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“I’d love to, but I need to stay near my mom right now.”
“We understand. Let us know and we’ll fly you out.” Justin gave her a hug.
“Thanks,” Colleen said, patting him on the back.
Colleen embraced her friend. Lucy whispered in Colleen’s ear, “Anything you need, just let us know.”
“Okay.” Colleen wiped her eyes. “I feel like I’m going to cry forever, and my face will be all blotchy and swollen.” She gave them one last hug. “Go. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I love you,” Lucy said through tears.
“I know you do. I love you, too. And so does your husband. So, leave now before I start crying all over again.”
She watched as Justin wrapped his arm around Lucy, maneuvering her around the guests as they walked back to the house.
Colleen knew she should probably go back inside and see if her mom needed anything. Her aunts and cousins had volunteered to take care of the food and clean-up. But just the same, there was a tug of responsibility that had guided Colleen most of her life. She looked up into the night sky. Too much ambient light made it difficult to see many stars this close to Los Angeles. With a sigh, she headed toward the house, wondering what the night sky looked like on Santorini.
CHAPTER 5
COLLEEN
Stepping inside the kitchen, Colleen was bombarded with loud voices and laughter. Almost hidden in the corner, her mother wrapped up leftovers while everyone else snacked and drank. Colleen wasn’t in any mood to join them, so the best thing to do was to keep busy.
“Here, let me do that.” Colleen took an aluminum tray of scalloped potatoes out of her mother’s hands and placed it on the kitchen counter.
“No,” her mother answered firmly, wiping away a few tears. “I need something to do. If I don’t, I’ll have to find a corner and scream.”
Colleen took her mother’s hands in hers. “I feel the same way. Do you want me to ask them to leave?”
“We can try, but I don’t think anyone would even hear you.” Her mouth twitched into a smile and then they both burst into laughter and then tears.
Colleen fell into her mom’s arms, crying onto her shoulder. She wanted to be held like a small child and be told her mom could make all the pain go away.
“Shh, sweetheart,” she said into her ear. “He loved you so much.”
Colleen pulled away and used the heels of her hands to dry her tears.
“Here.” Her mom grabbed a paper towel sheet off the roll. “It’s not a Kleenex but it’ll do.”
Colleen rubbed the rough paper over her eyes and blew her nose, taking a few deep breaths to pull herself together.
“Where’s Brian?” her mom asked, tearing off a sheet of aluminum foil. Her tone was casual, but Colleen could detect the underlying disapproval.
“He had to go to a business dinner,” Colleen answered, avoiding her mom’s scrutiny.
“Hehadto go to a business dinner?”
Colleen gave a slight shrug of her shoulder. It had become her go-to response when she didn’t want to talk about Brian.
“Are you seeing him later?”
“I’m staying here tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Colleen took the aluminum foil box out of her mother’s hands. “I know I don’t. But I’d rather be with my mom.”
Someone cleared his throat, pulling their attention to the doorway
