Stay With Me

  She pulled back and looked into my eyes. “My parents set aside an account that was strictly for my wedding. I used that money for college but my father’s investors are good at what they do and it’s made some money.”

  With a smile, I pushed a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. “Then you plan the wedding of your dreams, baby. And if we need more money I’ve got money set aside.”

  She scrunched her nose up and said, “There’s a hundred and twenty thousand dollars in the account so I think we’ll be fine.”

  All I could do was stare at her. “Jesus, Kilyn. What in the hell kind of wedding book did you make when you were little?”

  Laughing, she playfully hit me on the chest. “My parents both came from poverty. When they met in college, they made a vow that they would never know what it felt like to be hungry again, and they made the same vow when I was born. That’s why my father became a doctor and my mother a lawyer. They worked hard for their money and made smart choices.”

  An idea popped into my head and I made a mental note to talk to Kilyn about it later. Now wasn’t the time.

  “They sound like they were amazing people.”

  With a sad smile, she replied, “They were.”

  Pulling her in, I hugged her. “Let’s head home.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  On the drive back to Manitou Springs, Kilyn and I came up with a date for the wedding. June 7. It was her mother’s birthday. It only left us with a few months to plan the wedding, but I assured her we could do it.

  When I pulled into my parking spot, we both let out a sigh of relief.

  “As much as I loved Dallas, it was such a whirlwind. I’m so glad to be home!”

  Grabbing our bags from the back seat, I nodded in agreement. “Me too.”

  Kilyn skipped up to me and flashed me a huge smile. “Can we ask Claire and Blake out to dinner to tell them?”

  Her happiness was practically dripping from her smile. “Of course!”

  She let out a squeal of delight and pulled out her phone.

  “Claire!” she shouted as we walked up to our apartment.

  “Are you and Blake free for dinner tonight? Yes! The little surprise getaway was amazing and that’s what I want to talk to you about.”

  Her smile faded. “What? How do you know?”

  Turning to look at her, I pushed the key into the front door and unlocked it. I couldn’t help but notice the look of confusion on Kilyn’s face.

  I pushed the door open and my heart fell.

  Oh, holy fuck.

  “Athanasios!”

  My eyes scanned over my entire family standing in my apartment.

  “Claire, I can’t talk to you right now. I’ll have to call you back.”

  Kilyn hit End as we both stood there in shock.

  Rushing over to Kilyn was a group of women led by my mother. When they stopped right in front of her, my mother reached for Kilyn’s hand. She gasped and then held it up as everyone yelled out, “Opa!”

  Closing my eyes, I silently cursed myself for ever trusting my father to keep a secret.

  I STOOD FROZEN as about forty people from Thano’s family stood around me yelling out, “Opa!”

  Peeking over to Thano, he had his eyes closed before he opened them and began searching the room. I was sure he was looking for his father.

  “Oh, we need to start planning the wedding!” Aunt Maria exclaimed.

  “Dress shopping is first! I have the perfect dress shop,” Sophia added.

  Katerina held up her hands. “Now, stop this. We are jumping ahead of ourselves.” Taking my hand in hers, she pulled me to the middle of the family. “We need to get our Kilyn baptized in the church first!”

  Oh. Shit.

  I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for facing this right now.

  Lifting up on my toes, I searched for Thano.

  “We need to have an engagement party. Just for the family.”

  My heart was pounding.

  Katerina started to point to people. “Maria, you are in charge of the invitations.”

  “For what?” I quickly asked.

  Katerina looked at me like I had grown two heads. “The engagement party! Oh, we’ll have to start planning the meals now.”

  Conversations started exploding all around me. From decorations, to a band, to who was going to make the baklava.

  The word alone made me want to gag. My hand went to my stomach just thinking about the baklava.

  Ugh.

  I frantically searched for Thano as I tried to make my way through the crowd. When Thano’s cousin Sophia picked up my hand, she gasped. “It’s beautiful. Oh, and look at your cheeks. It’s so cute! They’re flushed.”

