Petros, one of the southernmost Greek islands, was blessed with abundant sunshine and nearly year-round moderate weather for three hundred fifty days a year. Light rains, when they did arrive, usually came in sprinkles and light showers. They were enough to rinse the dust from the century-old buildings and to water the wild flowering vines and fragrant blossoms found everywhere on the island. The sporadic rains were enough to keep everything green, blooming, and growing.
But when the seasons changed further north, the cool trade winds would blow south and clash with the temperate southern weather. The result, for days on end, was the idyllic islands being blasted with heavy winds and torrential downpours. Most islanders just closed up shop and waited for the rains to stop. Sometimes the storms lasted for days, sometimes for a week, but sooner or later the sunshine returned and island life resumed.
The rainy season in the southern Aegean islands had begun.
Ravenna rushed to safety with Jack following close behind her, his arms full of items they had secured from the storage room. She pointed to a wooden chair in the bar. “Just stack it all there.”
The lights sputtered back on momentarily before flickering out again.
“You stay here,” she told him. “I’m going to start up the backup generator so we can at least take a shower and cook something to eat. I’m not sure how long it will stay on, but I’ll be right back. And Jack, light some of those candles and lanterns so we have some light to eat dinner by.”
“Sure. What else can I do?”
“Nothing for the time being. I’ll be back.” She rushed toward the storage room at the rear of the hotel.
Jack set out the candles and lanterns around the room and on some of the tables. The glow was almost surreal, the yellow light bouncing off the windows and reflecting down from the white ceilings. He went to put on some music but remembered the electricity was out. The lights surged on and the room recovered its normal lighting, but they continued to flicker off and on.
“Well, I don’t know how long we will have power because this generator is old and cantankerous,” Ravenna said once she returned, her hands covered in grease. “The generator could go off at any time, so if you are going to shower, I suggest you do it soon,” she told him.
“Okay, I’ll be back.”
“I’m going to grab a shower as well, then I’ll start cooking something before we lose power again. Meet you back here.”
Jack returned to his room for his clothes, and when the lights flickered off, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a flashlight to lead his way down the darkened hallway.
The pounding rain beat on the roof above him. Lightning flashed and bright lights reflected off the windows. The flash of light was soon followed by a tremendous clap of thunder. That was close. Puddles of water formed in the hallway as the water dribbled down inside the ancient walls. He hurried through his shower and headed quickly back to the bar.
The hallway lights dimmed, then on and off and on again. Jack and Ravenna arrived back at the front of the hotel at the same time.
“Hiya,” she said, her fiery red hair still wet from her shower. She had brushed her hair and put on some lipstick, but even without it she looked like a Hollywood princess in his eyes. Or maybe Jack was just happy to see her again. Jack, it’s only been a half hour. Get a grip. This is getting out of hand.
Jack noticed a bottle of French wine on the table along with two wine glasses. They were sitting beside a vase of red bougainvillea flowers. Two candles flanked the wine on the table.
“More wine?” he asked.
“We have nowhere else to go, not tonight, not in this weather,” she said with a twinkling grin. She handed him silverware. “Can you set the table while I see to dinner?”
“Sure.”
“Oh, and can you open the wine and let it breathe?”
“Absolutely!”
“The corkscrew is behind the bar.”
“Okay.” He opened the wine and a few minutes later Ravenna returned.
She poured the wine and said, “Salut, to old and dear friends.”
“Cheers,” Jack said.
They stood there looking at each other; an awkward silence filled the room between them. She knew she had to tell him. Sooner or later, she had to let him know.
Ravenna spoke first. “I want to thank you for what you did on the beach with Kraken. It was quite heroic. I go to that beach by myself all the time. He is a real creep, just hanging around looking for victims. That’s why I carry this.” She pulled out a small caliber berretta from her purse. “I carry this gun around just in case, but I would have never been able to get it from my purse on the beach.”
“You amaze me.” He shook his head. “I hope you’re careful with that.”
“I always am,” she said, putting the gun back into her purse. “But I have to ask, how did you know he was the one stalking the hotel?”
“I came across some cigarette butts after he was here and it was the same brand he smokes, Gauloises, French cigarettes. They taste and smell awful. An unforgettable odor.”
