I sat in the back corner of Zorba’s and drank my third tiny cup of their Greek coffee. My head was no clearer, and I wondered if I should switch to retsina. I poked my lunch with my fork and sighed.
“You look like someone stole your teddy bear.”
I looked up into the smiling face of a woman with bright blue eyes, a wide, warm smile and thick black hair gathered into a heavy braid. She was about my height, but with an athletic build and she looked terribly familiar though I could not place her name to save my life.
She grinned wider. “Don’t know me with my clothes on, Dazzle? I’m Steph.”
I felt my throat and then my face grow warm as I blushed. I hoped she didn’t notice. “I guess not.” I waved at the chair facing me. “You’re welcome to join me.”
Steph sat down smiling. “That looks great, I love their pastichio.”
I shoved the plate across to her, “You eat it… I’m drinking.”
She looked at my coffee and my water and laughed. “Woo hoo! Heavy drinker here boy oh boy!”
Her smile was infectious and I laughed. Then I remembered Race and Anna and the tangled sweaty sheets I’d fled and I began to shake.
She same around the table and took the chair beside me. She held my hand and patted it a minute. “Take a deep breath, Baby-girl. Close your eyes, then take another.”
Obediently I did as she said. I could feel the shaking ease a bit. When I opened my eyes again, she had a forkful of food poised at my mouth. I laughed and took the bite.
“That’s my good Baby-girl,” she told me approvingly. “You going to tell me what happened to send you into a tailspin?” Her eyes were kind, and she was still holding my hand.
I intended to tell her thanks and let it go, but my mouth had other ideas. “You remember the bachelor party?”
She smiles, a slow, lazy grin that started in her eyes and filled them, spilling into her face, until I could almost feel heat coming off her like a stove. “I sure do, baby girl,” she told me. “My boss is still trying to get you ... Læs hele novellen
