Athenian Wish (Lovers in Paradise Series, Book 4)

Athenian Wish

Lovers in Paradise Series

Book Four

by

Gael Morrison

Published by ePublishing Works!

www.epublishingworks.com

ISBN: 978-1-61417-674-9

By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without the express written permission of copyright owner.

Please Note

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

The reverse engineering, uploading, and/or distributing of this eBook via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

Copyright © 2014 by Author. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

Cover and eBook design by eBook Prep www.ebookprep.com

.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for purchasing Athenian Wish by Gael Morrison. We hope you enjoy the story and will leave a review at the eRetailer where you purchased the book.

If you enjoy getting free and discounted ebooks, we announce our book sales and new arrivals through eBook Discovery. You can get eBook Discovery's latest announcements and alerts to limited-time free and discounted ebook deals by signing up here.

Happy Reading,

ePublishing Works!

Chapter 1

Sofia Payson stared at the envelope in her hand then ran a finger over the postmark.

Greece was what it said. Athens, Greece.

She didn't know a soul living in Greece. The country was about as far from Vancouver, Canada as you could get.

Her friend Patty was in Europe though and had mentioned Greece as one of her destinations. In fact she had bragged she'd be visiting ten countries in just three weeks. Sofia turned the envelope over. There was no return address, although on a whirlwind vacation Patty would have no expectation of getting return mail.

But where would Patty get stationary such as this; heavy weight, soft, and as blue as the Aegean Sea?

Sofia suddenly became aware that she was holding her breath for her lungs all at once were crying out for air. Heart pounding, she breathed in.

One breath. Two. Gradually the panic causing her chest to heave lessened. The letter she held couldn't be from her grandparents. If they were still alive they'd have written years ago, before their only daughter, her mother, had died.

Frowning, Sofia laid the envelope down on her desk unopened. No matter who had sent the letter it would have to wait. She had work to do. The negatives of Mary Tyler's wedding photos lay in rows across the back lit screen before her. She'd spent the last two hours examining them all thoroughly. Now it was time to make some choices.

The pictures were wonderful. The bride, of course, looked beautiful, but it was the photo of Mary's grandmother that was particularly good. She would blow that one up and present it to the old lady, might even ask if she could use it in the portfolio she was building.

A current of cool air suddenly gusted around her shoulders. Sofia! a voice called, echoing down the hall and into the living room where Sofia was sitting. Are you home?

In here, Darcy, Sofia called back. Shivering, she added, Make sure you shut the door tight. It had a tendency to stick when the weather was wet, and Vancouver hadn't had such a wet spring in years.

Heavy rain drops splattered onto the windowsill next to her desk, and a thud resounded in the hall as Darcy hurled her boots into the closet. Then, with a whisper of sock covered feet over hard wood floors, Sofia's ex-college room-mate appeared.

What are you doing sitting here in the dark? Darcy demanded.

Is it dark? Sofia answered, but she flicked on her desk lamp, a stained glass creation she had found in an antique shop.

It's after eight, Darcy added, sounding cross.

Sofia glanced up and saw that Darcy now stood right beside her, arms folded accusingly across her chest. What's wrong? she asked.

Coffee, Darcy prompted. You were supposed to meet me for coffee at Chellos Café.

Sofia's lips twisted downwards. I'm sorry, Darce, I guess I lost track of time. I was working on these photos.

Her friend's expression softened. You work too much, Sofia. And you missed out. I met the two cutest guys and told them all about you. Kept telling them you'd be there soon, but you never showed up.

Sofia grinned. With you there, I'm sure they didn't even miss me. Despite looking as though she couldn't care less, Darcy attracted men with ease.

Darcy said the secret was to keep men guessing, to not let them see you liked them until they were hooked. Unfortunately Sofia hadn't yet found a man she wanted to keep.

I decided, Darcy went on, with a long-suffering sigh, that I'd better come over to your place and check on you.

I'm a big girl, Sofia said. I'm just fine.

I phoned, but you didn't answer. Darcy shook her head. I don't know how you do it. I can never manage to ignore a ringing phone.

Practice, my friend, practice. But I'm sorry I stood you up.

That's all right. Just don't make a habit of it. Her friend took off her coat and flung it over the arm of the sofa. Drops of rain water flew off it and landed on Sofia's cat.

Tiberius was dozing in his usual spot, sprawled across the back of the sofa. As the water hit him, he arched his back, hissed, then streaked down the sofa and onto Sofia's lap.