  I wonder why?

  “You look so beautiful.”

  And then it happened. Women started coming up to me . . . and spitting on me. Or making the sound of spitting. Little did they know they sucked at pretend spitting.

  Pft. Pft. Pft.

  Each time they did it, my face jerked back as if I was being mortally wounded.

  “Thano!” I called out.

  Phoebe came up and pulled my ring up to examine it. “Oh, it’s gorgeous!”

  Pft. Pft. Pft.

  I was going to need a bath.

  Jumping up, I desperately tried to find him.

  “Thano!”

  “Kilyn, I’d love for you to try on my wedding dress.”

  Everything in the room stopped. Including my breathing. Slowly I turned to face Katerina and swallowed hard. “Wh-what?”

  Her smile grew bigger. “My wedding dress! I bet all it needs is a few tweaks.”

  My eyes grew in horror.

  “THANO!” I screamed.

  My body relaxed the moment I felt his hand on my back. “Yep, I’m on it.”

  Glancing up at him, I noticed the distraught look on his face.

  “They ambushed us!” he said as he guided me to the bedroom.

  “How did they know?”

  With a scowl, Thano hissed. “My father!”

  When we finally made it to the bedroom, Thano pushed me and locked the door behind him.

  Placing his hands on his knees, he dragged in a few breaths. “I’ve never . . . never seen them this insane.”

  I stood there staring at him as I tried to get my heart rate under control. I couldn’t help it. I started laughing as I covered my mouth.

  Thano glanced up and gave me an incredulous look. “What in the world do you find funny about any of this?”

  Dropping my hands, I laughed harder, causing Thano to start laughing. Soon we were both laughing so hard, we had tears rolling down our cheeks.

  The knock at the door quickly snapped us both out of our moment of weakness.

  Thano looked at me with a panicked expression. “We need an escape plan.”

  “No, you need to change your damn locks!” I said.

  He nodded. “That too.”

  Pulling out my phone from my back pocket, I hit Claire’s number.

  “We need you.”

  “Oh, this sounds like fun. I’m not sure Blake would be into that kind of thing, but I’ll ask.”

  I jerked the phone away from my ear and looked at it. “What the hell?”

  “Kilyn! I’m kidding!”

  Rolling my eyes, I made arrangements for us to meet them for dinner.

  “How are you going to get away from the family?”

  “We’ll figure it out,” I said as I watched Thano go to the window. “It might not be a very good plan, but we’ll figure it out. Got to go. See ya in a few.”

  Hitting End, I pushed my phone into my back pocket and gawked at him. “You cannot be serious.”

  With a frown, he shrugged.

  The knock on the bedroom door had both of us stopping and glaring at it.

  It was Katerina. “Athanasios? Kilyn? Now is not the time for celebrating!”

  I spun around and pushed Thano toward the window. “Go! Go! Go!”

/>   JUNE—THE BAHAMAS

  Standing in front of the mirror, I fought to hold my tears back. If I ruined my makeup Aunt Maria would have a fit.

  Claire and her mother, Kim, stood behind me with a huge grin across their faces. “Oh my. Kilyn, you look beautiful,” Kim gushed.

  Claire and I froze as we looked around the room.

  No one heard her. Thank God.

  “I can’t believe this day is finally here,” I said in trembling voice. “Did the flowers finally arrive for the tables?”

  The wedding and reception were being held at my parents’ house on the beach. Well, I guess it was actually my house. When Thano and I arrived four days ago, I thought it would be hard to walk into the house knowing my parents wouldn’t be here for my wedding. It was the opposite. My heart was filled with so much joy. Especially walking around and showing Thano family pictures. We had yet to go to the house I grew up in back in Colorado. I wasn’t ready yet. But being here . . . this was a step in the right direction.

  “Everything looks amazing.”

  Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled at Claire. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I hope you know that.”

  With a smile and a quick nod of her head, she took my hands. “There were a few moments I didn’t think we would make it.” She leaned in closer. “Like the day you told Katerina you were not wearing her dress.”

  We both trembled at the memory. I had to hand it to Thano’s mother, though; she handled each letdown with grace and poise. Of course, that was after she spat something off to me in Greek.

  Turning back, I looked at my wedding dress. It fit me like a glove, hugging my curves until it flared out at the bottom just enough to make walking easy. Thano was going to die when he saw me in this.

  My hands ran down my body as thought about what I had under the dress.

  “You’re blushing,” Claire whispered as she reached over my head and placed the diamond necklace that my mother wore on her wedding day around my neck.

  My shaking hand came up to it and lightly touched it. My voice faltered as I said, “It’s beautiful.”

  Kim opened up the wedding book I had made all those years ago with my mother and put a check in the box that read, Mom’s diamond necklace.

  With a chortle, Kim walked up and showed me the book. “The only thing left to check is, Marry the man of my dreams.

  When she handed me my bouquet, I covered my mouth to keep from crying. I’d have given anything to have my parents here, but I knew deep down inside they were with me. God, how they would have loved Thano.

  Taking the flowers in one hand, I dropped my other hand to my side. “I’ll check that one myself after the wedding.”

  With a wink, she shut the book and set it on the table.

  “Your mother and father would have loved Thano. You can see how much he loves you when he looks at you.”

  Blinking rapidly, I tried to keep my hands from shaking.

  Kim reached up and placed her hand lovingly on the side of my face. “They would have been so proud of you. I hope you know that.”

  With a weak voice, I replied, “I do.”

  “You’re so blessed to have a new family who loves and cares about you my darling.”

  Looking into Kim’s eyes, I smiled. “I am. But I’m more blessed having you and Scott in my life. I’ll never forget what you’ve both done for me and the hurt you’ve had to go through.”

  Her hand lifted as her fingers wrapped around a loose curl framing my face. “I’m so happy you found happiness.”

  Pressing my lips together, I barely was able to speak. “Me too.”

  She leaned over and softly kissed my cheek. “I’m going to go check on everything. The wedding will be starting soon.”

  With a nod, I took in a deep breath as I watched her walk away. It was then my eyes caught Katerina’s. She slowly walked up to me, reaching her hand out for mine as she squeezed it.

  “You make him so happy.”

  Swallowing hard, I replied, “He makes me so happy.”

  She nodded. “Do you know what I admire the most about you, Kilyn?”

  I shook my head.

  With a crooked smile, she answered. “Your strength. I know the family can be a bit overwhelming at times.”

  With a chuckle, I replied, “At times.”

  “But you never let it scare you off. And most of all, you followed your own dreams.”

  Looking down for a quick moment, I peered back into her eyes. “You’re not upset with me that I didn’t want to marry in the church?”

  “At first, I was upset. I will not lie. But times are different, and I’ve been stubborn in letting go of some of the traditions in the family. But in the end, I only want my son’s happiness.”

  Reaching up, I quickly wiped a tear away.

  She shook her finger. “Dab! Don’t wipe.”

  Laughing, I nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

  Next to walk up was Thano’s Yiayia. Placing her hands on my stomach, she said something in Greek that caused every other Greek in the room to start cheering.

  “Opa!”

  I swallowed hard and looked at Claire. She leaned in and said, “Rather that than them spitting on you.”

  “What did she say?” I asked Katerina.

  With a wink, she took my hand in her hand. “She wishes you to have a baby before she dies.”

  “Oh,” was all I could manage to say as I looked at her and forced a smile.

  The door opened and Sara the wedding planner stepped inside. There were so many conversations going on, I had given up long ago trying to listen to them all. Katerina’s sister and a few of the cousins along with Yiayia had been in my dressing room all morning. One of the Marias did my hair while Sophia, did my makeup along with Claire’s.

