. She looked so peacefully beautiful.

‘Cara, I know what you said about not being ready for a relationship of any kind. And I understand that and respect it completely,’ Akis began. ‘But I want you to know that… the way I feel about you. It has not been this way before for me. I do not know how to explain it, but it is like there is something inside my heart that was not there before. Something warmer, brighter, shining more than anything else because of you.’ He took a breath, looked to his hands, fingers pressed together almost in prayer. ‘How can I become a priest when I want to see the world, explore it, bathe in it, be a small part of everywhere I haven’t been? How can I become a priest when I want to share those things with you?’ He shook his head. ‘What am I saying? Just that… if you feel even a small part the same way then… I can wait. However long it takes.’

His heart was thumping hard, and realising he had finally found the courage to be entirely honest, he looked up again. And that’s when he saw that Cara’s eyes were closed and she had fallen asleep.