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My eyebrows rose in surprise. Amber didn’t trust, or forgive, easily. “You think I should give him a shot?”
She rolled her lips together, then turned to face me again. “Maybe. Maybe you should consider it.”
The sadness in Amber’s eyes brought tears to my own. “Honestly,” I whispered. “If you and Angus can’t make it, what hope is there for any of us?”
She dropped her eyes to look at the ground. “Don’t count us out just yet, Ruby.”
I felt my eyebrows go up again and wondered at this point if I shouldn’t just have them pinned up there permanently. “Are you getting back together?”
She smiled faintly and bumped me lightly with her shoulder. “I guess that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
Yiayia called us inside for dinner. Amber and I carried the casserole dishes of moussaka, roast beef, lemon potatoes, and beans to the table, while Yiayia brought in the huge bowl of Greek salad. I don’t know how many times I told her the boys wouldn’t eat the salad, but she still made enough to feed an army.
Yiayia made the sign of the cross over her chest, the rest of us followed suit, and she immediately began hounding the boys.
“You got your homework done, levendis mou?” Yiayia asked Alex.
Alex grinned at her. “Of course, Yiayia!”
Yiayia narrowed her eyes at him. “You are too charming.” She turned to Amber. “He did it?”
“Don’t worry, Yiayia,” Amber replied, closing her eyes around a bite of lemon potato. “Mm, I love these.”
“Ah, bravo!” Yiayia praised her for eating.
Alex grinned at Jace, and the corner of Jace’s mouth quirked up.
Yiayia turned back to Alex. “Tell me what you have done for homework today.”
Jace lifted his plate towards Yiayia. “Yiayia, would you put me a little salad?”
“Of course!” She exclaimed happily. She side-eyed me smugly and piled his plate with Greek salad. I caught Amber’s eye across the table and saw humor reflected in their whiskey-colored depths.
The boys talked about the Adventure Club, which Yiayia championed. Amber mentioned her hope to book a short vacation getaway, and we discussed Spuds’ prospects of becoming a franchise. Amber and I watched the boys dodge Yiayia’s questions about school, homework, and girls, with compliments about the food, or requests for more.
They had to be bursting.
Finally, Amber took pity on them. “You boys can be excused.”
They pushed back from the table in unison, and kissed Yiayia on her cheek as they passed to head up to Jace’s room.
“They ate well today,” Yiayia commented. “I’ll ask about homework more often.”
Amber and I laughed at the satisfied look on Yiayia’s face.
She turned to me and demanded, “Tell me about your date with Vander.”
Amber lifted her plate. “More moussaka?”
Yiayia looked at Amber incredulously. “Is not going to work for you!”
I chortled, Amber laughed and Yiayia snorted.
We had love. We had fun. We had companionship. At that moment, all I saw were two empty chairs where Gus and Vander should have been.
Vander
I pushed her too hard.