“It was scary, and that was very brave of you.” She rested a hand on his chest; their eyes met. “Let me check on dinner,” she said and pulled away. “I’ll be right back.” Ravenna returned with her arms full of plates of lamb, orzo, stewed tomatoes, and a Greek salad.
“Smells wonderful,” Jack said, as they sat down to eat. “And tastes even better,” he said after a couple of forkfuls. “This is great!”
“Well, the secret here on the island is that everything is grown fresh, farmed, or caught right here on the island. The tomatoes are from the other side of the island, trucked in fresh every day.”
As they ate, she told him about the origins of their meal, even though she had other things she wanted to tell him. “The goat cheese is from the goats we saw down by the beach. The olives and lemons from the thousands of trees you see here on the island. The lamb, some of the best in all of Greece, comes from right here in Thios. It takes fresh ingredients to make great food.”
“Well, this is delicious, I must admit.”
They talked for hours and Jack was captivated by her eyes, her smile, and everything about her. They both agreed the dinner and wine was superb and soon they began to reminisce about their childhood days.
“Remember the summer weekends when we went exploring in the caves, down by the river bluffs near Elsah? I still recall what fun that was,” she said, smiling.
“Yeah, and the time we went over the fence at that boys’ private school to go fishing in the lake and we were chased off by the security guards?”
“Yeah, I can still hear them yelling at us.” The lights dimmed once, then again, before going out completely and plunging the small hilltop hotel into darkness, despite the lit candles.
Jack set down his wine and lit new candles between them on the old wooden table. The candles flickered erratically, creating almost dreamlike shadows on the walls. He sat across from her, memorizing her every feature.
She looked more beautiful than ever in the soft glow of the candlelight.
“Jack, I am so glad you stumbled into our little paradise here. I still can’t get over all of this. You. Here! Amazing. My God, I can’t believe it.”
“Me, too,” he agreed. “To find you here, again, after all of these years. Wow, what are the chances of that happening?”
“I don’t know, I’m just glad I did.” She took another sip of wine from her oversized goblet.
“So, Sparky, let me ask you, if Trevor is not your husband, what is he?”
“He is my boss and the owner of this place.”
“Have you ever been married?”
“Yes,” she said with a smile, “for about eight months.”
“That sounds like it was a real long-term, committed relationship,” he joked.
She laughed. “When I was doing my residency I shared an apartment with three guys and four other female interns in London. We all needed a place just to crash between shifts, so it made sense to share a place. One of my roommates was from overseas, and they were going to deport him once his visa ran out. He was desperate not to go home. If he married an English or Irish citizen he could stay in the country legally.” She smiled, thinking back to that time.
“So off we marched to the courthouse, got married, and eight months later we had it annulled when his visa was renewed. So for eight months, I was Mrs. Ravenna Bashar. Go figure.”
“So what do I call you, Ms. Morgan, or Ms. Bashar?”
“Ravenna Morgan, of course, silly. It was a marriage of convenience, in name only.”
“And that’s the closest you ever came to settling down and getting married?” Strange, he felt almost happy that she had never gotten married. In a way Jack was sad for her, but in other ways he was happy that she was still unmarried.
“Yeah,” she said, with that lost smile of hers. “You know, Jack,” she said, holding her wine glass. “When I heard you were dead, even though I had not seen you in over twenty-odd years, a piece of me died. I can’t explain it.” Her eyes drooped; she was afraid she would betray her true feelings before she continued. “With you gone, I felt as if I had lost my anchor in life and was adrift at sea. I always dreamt of finding you again at some point in my life, but once I heard you were dead, I lost all hope. You know what I mean?”
“Yes, I know exactly what you mean.” He could not imagine it if she had died, even though they had not seen each other for over twenty years. What’s going on here? This does not make sense at all.
For a split second, Ravenna thought she saw something flash in his eyes, but she couldn’t be sure. Watch it! You are baring your soul to him. Careful. It must be the wine.
The wind howled outside, the rain pelted the windows. The storm raged on with no end in sight, toppling the chairs and tables and blowing them across the flooded patio.
