Chapter 19 Regan & François
Regan when Regan pressed Francois to join them, he despaired that his work was crippling but would simmer down eventually.
He begged Regan for photos of the sunset in Oia, grilled octopus, and Regan in a bikini.
“Oh my God, Mom!” Isabelle had cried, when Regan debuted the first bikini she’d worn in twenty years, emerging from the bathroom of their cliffside Santorini hotel.
“I think you look great, Mom,” Flora had said.
Her cheeks were pink and freckled from the sun; she’d picked up a kerchief somewhere, which she wore over two long braids.
Both girls seemed lighter—and who wouldn’t be?
They spent their days sleeping late, scrambling over rocks down to waves, napping, eating pastries and grilled meats, and petting the stray cats that seemed to be everywhere.
“No one over forty should wear a bikini,” said Isabelle. “Period, end of sentence.”
“Rude!” cried Flora, stepping from their cool room, which was an actual cave, carved into the volcanic cliff face of Santorini’s caldera.
Isabelle’s flip-flops slapped against stones as she ran down the winding path to the hotel’s infinity pool.
Flora, laughing, chased her sister. Hundreds of feet below, the sea was deep blue, dotted with tour boats that looked like toys.
The girls moved through bougainvillea-draped archways, down uneven steps, past a maze of cubic white buildings with blue domes.
Regan sent Francois a sexy selfie, scrutinizing her body in the photo, astonished at how confident she looked, how happy.
As always, Francois responded immediately, such a far cry from Matt, who had responded to her texts hours later…or not at all.
Stunning! wrote Francois. I am dreaming of standing beside you, gazing at the sea.
For the first time in her life, Regan felt like the sister who was chosen.
Francois didn’t know about Lee’s magazine covers or red carpet appearances.
In his eyes, Regan was the star. She took selfie after selfie, angling her phone to capture the light the way she’d watched Lee do countless times, finally understanding the intoxicating power of being desired.
She wrote: you have made me the person I always dreamed of being.