  “All right. It’s time to clear out the room and get seated ladies.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d already told Sara I was going to need a few moments by myself before the ceremony. I loved Thano’s family, but I still needed to get used to them.

  Claire walked up to me and smiled. She looked beautiful in her champagne colored dress. The strapless sweetheart bodice made her already tiny waist look smaller, while the tiered ruffle gown added the perfect amount of fun for a beach wedding.

  “Are you okay?”

  With a quick nod, I said, “Yep.”

  Narrowing her left eye at me, she tilted her head. “Are you okay?”

  My chin trembled. “I’ve never been so happy in my life, Claire. I’m so afraid I’m about to wake up and it’s all going to be a dream. Do I deserve to be this happy?”

  “Oh, Kilyn, sweetie. I promise you this is not a dream, and yes, you more than anyone deserves it.”

  I closed my eyes and counted to twenty as I took in a deep breath. “God, I hope no one spits on me as I walk down the aisle.”

  Opening my eyes, we both busted out laughing.

  The light knock on the door drew my attention to it. Scott, Claire’s father, poked his head in. “Hey. I was instructed to get you out Claire.”

  She glanced back at me and pouted. “See ya soon, babe.”

  I nodded and let go of her hand.

  Scott held the door open for Claire and then shut it behind them.

  Setting the bouquet down, I slowly walked around the room.

  “I’m getting married,” I whispered out loud.

  Walking up to the window, I peered out. I could see all the white chairs set up on the beach. The long red carpet led almost to the water’s edge as I followed it with my eyes.

  My breath caught when I saw him.

  Thano.

  I covered my mouth as a sob escaped from my lips. He was dressed in a black tux standing next to his best friend Gus. My eyes drifted down and I giggled when I saw he didn’t have any shoes on.

  He was standing there in his bare feet and it had to have been the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

  Then his eyes locked on mine as my stomach dipped a
nd my chest fluttered. He smiled and I returned the gesture.

  I wasn’t sure if he knew I was in this room or he felt me looking. Either way, I was lost in those eyes. Lost in his love for me.

  Lifting my hand, I placed it on the window. I’m marrying this man. My very own Greek god.

  The light knock on the door had me dropping my hand and stepping away from the window.

  “Hey, darling. Are you ready?”

  Placing my hands over my stomach, I giggled. “I’m so nervous.”

  Scott walked up to me and placed his hands on my arms. “I remember the day I married Kim.”

  Smiling, I asked, “Were you nervous?”

  He pulled his head back and chuckled. “Nervous? No. I was scared to death.”

  I instantly felt my body relaxing.

  “Then I saw her walking down the aisle and it was like pouf! I was no longer scared. I didn’t need to know if we were going to be okay. All I needed was that beautiful smile walking toward me. When she finally made it to me all my worries and fears were replaced with pure happiness. That’s the only way I can describe it.”

  With a wide grin, I looked down as I thought of my parents. Looking back up at Scott, I cleared my throat. “Thank you, for everything you’ve ever done for me. Everything. And thank you for standing in for my father today. As much as I’d love to have him here, I love that you’re the one walking me down the aisle.”

  A tear slipped from his eyes as he quickly wiped it away. “I love you like you’re my own daughter. I hope you know that.”

  Nodding, I whispered, “I do, and I love you.”

  “Now, come on before you have us both crying and you get me in trouble with Sara.”

  With a giggle, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Scott took my flowers and handed them to me.

  “Ready?”

  Dragging in a deep breath, I replied, “Ready!”

  WHEN SHE STEPPED away from the window my chest squeezed.

  Taking in a deep breath, I turned out and looked out over the ocean. The last time I stood in this spot it ended in a way I’d probably never forget. Frowning, I thought about how I didn’t feel the least bit guilty.

  With Kilyn everything was so different. It felt different. I felt different. I wasn’t nervous. I wasn’t worried.