“It’s going to be some storm,” she said, listening to the rain beating against the walls and doors. The rains usually started this time of year and would last anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
She looked away toward the window, but Jack could tell she was thinking of something other than the drenching rains.
I must tell him. “Jack, you began to appear in my dreams, reminding me of what we had once and the friendship we shared. You know, over the years I thought I saw you over and over again,” she said wistfully.
“Really?” He knew her well enough to know she had something on her mind. She will tell me in her own way.
“Yes, I would see you repeatedly. I thought I saw you at my parents’ funeral, sitting in the back of the church. Then again at my high school graduation, I was sure it was you standing in a dark suit and sunglasses. Once I thought I saw you in a museum. Then recently, I could have sworn it was you on a street corner.”
“Really? When was this?” he said with a slightly intrigued smile.
“About three years ago, before I came here to the island. This was right after I heard you had died. I saw you everywhere then, in hotels, in the theater, on buses, walking into restaurants, or passing me in a taxi. The last time it was on a street corner in Paris. I really thought it was you.”
“Where did you say?” he asked, heart stopping, his wine glass suspended in midair while he examined her closely.
“It was in Paris. I was attending an ARN conference before I accepted the job here on Petros. I walked past someone on a street corner as I was rushing to a conference workshop. I could have sworn it was you.”
The wind bellowed against the windows, forcing one nearby to open. It blew out the candles as it scattered everything across the room. The empty wine bottle shattered on the old stone floor, spewing glass everywhere.
Jack ran to close the window in the lobby to keep out the rain and wind. Ravenna checked the locks on the other windows to make sure they were secure. They both laughed, searching in the soft, golden glow of the lanterns for matches to relight the candles. Jack cut his hand when he picked up remnants of the broken wine bottle.
“Still a klutz, I see,” she remarked, wrapping a towel around his hand to stop the bleeding.
Ravenna gazed at Jack, her green eyes gleaming, as she picked up the last of the items strewn about the floor. She said wistfully, “This reminds me of the rainstorm the last time we saw each other in St. Louis, on New Year’s Eve.”
Jack studied her.
She stood and paused for a few moments, thinking, It is time to tell him. He needs to know and he needs to know now. I must tell him for both of our sakes.
Ravenna looked at him, swallowed hard, and said, “You know, I took my parents’ death very hard. They say time heals all wounds, but that is something I will never get over. It was the most traumatic event in my life. Not only were they my parents, they were my best friends. I lost my parents and you at the same time.” A look of sadness crossed her face. “I wrote letters to you and they were all returned to me unopened. I couldn’t reach you by phone. I missed you even though I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you again after that terrible night in my parents’ room, and…”
“Ravenna…”
“Jack, no, you don’t understand. I made a commitment to my mother; I promised I would not make love to anyone until I was married. But no, as soon as my parents left town for a couple of days, I selfishly took advantage of the time we had alone…” She was lost in her memories. “And I took you to their bed…” she said, her voice low, almost inaudible, staring at nothing at all. She stopped and bit her lip, thinking back to that night.
She looked at him, dropping the wet towels to the floor.
“I was supposed to call them at midnight that night to wish them a Happy New Year. But instead I was caught up in you. We were only concerned about ourselves, panting over each other like dogs in heat, and I forgot to call them.”
“Ravenna, it was nothing like that and you know it. It was a touching, tender, and sweet night for both of us. At least that’s how I have always remembered it.” He went to touch her and she pulled away from him.
“Jack, I have always thought that if I had called them that night at midnight, they might still be alive today.” Her voice rippled with emotion. “I felt guilty, like maybe I caused their death.”
“You can’t blame yourself for their death,” he said, feeling like a hypocrite as each word crossed his lips. How could he say that to her when he battled the same demons? His hidden guilt engulfed the room.
Her emotions were getting the better of her, although she had promised herself that she would not let that happen, not like this. Her eyes filled with tears, her lips quivered.
“Jack, I felt guilty as hell. I lost my parents that night, my family, everyone except for my step-brother. I hated myself for a very long time. And do you know how many years I spent hating you?” Her voice rose and cracked before it dropped off, and her hands began to tremble.