Is Darcy teasing you? she crooned, running her hand down her pet's black fur until it reached the corkscrew kink at the end of his tail. Unlucky color for a cat, her father had said, but he'd allowed Sofia to keep the kitten that a friend had given her after Sofia's mother died. Her father had threatened on a daily basis to get rid of the feline, but that was usually after Tiberius had knocked over a jar of paint or walked across the canvas her father was stretching onto a frame. Sofia knew her father had actually loved the cat as much as she.

Tiberius was now the only family Sofia had left, and was her only link to her father. A familiar rush of grief threatened to overwhelm her but, planting a kiss on her cat's head, Sofia swept it away. She glanced toward the pictures her father had painted, pictures he had left her in his will. She kept them hung them on her living room wall, interspersed with some photographs she had taken.

The portrait of her mother was the one she loved best. It was hung in the place of honor, over the mantle above the fireplace. In the picture her mother stood in front of a turquoise sea, pushing aside hair whipped up by a breeze. Her mother looked about nineteen when the picture was painted, for her face showed her innocence along with her passion for the man before her wielding the paint brush.

Her parents had truly loved each other and Sofia still felt that love encircling her own heart.

We're not alone, are we? she whispered to Tiberius. She had her cat, her friends...

You haven't even opened your mail, Darcy said, dragging Sofia's attention back to the here and now.

There's nothing much.

Any bills? Darcy had moved in with Sofia to keep her company after Sofia's father died and had only just moved back to her own place. She still regularly checked if any mail had come for her.

There was just one letter and that was for me. Sofia pointed to the unopened envelope on the desk.

Who is it from?

Patty, I think.

Aren't you going to open it?

With a sigh, Sofia lifted Tiberius off her lap and set him down gently on the floor beside her. Then slipping her finger beneath the envelope's flap, she tore it open. She removed the single page inside, unfolded it and spread it open before her. A smaller envelope lay revealed, folded inside the paper.

Darcy peered over Sofia's shoulder. What does Patty have to say?

Sofia read aloud,

Dearest grand-daughter,

I am writing to inform you that your Grandfather is ill. The doctors say he may not have long to live. He wants to see you, as do I. You'll be met at the airport when you arrive.

Until then, your good health.

Your grandmother,

Maria Sofia Andropolas

Your grandmother! Darcy dropped onto a chair next to Sofia's. I didn't know your mother's parents were still alive.

I didn't either, Sofia said, feeling breathless again. My parents never spoke of them. And now they never would. Why hadn't her mother told her she'd been named for her mother's mother? And why, when her mother died fourteen years previously, hadn't her grandparents come to their daughter's funeral? Why hadn't her father even mentioned them?

Wow, a trip to Greece! Darcy said enviously.

I'm not going to Greece.

But you have to go. They're your grandparents.

Whom I've never met. Heat flushed Sofia's face. They obviously haven't bothered to get to know me.

Maybe they had their reasons.

What reason could there be? Sofia squared her shoulders. I once found a photograph in mom's bottom dresser drawer, and when I asked her who the people in it were, she told me they were her parents.

And? Darcy prompted.

And nothing, Sofia replied. My mother wouldn't say anything more.

That was then. This is now. Just think about it Sofia. Darcy's eyes sparkled. April in Greece. A thousand times better than Vancouver in this rain.

There's more to consider than simply the weather.

Like what? her friend demanded.

Tickets, money... The reason her mother hadn't wanted to discuss her parents—her warm, loving mother, who spoke at length about everything else.

I know your father didn't leave you much besides this house, Darcy began, but I could scrape together a couple of hundred dollars if that helps.

Her father may not have left her much money, but he'd bequeathed to her everything that truly mattered; his pictures, his talent, and his artist's eye and sense of color.

And clothes, Darcy added worriedly. You're going to need clothes. I could lend you some of mine. She frowned as her gaze traveled down her own lanky frame. But they might be a little big.

Sofia fingered the smaller envelope that had been folded in the letter, then making up her mind, swiftly opened it. Inside she found a ticket and a money order, made out in Canadian dollars.

Darcy leaned forward and glanced at the paper in Sofia's hand. Wow! she exclaimed.

Ten thousand dollars, Sofia said, stunned. The zeros on the money order wavered before her eyes.

That's a fortune! Darcy squealed.

I'm not taking it, Sofia replied.

They're your family. You need family, Darcy insisted.

Sofia tucked the money order back inside the envelope. I don't need anyone. I'm doing fine.

Maybe they need you.

A throbbing began at Sofia's temples.

Besides, her friend went on, aren't you in the least bit curious? If I had a set of grandparents fall into my lap, I'd want to know all about them.

After mom died, I asked dad why she had never been back to Greece. All he said was that she'd disagreed with her family. He hadn't told her what the disagreement was about, but she knew it couldn't have been her mother's fault, for her mother never willingly argued