“How did you do that?”
She turned back to face him, smiling wryly in an attempt at humor but the tears threatening to spill over her lashes defeated her endeavor. “I used to try and explain this to my boyfriends in the past but they never understood. But they weren’t Greek.” She laughed and looked out the window. “I’m not sure why I never made the connection between your last name and your heritage but I guess that’s silly of me. You’re very Greek so I’m assuming you’ll understand what I’m about to tell you.”
He could see the pain and shame in her eyes and wanted to walk to her, comfort her, pull her into his arms and tell her that he could make everything right again. But he could tell that any form of affection might break down what little control she had left. So instead, he said, “I’m Greek, yes, if that’s what you’re trying to explain.”
She nodded and looked at him as if she’d never seen him before. Now that he was here in Greece, she could definitely see the dark skin, dark hair and the noble features. She felt silly for not grasping his lineage before now. “Yes. So you’ll respect the issue a little more than the others.”
Alec took a deep breath, striving for patience. “Then explain it to me, because right now, you’re not making any sense.”
She nodded. “Yes, I’m sorry.” She stood up and started pacing around the room once again, unable to determine if sitting or pacing helped deal with this conversation better. “You see, almost ten years ago, something happened in our family. My cousin, was beautiful and witty and vivacious and she was so much fun to be around. She was three years older than I was and at seventeen, she got pregnant. Her father was furious and the boy who was with her wouldn’t marry her. Papa had the power to destroy the boy’s family, but not the power to force him to marry his niece.” She took a deep breath and stared out the window, not really seeing anything since the view was of the parking lot, but in her mind, she was picturing the scenes in her father’s house, the awful fights, the crying from her cousin, whom Helen had idolized as a young teenager, and all the relatives arguing over what should happen. It had been a very difficult period in their family’s history. “We all knew something was wrong, but by the time she got up the nerve to tell her mother and father, my uncle had already guessed and was furious.”
Alec grimaced, having heard tales like that before. Greek fathers, especially those in the smaller villages were extremely protective of their daughters for this very reason. “It sounds bad, but not completely unheard of. It happens.”
Helen didn’t smile. “I know it happens, but at the time, I was fourteen and all I could understand was that the whole family was furious with my cousin who was too young to bear that kind of burden. My uncle lived in a small village near the coast. The villagers have very conservative values so after Amelia got pregnant, everyone found out and they scorned her. A village that had always been warm and welcoming had turned into a horrible place to visit.”
“What happened?” he asked, but he already knew.
Helen’s body shivered at the memory and she closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out the pain of the past as well as the present as easily. “Amelia lost the baby. It was stillborn. There were fights in the family during her entire pregnancy, everyone yelled at each other, everyone accusing the other, blaming anyone for what had happened. The villagers would cross the street whenever Amelia walked past, she cried a lot, her father stopped speaking to her and she came to live with us. Papa would never turn family away and his house was much bigger so it wasn’t an issue. But Amelia was so ashamed every day.”
“What happened after she lost the baby?” he asked softly, afraid of where this story was going.
“She healed physically, but as soon as she could, she left Papa’s house. She and her father still don’t speak to this day although she’s happily married with three children now. She lives in Italy and won’t come back to Greece for any reason.”
“And the promise?” he prompted.
She didn’t explain for a long moment, battling her tears. “When the fighting started, Papa pulled me into his study and sat me down. He explained all about sex and how babies were made although I’d already understood the concepts. Then he asked me to promise him that I would never have sex until I was married. He made me promise never to bring shame down on the family and create that kind of anger.” She buried her face in her hands as her shame overwhelmed her. “And I did. Last night, I broke my promise to my father, a man who has only given me everything he could. He’s so kind and generous and loving. He took Amelia in and never hurt her, never blamed her, and all he’s asked of me was to not bring shame on the family. And now I’ve not only broken my promise, but he somehow found out and I’ve almost killed him with the news!”
Helen’s body doubled over with the shame and emotion building up inside her and she couldn’t seem to stop. Even when Alec pulled her into his arms, she was too overwrought to pull away. “What have I done?” she sobbed, accepting his comfort by wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
Alec let her cry, knowing she wouldn’t hear anything he said anyway. He saw the nurse indicate that they should come back into the room and he pulled away from her, handing her a handkerchief. “Come along. You’re father is asking for you.” He let her wipe away the tears, then put a finger under her chin so she was looking at him. “Everything will be fine, Helen. I’ll make it so. Come along,” he said and took her hand to lead her back into the room before she could deny him. “But you have to understand one thing,” he said and waited for her to look at him before continuing. “What we did last night did not cause your father’s heart attack. There were other circumstances, of which you’re not aware,” he said.
Alec watched, knowing that she didn’t understand. She couldn’t at this point, being too overwrought to think about anything but her guilt and trying to figure out how to make her father well again. “Come, you can see your father again. The doctor is finished,” he said, leading her down the short hallway back to her father’s room once more.
Helen followed, too eager to see her father and talk to him again to pull back from Alec. “Papa?” she said as she entered the room once again. She was relieved to see that the tube from his throat was gone and he was sitting up slightly, but still very weak. The color in his face was still horrible, but at least he was conscious. That had to be a good sign, she told herself.