Chapter 24 #2
“Does this mean you like him now?” Yiannis winked at me.
I rolled my shoulders back. “I’m not that easily convinced.”
* * *
I settled back into the ferry, now weirdly delighted to be heading back to Lyra.
How was it possible that, in such a short time, I’d developed a genuine fondness for the island and its inhabitants?
Nikos had been right when he said that I was more of a city girl.
I’d grown up in Cleveland and gone to school in Ann Arbor before moving to Paris and London.
And my ultimate goal was to have a restaurant one day in a big European metropolis.
But there was something magical about the island; it was at the crossroads of history and myth, and somehow felt outside of time.
I pulled The History of Lyra from my bag and took up where I’d left off.
Not every chapter had been translated yet and I’d nearly reached the end of the part that had.
Once again, I was blown away by how good it was.
A reluctant smile curved my lips. “Of course, he would be an excellent writer. God, how obnoxious . . .”
I was so into the story that I didn’t notice a gust of wind had blown one of the folded notes away.
“Excuse me, is this yours?” a woman’s voice said behind me.
I turned and squinted into the sun to see her better.
A willowy, auburn-haired woman around my age.
I’d seen her before. Then it came back to me—one of Nikos’s women.
Or . . . was she? After what Yannis had just told me, I was beginning to think I had him all wrong.
She held the yellow notepaper in her hand, and I reached out to take it. “Yes, thank you.” I slid it back into the book. “You’re American.”
“And so are you!” She laughed and sat next to me. “And it looks like we’re reading the same book.” She held up a tattered copy of Nikos’s book. “I’m Diana, by the way.”
“Callie, nice to meet you.” I couldn’t help looking her over—not that I was jealous, just curious. “So are you heading to Lyra?”
“Yes, I’ve been doing some research on the island. I’m an archaeologist.” That explained the funky cargo pants with the extra-large pockets and the rucksack. And then it dawned on me . . .
“Oh, you’re the archaeologist . . . with the artifact ?” What were the odds that we’d run into each other today? The same day that I’d discovered that Nikos’s cup had been deemed a fake.
“Well, as it turns out, the fake artifact.” She worried her lip between her white teeth, and I recognized the disappointment on her face before she tried to cover up with a smile. I was feeling that way myself after my conversation with Gaz.
“I heard. Sorry,” I said, and I meant it. “Are you heading to Lyra to break the news to Nikos?”
“You know Nikos? Well, of course you must.” She nodded at the book. “I already talked to him this morning. He took it surprisingly well, better than me.” She rubbed anxiously at her bare arm. “I’m bringing the cup back to him.”
We were both silent for moment, then finally, I admitted, “I work with The Greystone Group.”
“Oh! Then you must be happy to get on with construction of your fancy resort.”
I supposed I should have been, but I was still sad about the cup. For Nikos’s grandfather anyway. After reading about it in the book and the story that was depicted on it, I wanted it to be true.
Diana and I chatted for the rest of the trip back to Lyra, and any initial jealousy I might have felt faded away.
She told me all about her doctoral research on Etruscan women and how she’d stumbled across The History of Lyra .
An earlier discovery had led her to develop the hypothesis that a group of women had somehow emigrated to the Aegean, possibly as traders or even pirates.
“It’s a wild theory. Female pirates.” She rubbed her temples. “Now, I’m afraid my research director thinks I’m a fraud.”
Like me, she was in a male-dominated profession, so I sympathized. As we docked in the harbor at Lyra, I asked, “Where will your research take you now?”
“I’ll be working on a site near Venice in the fall.”
“Oh, one of my best friends is at Aviano!” Levi had been stationed at the air base for almost two years, and I still had yet to visit him.
Her face clouded over. “Oh, yeah. I’m an Air Force brat. My dad was stationed there years ago.”
“Well, my friend Levi says it’s a fabulous region.
I’ll have to check it out sometime.” I pulled my phone out and jotted his info down.
“Here’s his number. I’m sure he’ll be cool with you calling him.
It’s always nice to know people in a strange land.
It can get lonely sometimes. Uh . . . are you okay? ”
Diana’s skin had gone white, and she looked like she was about to faint. “Yeah, I just . . . what’s your friend’s name?”
“Levi Jasinski. Don’t tell me you know him!”
She inhaled sharply and shook her head. “No.” She glanced at her phone. “I should call Nikos. We’re meeting here.”
“In that case, I’ll leave you to it.” I did not need to see him now. “Good luck with your future research.”
“Thanks. Good luck with your restaurant.”
As I hurried away from the harbor, I couldn’t help but feel like she hadn’t been completely honest with me. She did know Levi. The question was: How?