Page 85 of Unraveled

“She was furious with me, telling me I’d betrayed her trust and the entire family for seeing Stef when I knew who he was. I dropped to my knees when she wanted to go tell our father, begging her to keep it to herself. Telling her I promised that if she’d help me sneak out just one last time, I’d never see him again. I had to at least tell him goodbye.

“She finally agreed, and that night I left my house wondering if I was ever going to see the love of my life again. My heart was breaking.

“Stef knew something was wrong the moment he saw me, and when I told him my sister knew about us and what I’d had to promise her, he pulled me into his arms. I remember feeling so safe in his embrace, so loved, and I couldn’t imagine never feeling his arms around me again. But he told me not to worry. That we’d find a way to make it work. I made him promise me, and he said that he promised as long as I promised I wouldn’t give up.”

Dad’s voice was rough when he cut in. “That was when her sister showed up.”

“She followed you?” Harper asked in whispered disbelief.

Mom nodded. “She didn’t believe that I’d really tell him goodbye, and after hearing us, she knew she was right.”

Dad frowned, squeezing Mom’s hand in his. “She stayed just long enough to yell at me for forcing her sister to betray her family. Then, she ran off, screaming over her shoulder that I’d never get to see her sister again.

“I knew she was going to tell their father, and I knew that, if I let Helen go without making her promise to see me again, her sister might just make good on her threat. But I couldn’t get Helen to agree. She was too scared. So, before I ran home, I promised her that I’d never give up. That I’d find a way for us to be together.

“I raced back to my brother’s house after that, completely out of my mind. I knew it was only a matter of hours before my parents would find out and that theonlychance I’d stand against them was having Dimitris on my side.

“He was furious after I found the guts to tell him. Sophie was reasoning with him while I begged before he finally seemed to listen. I still wasn’t sure what was going through his mind when our parents showed up. They were angrier than I ever could’ve imagined. I was in deep.”

“You weren’t the one that told them, were you, Uncle Dimitris?” Harper asked.

“No,” Dad assured her. “When your mom’s dad found out what happened, he showed up at my parents’ door, yelling at them and demanding to see me. It didn’t takethem long to figure out what had been going on. We both ended up grounded for the rest of summer.”

“Some of the hardest weeks of my life,” Mom said sadly. “When school started a few weeks later, we were able to catch a few glimpses of each other but not many. Stef was a year ahead of me, and finding a chance to talk was almost impossible. My sister and brother kept themselves and their friends on constant watch.

“I’d heard from others that Stef wasn’t allowed away from home except for school, and once he was home, he was given a mountain of chores until bed.

“I was under lock and key, too. My parentsandmy siblings watched me like a hawk at home. I couldn’t sneak anything past them, but I wasdyingto see Stef again. I felt empty without him, kicking myself that I hadn’t promised to meet him. I would have found a way if I’d known for sure he’d be waiting for me.

“The next week at school, one of Stef’s friends bumped into me, knocking me sideways, and I nearly cried, thinking even our friends wanted us apart, but then I realized he’d slipped something in my pocket, trying to be discreet. I hurried to the restroom to read it, hoping and praying, justknowingit had to be from him.

“There was an address inside with a date and time for that Friday after school. A short note at the bottom gave me instructions to tell my brother and sister I was meeting up with someone for help in class. His friend would meet me outside the school first to get them to believe me, and then I could sneak away.

“That Friday took forever, but I clung to that note like it was my life, following its instructions until I found myself in front of a small house that was tucked away from theroad. I was nervous, hoping I was in the right place, but Stef opened the door and pulled me inside before I even had the chance to knock. We were kissing before he could shut the door, and too much of our time passed in each other’s arms before I even thought to ask where we were or how he’d managed it.”

“It was my brother’s house. He was at work, and Sophie had taken my mom out for the afternoon to buy me some freedom. It wasn’t much, but even a short amount of time was heaven when we’d been kept apart for so long.”

“Did you know they were in your house?” Harper asked our uncle.

“No, but my wife did.” Uncle Dimitris laughed to himself. “She’d arranged it with your dad. She just couldn’t get how upset he’d been that night off her mind and wanted to help.”

“And I wasn’t about to turn her down.” Dad grinned at him. “I was ecstatic when she offered to do it again, and it became something we did once a week, giving Helen a designated tutoring day to trick her family.”

“It worked for a while,” Mom cut in again. “But eventually, we were caught when my brother saw mytutorat the beach instead of helping me at school. My parents tore apart my room, finding Stef’s first few notes I’d hidden under my mattress.

“My father was absolutely furious that I’d gone behind his back, and he pulled me out of school the next morning, ordering my mom to homeschool me where they could always have an eye on me until he could arrange for us to move back home.

“I cried and begged for him to let us stay. I knew if we moved back home, I might never see Stef again. Buthe ignored me, like I barely existed anymore, he was so disappointed in me. I was stuck, but Ineededto see Stef. I’d been waiting for our next stolen hours together on pins and needles, and I couldn’t believe how quickly things had turned. I was angry at myself for hiding his letters instead of throwing them out. I could have lied my way out of things if the proof hadn’t been there.

“If I could just see him one more time, I knew he’d find a way to fix it. I couldn’t imagine my life without him or what was going to happen if my dad managed to move us back home. By the time our next day to meet finally came, I had thought through every possible chance I might have to sneak away, praying that Stef would still be there waiting for me.

“I waited until I knew my sister and brother would be almost home from school. My mom and I had gone out to the garden to gather some vegetables for dinner, and I told her I needed to use the bathroom, exaggerating it to the point she was sure it was an emergency and I’d wet myself if she didn’t let me go.

“I made sure she heard the back door slam, then I snuck out the front and through the trees so my brother and sister wouldn’t see me when I passed them. As soon as I was sure I was far enough away that no one would hear, I ran as fast as I could for Dimitris and Sophie’s.”

Dad ran his hands over his face and up through his hair. “I was so worried when she got there. She’d disappeared from school all week, and she arrived in a panic, telling me that we had to think of something that day or it would be the last time we’d ever see each other. This timeIwas furious. I couldn’t believe what she’d told me and whather father was doing. The only thing I knew to do was call my brother.”

He looked at Uncle Dimitris who nodded and took over. “So, for the second time in just a few short months, my little brother shocked me to the point I was near speechless. I left work early, having just gotten the call for a new job offer in London earlier that day.

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