Sweet Baklava (7 page)

She flinched as he tossed back the sheet. "What's the matter, Mama? I'm dressed."

"Ya never know about those things." She entered the room. "So when are you coming to stay with us?"

"Whenever my time's up here."

"It's up. I just spoke to Ophelia and let her know I wanted my boy back." She sat down on the edge of his bed and stared at his face. "I miss you, Nick."

"I miss you too, Mama, but that straw thing you women do trumps anything the rest of us want."

"It's an old tradition we started before you were even born. If I'd known then . . ." She looked toward the window before turning back to face him. "So what's going on between you and Paula? She's such a sweet girl."

"I have no idea what's going on."

"Do you still love her?"

Nick didn't want to tell his mother before talking to Paula, but this was Mama. He nodded. "I don't think that's the kind of thing that just goes away."

"You should find a way to be together."

"You're forgetting one thing, though. We don't know if she still loves me."

"Oh, trust me, she does. How could she not? This is Nick Papadopoulos we're talking about."

Nick belted out a laugh as he sat up. "Thanks, Mama. You always did believe in me."

"That's because you've always been able to do anything you set your mind to."

"Most of the time."

"And you can this time too if you just talk to Paula and let her know how you feel."

"It's not that easy."

"And why not? Just because you're a man doesn't mean you can't communicate. Your father and I talk all the time."

She talked, and his father listened. It seemed to work for them, but that wouldn't work for him and Paula, who said what she thought but didn't say much about what she was really feeling.

"So when you gonna talk to her?"

"I don't know. You just sprang this on me, Mama."

She flipped her hand from the wrist as she stood back up. "Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it. Don't forget, I know you better than you know yourself."

"That you do," Nick agreed. He went to the closet and pulled out a different shirt. "I'll get my stuff together and be at the house in about an hour, unless Aunt Ophelia has something for me to do around here."

"I'll have lunch ready when you get there."

After Mama left, he thought about what she'd said. Maybe she was right. And even if she wasn't, what would it hurt to have a heart-to-heart with Paula about where they stood?

He'd still have to wait a couple of days. Paula was adamant about keeping your word, and she'd had enough promises broken.

Paula walked into Paula's Natural Soap and Candle Shop, flipping on the lights as she passed through. Rather than one large, intruding light overhead, she used softer lighting throughout the store to add to the ambience. Her regular customers often came in just to get away from the hustle and bustle of life. For them, she kept a pot of tea on the hot plate in the back room.

She'd just gotten the store ready for opening and signed on to her register when the bell tinkled at the door. "Hey, Steph."

"Back atcha. So what's going on between you and Nick?"

"Have you talked to him lately?"

Steph laughed. "Not since yesterday. But I heard his mother and mine had a powwow about him moving."

"Everyone wants a piece of Nick."

"Yep. Seems everyone does but you." She lifted an eyebrow. "Or do you?"

Paula's hand stilled over the counter as her breath caught in her throat. She didn't have anything to say, but the air was heavy with a question.

"That's a moot point, Steph. He's going back to his Army base in Texas and—"

"Air Force base."

Paula closed her eyes and shook her head. "Okay, Air Force base—what does it matter? He's leaving, and I'm still here."

"It doesn't have to stay that way."

"C'mon, Steph, not now, okay?"

Steph held her hands up in surrender and stepped back. "Okay, okay, I'm just sayin'."

"So are you working today?"

"Yeah, Mama has me scheduled at the bakery this afternoon, and Aunt Phoebe asked if I could play hostess tonight at Apollo's."

"I might stop by after work," Paula said. "What time will you be there?"

"That's what I came to talk to you about. Uncle Apollo said to come see if you wanted to have dinner with me there before I start my shift."

Paula knew she was up to something, but she couldn't turn down a meal at her favorite restaurant in Tarpon Springs. "Isn't it moussaka night?"

Steph tilted her head back and howled. "When it comes to food, you have the memory of an elephant."

"Yeah, and I'll have a body like one if I don't get a grip on my appetite."

"That's okay. Greek men like a little meat on their women's bones."

G
o unpack, Nick. And bring me your nicest pants and shirt so I can make sure they don't have wrinkles."

Nick grinned. "I'm a grown man, Mama. I can take care of my own clothes."

"Indulge me, son. I miss having my boy around."

"So why do I need to worry about wrinkles anyway? Am I going somewhere?"

"We're going to Apollo's." She glanced down and picked up a pillow that apparently had some invisible lint. As she picked at it, she chattered about how much everyone in the family missed him while he stood there staring at her. When she finally slowed down, he stepped closer and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Mama, what's going on?"

