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Watching Thea and Damon together, the two of them so seemingly relaxed, made Lizzie edgy. She knew Thea well enough to know when Thea was being polite, rather than genuinely enthusiastic, and she suspected that was the case now, but she couldn’t be sure until Thea expressed an opinion.
All she wanted was for Thea to be happy, but was this the way? Lizzie wondered as Thea reached out a hand, as if needing her mother’s support. She crossed the room quickly to take hold of Thea’s hand, sensing a need for reassurance beneath Thea’s outwardly happy front.
Thea wasn’t satisfied with holding hands, and threw herself into a hug, as if she needed to feel the security of her mother wrapped around her. ‘Stay with me,’ she insisted in a fierce whisper. ‘You’re part of this too.’
Was she? Lizzie wondered. Or was three a crowd?
* * *
He saw the concern on Lizzie’s face and knew she was holding her feelings in, not wanting to influence Thea. They were both keen to keep this first meeting between the three of them as relaxed as possible.
How was it going so far?
Not so well, judging by Thea’s white face.
‘I’ll leave you both to take a look around the house on your own,’ he said. ‘Take your time.’
‘You’re leaving us?’ Thea said suspiciously.
There was an undercurrent behind those words that told him in no uncertain terms that it would take a lot more than one day to make up for eleven missing years.
‘I’ll take you back to the school when you’re ready,’ he reassured her. ‘You two need some time alone to get used to the idea of having me in your life.’
‘Do we have to?’ he heard Thea ask Lizzie as he walked away.
* * *
Well, that was an unrivalled success, Lizzie thought cynically as Damon drove them back. If anything, things were tenser now than they had been before.
‘Don’t forget the party tomorrow,’ Thea reminded Lizzie as Damon pulled up outside Thea’s school.
‘Party?’ Lizzie exclaimed, and then she remembered. There was so much going on she could barely keep up.
‘Tomorrow afternoon at the old gentleman’s house.’ Thea glanced at Damon. ‘My...grandfather?’ Thea frowned as she tested a word that could mean very little to her yet.
‘That’s right,’ Damon confirmed. ‘And my father can’t wait to meet you.’
Things were moving fast, Lizzie reflected. Too fast, maybe, and none of it was easy for Thea.
‘I’ll be there,’ she promised Thea.
She’d have to juggle her work schedule, as in spite of Iannis insisting she must take a holiday Lizzie had said that she’d help out with some of the last-minute preparations for the party.
Seeing Lizzie’s concern, Damon stepped in. ‘I spoke to Iannis on your behalf, so you can leave the restaurant early. I hope you don’t mind?’
Before she could answer Thea piped up tensely, ‘Are you going to organise everything in my mother’s life now?’
‘Thea!’ Lizzie exclaimed, though she had to concede that Thea had a point.
‘Thea’s right,’ Damon admitted, saving himself at the eleventh hour. ‘I should have consulted you first, and I apologise. It’s just that music is my father’s joy, and he’s very excited about tomorrow and the chance to meet you both.’
Thea wasn’t taking things nearly as well as Lizzie had hoped. She would need a lot of reassurance going forward. And time. They both needed more time to get their heads around this new order.
‘You don’t have to work while you’re here,’ Damon told Lizzie, meaning to be helpful, no doubt, but only succeeding in garnering more black looks from Thea.
Thea wasn’t shy in expressing her feelings on the subject. ‘My mother likes to work. She tells me so all the time.’
Lizzie didn’t comment on that, but she did voice her concerns. ‘If I don’t work, how can I support us both?’
Damon’s expression was his answer. He would provide for them. But that didn’t suit Lizzie.
Meanwhile Thea’s head was snapping from side to side, like a spectator at a tennis match, with an expression on her face that clearly said, See? I told you what parents were like—which was the last thing Lizzie had wanted.
When Thea had climbed out of the SUV outside the school, Lizzie took off her seat belt. ‘I’ll get out here too,’ she told Damon. ‘Thanks for the lift. I’ll catch the bus back to the restaurant.’