Finally, after all these years, she was admitting her true feelings. She turned away so he would not see her cry. What have I done? Jack is the only person in the world I have ever loved; now I just told him I hated him. I am going to lose him after finding him again after all these years.
“Me? What did I do to make you hate me?” he asked, feeling his heart break as each word she said sank in.
She turned but could not answer him; her mouth opened but her voice was silent. Stuttering, she said, “My parents… you… me.” It was all she could manage to say.
Jack stood there looking at her. The lights went on, then flickered off before coming back on again. He blinked in the newfound light.
She felt exposed and naked, standing there before him with her innermost feelings revealed. She could see his emotions coming to the surface, boiling, until he finally said, “You? You lost your parents? What about me?” Jack said in astonishment, stepping back. “I lost my wife and my only daughter, my entire family, my entire life! I thought I recognized you in Paris; I turned around to look at you and in one moment now frozen in time, burned in my mind, my life was over.”
He stopped. His throat felt tight, he was sure he could not go on, but he knew he had come this far, and soon the words came rushing out.
“In that one blink of an eye my life began to spiral out of control as my family was swept from my fingertips.” A tear trickled down his cheek. “That huge truck took everything from me, my hopes, my dreams, my future plans, my business, and my family. You think you have guilt? Well, you aren’t the only one… What if I hadn’t turned around to see if that was you that day?”
“Oh my God, Jack, I didn’t know. I am so sorry,” she said in horror. The tears flowed down both of their cheeks. “Your wife? Your daughter? I don’t know what to say. I can only imagine what you must have been through. The guilt you must have felt and the pain of losing both of them. Oh, Jack…” She wanted to hold him, console him, to take the pain away.
This conversation had to stop, but they were in too deep to leave it unresolved. She tried to speak further, but the words just wouldn’t come.
Jack took a deep breath, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. “I still see them in my nightmares. I hear my daughter screaming for me as she is swept away by the truck.”
The sound of Ravenna’s quiet sobs made him look up. Her shoulders shook and the past melted away. The visions of his family and what could have been, visions that had driven his guilt for so long, began to drift away, from the moment he saw how troubled she was, standing there before him. He moved forward to comfort her, and this time she did not recoil.
“Jack…” Ravenna began, but she was stopped by his hands running through her hair as he held her tight to his chest.
“I’m sorry, Ravenna. I have been carrying this guilt around inside of me for so long, it just exploded and I couldn’t stop. I haven’t ever shared these feelings with anyone.”
His face softened and his demeanor calmed as he held her. “I see now you are the only one who could truly understand. I knew it was you in Paris, somehow I knew,” he said. “You have been in my thoughts for all these years. I tried to deny it, tried to push the memories away, but I couldn’t cleanse you from my mind. Your image was always there with me, just below the surface, no matter how hard I tried to purge you from me. I could not rid myself of you. I was always faithful to Gabi, but you lingered in my thoughts, enticing me with your memory. Strange as it may seem, memories from so long ago.”
Jack stopped and pushed her an arm’s length away. He looked at her, standing before him, and wiped away her tears. He was not angry with her; he could never be angry with her. He was angry with himself, trying to deny the feelings he had always had for her. It was no use; his feelings for her were still there, now stronger than ever. There was no refuting it. He’d done the unthinkable—he made her weep with his cleansing rush of pain-filled words. He could see the hurt he caused her and he could not take back what he’d uttered. It was his pain, not hers. He pulled her closer.
For a brief moment she thought he was about to kiss her. She gazed into his eyes, taking a deep breath, and she started to say something but was stopped when he looked at her and said, “I’m so sorry Ravenna. It’s late… I better go now. Good night.”
He kissed her on the forehead and walked away from her, heading for his room.
Ravenna stood there, still feeling the warmth of his embrace, strangely calm and suddenly at peace with the words they had exchanged. For some unknown reason she felt clean, free from the thoughts that had imprisoned her for years. Her guilt was gone, and now she understood.
All of this because of me. But it was not my fault, I was just there visiting in the city, like him and his family. In a way I have caused the deaths of his family and all of the pain he has felt for years. Oh, my God, the pain he must have felt! I knew it was him in Paris, I just knew it. But it was the truck driver, not her, who was truly responsible for all of this misery. She had to talk to him and share her feelings.