She looked him in the eye for a split second then smiled. "The family sure could use you around here. If you don't want to go out on the sponge boats, you can help out in the stores. Your father and his brothers have to move stuff all the time, and it would be nice—"

"What's
really
going on?"

Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. "Nick, just bring me what you're wearing tonight. I've already said too much."

His mother seemed to have shrunk since he'd last seen her. "Mama, have you had a vacation lately?"

"I can't get your father to go away. He's been so busy."

"But you can take some time off and just relax. Do things you miss, like . . ." He tried to remember what she used to do for fun, but he couldn't think of anything besides baking. What kind of vacation would that be for a bakery owner?

She placed her hand on his and patted it. "I'll be fine, my sweet boy. Now go get me those clothes."

It went against everything Nick had become to bring his clothes to Mama, but he did as he was told. He vowed to do something even better for her in return.

As he handed them to her, he gestured toward the living room. "I overheard you telling Papa you wanted some furniture moved. Just tell me where, and I'll take care of it."

"Your father said he'd do it."

Nick tucked his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head up so she looked him in the eye. "Mama, I want to do it, and I won't take no for an answer."

Two hours and half a dozen different arrangements later, Nick brushed his hands together. "Looks good, Mama, but it's not that different from how you had it."

"I know. I'm so sorry to put you to all that trouble."

"It's fine. I'm here, and you wanted to see how it looked."

She studied the room a few seconds then pointed to one of the chairs. "How about if we move that chair over beside the sofa? Do you think it would cut into the traffic flow too much?"

He laughed. "We can move it and see. If you don't like it, I'll put it back."

After all the furniture was rearranged, she shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Now the pictures don't make sense. I'll ask your father to help me move those later."

"I'll do that too."

When Nick removed the pictures, they noticed the marks on the walls. "Let's put all the pictures in the closet. I'll get your father to paint after you leave."

"Mama, you know Papa's too busy to paint the house. I'll do it while I'm here."

"I don't want you to work the whole time you're here. You should be spending time with friends, having some fun. It's your vacation."

The only person Nick really wanted to spend time with had him on hold for a couple of days. "They're all working, and I don't mind painting. What color do you want?"

"I don't know." She took a step back and studied the walls. "All I thought about was moving the furniture. It didn't cross my mind to change the wall paint."

"Why don't we go to the paint store and pick something you like?"

"We can do that tomorrow."

"Why not now?"

"I have to go to the bakery."

"You told me Aunt Ophelia has Steph working there this afternoon."

"But—"

"I insist."

At that moment, Nick realized how much Paula was like Mama. He'd always heard that guys are attracted to girls with their mothers' traits. Both Paula and Mama were attached at the hip to their work.

Mama frowned. "Are you sure?"

"You were there earlier, Mama. Steph can handle whatever comes up."

Her eyes flickered around the room again, and she nodded. "Okay, but when we get back home, I want you to start getting ready for tonight."

Nick cut a glance around the room before settling his gaze on his mother. "Whatever you have up your sleeve for tonight must be a zinger."

She did an about-face and scampered toward the kitchen. "Let me get my purse, and we can go to the paint store."

Yep, she had big plans for him tonight, and Nick suspected somehow Paula might be part of them. He was okay with that, but he felt bad for Paula. She needed space—a concept his family didn't have a clue about.

"What's this for?" his mother asked as he handed her a sofa pillow on their way out the door.

"It'll help us pick a color to go with the furniture."

"My Nicholas is a smart man."

"You're the one who raised me." He winked at her then helped her into the car.

All the way to the store, she talked about which color she should paint the walls. "This one would look nice." She stabbed her finger at the pillow. "What do you think?"

He glanced at the color she indicated. "I think it would be perfect."

She held the pillow out and shook her head. "Nah, it's too dark. I don't like dark rooms."

They pulled into the parking lot and sat in the car for a few minutes, looking at all the colors on the pillow. "What color do you think we should paint?" she asked.

"Any color you want, Mama. And if you don't like the way it looks when we're done, we can do it over again until we get it like you want it."

"I don't want to do this twice. Let's go see what they got." Without another word, she got out of the car, clutching the pillow. He followed her inside.

"Ursa!" The paint store manager made a beeline toward them the instant they walked inside.

"Hi, George. We need some paint for the living room."

George gestured around the store. "We got plenty of paint. Take your pick."

She glanced around the store looking lost. Nick couldn't remember the last time the house walls were painted, so he suspected she was overwhelmed. "Mama, let's start over there."