It would be a relief to leave the tension in the enclosed cabin of the SUV behind, but that was only a minor reason for her taking this decision. She wanted to reassure Thea, and that was more important than anything. She also wanted to tell Damon that this wouldn’t work if he insisted on acting without listening.
But her priority was Thea, whose sigh of relief when Damon drove away was almost as deep as Lizzie’s.
* * *
The party at the grand old mansion was in full swing by the time Lizzie and Thea arrived. Lizzie had managed to reassure Thea a little by this point, and they both found it impossible not to smile when they were welcomed to the Gavros family home with the warmest of greetings by the man they now knew was Thea’s grandfather.
The man her father had defrauded, Lizzie remembered, incredulous that anyone could have a heart big enough to put the past in the past and give them such a warm welcome.
The large, impressive house was not what Lizzie had expected either. Far from being a stuffy museum, it was a cluttered home, slightly shabby, with dogs running around and cats commanding all the best chairs.
‘Thea!’ Thea’s grandfather grasped her hands. ‘I’ve heard so much about you. Welcome to our home,’ he said, shaking Thea’s hand formally—to give him chance to study Thea’s face without being too obvious about it, Lizzie thought. ‘Your home too now,’ he advised Thea gently.
As Lizzie watched on she felt a pang as Damon’s father continued to look at Thea as if he were drinking in every last detail, thirsty for knowledge of his granddaughter. Lizzie’s fears that Thea would remain tense, maybe even a little surly, quickly disappeared. They had both been reassured by the old gentleman’s warmth and his genuine manner. Thea had completely relaxed, and was returning his smile.
‘I’m very pleased to be here,’ Thea said politely, studying her grandfather with matching interest.
‘Welcome home,’ he declared, turning to Lizzie.
‘Thank you.’
Lizzie was floored by the welcome. Damon’s father had so many reasons to hate everything about her family, and yet he was greeting them with such warmth. Her emotions surged, regret and wistfulness competing as she thought back to another time, when her mother had been alive and they had lived in a loving and slightly chaotic home just like this.
‘I hardly dare to shake your hand, young lady,’ Thea’s grandfather was confiding in Thea. ‘In case I damage it!’ he explained, which made them both laugh.
Infected by their joie de vivre, Lizzie relaxed enough to laugh too, while Thea insisted, ‘My hand’s made of tougher stuff than that.’
‘And is your mother made of the same tough stuff?’ Thea’s grandfather asked, turning his wise gaze on Lizzie.
‘My mother’s the best mother in the world—and the most beautiful!’
‘Thea—’ Lizzie protested. Her cheeks fired red. ‘We mustn’t hog all of Kirio Gavros’s time. He does have other guests.’
‘But none as important as you,’ Damon’s father assured Lizzie. ‘Your daughter speaks with passion. You’re a very lucky woman. Please,’ he added, gesturing towards an open door through which they could see the garden, ‘enjoy the sunshine and the music. There’s an ice cream cart, Thea—and it looks as if your friends are here to escort you,’ he exclaimed as a group from the youth orchestra crowded round.
‘You’re very
generous. Thank you,’ Lizzie said warmly, turning to go.
‘No. You are generous,’ Thea’s grandfather argued softly. ‘You didn’t need to come here. You didn’t need to allow Thea to come here. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart.’
Hearing the break in his voice, Lizzie turned. ‘Thank you for inviting us.’ It still didn’t seem enough after what her father had put him through, and impulsively she went back to kiss Damon’s father on both cheeks.
‘Don’t be a stranger, Lizzie,’ he whispered. ‘The past is the past. Remember that always, and never let the past hold you back.’
When she finally broke away she had tears in her eyes. ‘Thea—what do you say?’ she called out, needing a few moments to rein in her emotions.
‘Thank you!’ Thea called back to her grandfather with a happy wave, before her friends dragged her away.
