On the small island, the weeks grew at a slow pace to become months. Try as she might, Ravenna’s doubts haunted her. She ached for Jack’s return. She had still not heard from him.
What if he had found someone else? What if all of this was a ruse? What if he was never planning on coming back? What could she do? She ached at night, looking at the stars above her hilltop home.
To clear her mind she went shopping in town and stopped to see her friend Risa.
“Ravenna, how wonderful it is to see you. Have you heard anything more from Jack?”
With her response on her lips, she trembled, then burst into tears. “No, I have not, but I know he will come back. I am sure of it… but then the doubts creep into my thoughts. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him or heard from him, I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you love him?”
“More than anything.”
“Then he will come back, see, I am a true romantic. You are destined to be together. What you need is a break. I got it! Why don’t you join Aris and me on a picnic tomorrow to the island of Ethos? It will do you good.”
“I don’t know, I have so much to do, what with the hotel opening and all, and besides, I don’t want to intrude on the two of you. But thanks anyway.”
Risa would not take no for an answer. “Your life will only get busier, and I think a day off is exactly what you need. How about it?”
“Are you sure Aris won’t mind?”
“Not at all,” she fibbed .
“Okay, then, count me in.”
“Meet us tomorrow at nine o’clock at the pier. Aris borrowed a twenty-foot sailboat from a friend of his. It will be a great day.”
“Thank you, I can’t wait,” said Ravenna, walking away, humming.
Now all Risa had to do was break the news to Aris that their quiet day at the beach would be three people instead of two. He would understand, she was sure of it. He was good that way. Tomorrow would be a good day.
As Ravenna walked back to the hotel a sense of eerie calm enveloped her. Maybe Jack wasn’t coming back after all. What if he did not want her?
• • • • •
“I’m sorry, sir, the municipal airport on Petros will not allow a military plane to land on their island.” Buck had finally come through and got him released from jail, and it took hours to navigate all the mountains of paperwork he had to sign with the police. The snafu took weeks to straighten out, as he was interviewed and re-interviewed by the police, the prosecutors, and CIS.
“Murder is serious business here in Australia,” he heard them say over and over again while in detention. The room was small, more like a small hotel room than a prison, at least. Even still, he felt the walls closing in on him with each passing day.
In the process they had misplaced his passport, wallet, and cell phone. It wasn’t until they finally checked with the U.S. Embassy and the Pentagon that things started to happen. Once Jack was released from custody, the general arranged a direct, private military flight to Greece. Now this.
“Mr. Branigan, I’m sorry, sir, the municipal airport on Petros will not allow a military plane to land on their island,” the Army pilot repeated. “I can take you to Athens, sir, and I am sure you can catch a commercial flight from there back to your island, sir. I’m sorry, sir, but there is nothing I can do.”
It wasn’t his fault, Jack thought, the pilot was just citing facts. Jack’s heart sank as he calculated the added travel time to his journey before he would see Ravenna again. He would deal with it on the ground at the airport. He had to get back to Petros. He had to see her. It had been too long now.
Inside Athens International Airport, Jack raced to secure a ticket for his last journey home, his flight to Petros.
“I’m sorry, sir, the next flight to Petros is tommorow,” said the black-haired older woman in the airline’s blue-and-white uniform.
“There is no way to get me to Petros? Please, I must get there as soon as possible!”
“Well, sir, there is a ferryboat leaving for the island in two hours and it can have you there this afternoon.”
“A ferry?” Not again. But it is better than waiting two days for the next flight.
“Yes, sir,” said the woman, flirting with Jack as she smiled a too-friendly smile. He was immune to her charms. “The ferry is the only way to get there today, Mr. Branigan.”
“Can you book me a ticket on the next ferry, please?”
Taking a deep breath, he fumbled with the paper ticket she handed him and responded, “Thank you.”
Within an hour, Jack Branigan was on his way back to the island of Petros. He was on his way back to Ravenna.