Page 58 of Willow in the Wind

It was hard to believe it had ever been home.

When Stella boarded the plane three days later—a plane that would take her from Crete to Athens, where she’d take a plane from Athens to Boston—all she could think about was the oracle she and James had met in Athens. The oracle had told them both that they would be married soon. Joy had permeated around them.

Why did I believe him?

Why did I believe in magic?

Stella couldn’t sleep throughout the entirety of her seventeen-hour journey. When she landed in the United States, she discovered it far different than she’d left it. September 11thhad permanently altered her beautiful country. Time had passed. She was different, too.

Chapter Twenty-Three

September 2024

Forty-somethings Stella and James sat side by side on the sofa at The Lucerne Hotel. It was more than twenty years since James had left Stella on Crete. And Stella still didn’t know the reason.

James had both of his hands around his glass of wine. He looked at Stella with open, honest eyes. It reminded Stella of how little he’d been able to look at her that last night in Greece. Now, it was like he didn’t want to hide anymore.

“It’s a good wine,” he said, maybe because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“I took a few sommelier courses,” Stella said.

“Me too,” James said. “I’m always trying to teach my daughter to appreciate good wine. But she’s still young. Still into really loud rock music. Doesn’t care if she drinks light beer or vodka.”

“Aren’t you still into really loud rock music?” Stella asked with a smile. She’d read a few of his album reviews and interviews and been impressed with his writing.

“I’ll always be into that,” James admitted. “But I have a thing for classical and jazz these days, too. Maybe it means I’m old.”

“Maybe it means you appreciate all the finer things in life,” Stella said. “But you always did.”

James blushed and looked into his glass.

Stella thought,I wonder if we’ll talk about wine all night, and then he’ll just go home.

“I can’t believe you wrote a book about it,” James said with a wry smile.

Stella’s heart pumped. “It started out as an experiment. I wanted to see how much I remembered.”

“You remember all of it,” James said. “I cried when I read it.”

Stella took a sharp breath.

“I couldn’t believe how devastating the ending was,” James said. “It’s hard to believe that guy abandoned you in that hotel in Crete. No explanation! What kind of monster would do that?” James’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t believe that was me.”

Stella gazed at him. This was James’s aging face. Those were James’s big eyes.

“You broke my heart,” Stella said with a soft laugh. It was years ago, but it suddenly felt new again.

“I broke my own heart, too,” James stated.

“Tell me what happened. Tell me why you left,” Stella urged.

James nodded. He knew he owed her that.

“I remember we hadn’t bothered with phone calls for a while. It was like we were the only two people to exist. But you called your mother, and it got me thinking about my younger brother. We’d both been pretty banged up about the death of our mother. And then I’d left him alone.

“So I went to that payphone and rang him up. His girlfriend answered. Molly. She was totally enraged. Told me exactly what she thought of me and myabandoningthe family. I tried to laugh it off. I told her to give the phone to my brother. But shewouldn’t let up. And that’s when she told me my ex-girlfriend Nancy was pregnant,” James said.

Stella’s jaw dropped.

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