The air was tranquil inside the small Greek island hotel. The storm outside raged on, but the intense tempest inside between the two old friends was spent and suddenly dissipated. The pent-up emotions they shared, which had remained hidden, locked away all for all these years, had now seen the light of day. Their healing process could begin.
Jack Branigan looked down at his hands as he sat on the bed in his room. He could feel Ravenna’s presence there. Smell her perfume in the air, tempting him.
His thoughts were jumbled. He regretted the words spoken in anger, but it was too late, he couldn’t take them back. He realized it was not her fault what happened in Paris. His fury was spent and a strange calm overcame him.
In his mind, over the years, he’d searched for her, and now he had finally found her after all these years. Here, in romantic Greece, of all places. The two of them were alone in this picturesque hotel overlooking the beautiful Aegean Sea, and he’d made her cry.
Thinking back to days ago, he remembered her, at poolside, naked, standing there looking at him. She was not only smart, but beautiful, and he found himself excited by this tall, shapely woman, with her long red hair draped over her shoulders, and her alluring green eyes. If only…
His thoughts of her were interrupted by a sound at the door. There was a soft knock.
“Jack? It’s me. May I come in? Please. I don’t want you to be upset, Jack.”
When he opened the door, she stood there as beautiful as ever, framed in what little light there was, innocent, with a healing look in her eyes.
“Come in,” he told her.
“Let me look at your hand. It’s bleeding. I’ll bandage it for you.”
They went to the table and chairs by the side of the room. His eyes never left her.
Ravenna did not say another word. She slowly unwrapped the towel from his hand, then washed it in the metal basin. She laid his hand in her lap between her legs. He could feel his emotions for her rising.
She applied a stinging antiseptic liquid to the open wound. He pulled away instinctively, but continued to look at her. She did not return his gaze, but gently returned his hand to her lap.
His hand brushed her against her thigh, ever so slightly. She appeared not to notice, but her breathing quickened. She took a deep breath. How can I be so near you and not be moved? How can I be this close to you and not touch you the way I want to touch you?
When she was finished bandaging his hand, she pulled his hand close to her, pressing it against her breasts, then she gently kissed his fingers, then drew his hand to her face. It was only then that she looked up. She did not want her eyes to betray her emotions. But it was too late. She had been found out. Their gazes met, and the soul of her eyes said everything that needed to be said.
He understood at once, he knew her so well. People never change. They stood, and he pulled her close. They danced to silent music, their bodies swaying softy to the rhythm inside their souls. He pulled her closer and their lips came together. Lips, so long denied, pressed together from desire held back for ages and now released.
That kiss, lasting for what seemed like hours, was sweet; so sweet it made her legs quiver, shooting moist heat through her body. Again and again they kissed, exploring each other’s bodies with their hands and lips. The electricity surged through their bodies. What had they been missing during these years of separation they would make up for now.
“I have missed you more than you could ever imagine,” she said to him, breathless, as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his waiting bed, her arms draped over his strong shoulders.
“Wait,” she said, as she opened the bedside table, searching, pushing aside the King James Bible until she found what she wanted. “Okay.” She kissed him. “Jack, when you touch me like this, I feel I have waited what seems like centuries… When you hold me close… It all comes rushing back to me, just as I have imagined all of these years. Hold me tight, tighter.”
They kissed the kiss of long lost love. Words were no longer needed as they undressed, one faster than the other, in wild expectation of what was to come. Naked, they knelt on the bed, facing each other, their desire raging like the storm.
He kissed her lips, her nose, her cheeks, her hair, and every part of her body, as she lay back onto the bed to welcome him home. She had missed him more than words could ever say. She trembled in anticipation.
The rain pelted the windows and doors with the rhythm of the rain: hard, fast, then slow, steady, over and over again. The storm peaked with gusts of heat and passion as those inside had only imagined in their dreams. They paid no attention to the world beyond these walls. Their universe was the new life inside their small room that night.
They were lost to each other and time stood still. Life was good again…good again for both of them. But it was only a matter of time, and time was running out. Friday was not far away, and the ferryboat would return soon. Too soon.