It took her almost two hours to decide on a color, which was as close to what was already there as anything they'd seen. "If it works, why change it?" she said.

All the way home she chattered about food, the sponge business, and how he needed to look nice tonight, giving him very little opportunity to say a word. If he'd had any doubt she was up to something, it was gone now.

He carried the paint into the mudroom. His mother pointed to the corner. "Just put it there, Nick, and go get your clothes for me to press."

"We still have plenty of time before dinner. I can paint one wall."

"No."

"Okay, just thought I'd try."

He went to his room and emptied his suitcase on the bed. Before hanging anything in the closet, he selected a shirt and khaki pants to bring to Mama.

"Not that, Nick." She reminded him of his drill sergeant at boot camp when she folded her arms and shook her head. "I want you to look nice tonight."

"What's wrong with this?"

"It's not nice enough."

With nothing more than that to go on, Nick headed back to his room, tossed what he'd selected into the pile, and started digging some more. He did his best to think like Mama. What would she like? His gaze settled on a light blue shirt and some navy slacks. Yeah, she'd think that was nice enough.

"Much better," she said. "Now go start getting ready."

"I thought you said we needed to be there around six-thirty. It's not even five yet."

"It wouldn't hurt you to take a little extra time with your hair."

He reached up and raked his fingers through his close-cropped hair. "There's not much I can do with it."

Mama tilted her head and studied his face. She hadn't looked at him like that since before his first day at kindergarten.

"Okay, I'll go find something to do so you can finish whatever it is you're scheming."

"Nick!"

"I can see straight through you. I don't know what you're planning. All I know is there's something going on, and I'll find out in about an hour and a half."

By the time Mama brought him the crisply pressed shirt and razor-sharp creased pants, Nick had done everything he could think of in the grooming department. Mama gave him a once-over and smiled, nodding. "Very nice, Nicholas. Now get dressed. I don't wanna be late."

"Late for what?" Nick teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be so suspicious." She walked away mumbling and clicking her tongue.

Nick got dressed and joined her in the living room a few minutes later. "So, am I presentable for whatever you have up your sleeve?"

She looked him over and nodded. "You look handsome as always."

"Is Papa coming home first?"

"No, he's meeting us there."

He crooked an arm. "Ready?"

Mama took his arm and nodded. "Let's go. I'm starving."

She fidgeted all the way to Apollo's, located at the base of the Tarpon Springs sponge docks—a block away from one of his dad's shops. When they got to a red light, Nick reached over and squeezed her tense hand.

"Wanna stop by and see Papa at work? We're a few minutes early."

"Nah, if he's still at work, he's busy. We'll just see him when he gets to Apollo's."

Nick parked the car behind the restaurant in the employee lot. "Wanna go in the backdoor or make an entrance?"

She frowned. "I'm not sure."

"Mama." Nick chuckled and grinned. "Since when have you not been sure about anything?"

"Let's go in the front door like civilized people."

Apollo stood at the host desk. "C'mon back and I'll get you seated."

Nick caught Apollo's conspiratorial wink at Mama. "I saw that."

"You didn't see nothin', Nick," Apollo roared. "You're imagining things." He belted out a laugh that echoed throughout the sparsely filled restaurant.

"My son is suspicious of everything," Mama said. "He doesn't even trust his own mother."

He patted her shoulder. "I do trust you, Mama. I trust that you're always doing things you think are best for me, which is why I know you're up to something."

"Have a seat and I'll let Stephanie know you're here."

"Oh, is Stephie coming too?" Nick said.

Apollo darted a nervous glance at Mama, then faked a smile. "She's here, but she's working."

"This just keeps getting more suspicious by the minute." He waited until Apollo left then turned to Mama. "So here we are at a table set for the whole Papadopoulos family. Who else besides Papa and Stephanie is coming?"

She tried to wave him off. "Oh, you know, the usual. Apollo called everyone and asked them to come for dinner. You remember how this family likes to show up when there's food."

"Mama. There's always food."

He caught his mother's nervous glance toward the door, so he turned to see who was coming. It was Apollo's wife, Aunt Phoebe, followed by his cousins Alexa and Charlene.

"Wow. This is a party."

"We're just having dinner."

Nick's family often got together for impromptu dinners, but this was obviously a planned event. They'd already had his homecoming party, and no one's birthday was on the calendar in his mother's kitchen.

Suddenly everyone got quiet.

He turned around to see what was going on behind him. First he saw Steph. Okay, no big deal. Then Steph stepped aside, and the big plan was revealed.

Paula walked toward the table, looking stunned. She smiled, but he knew it was a front. She was too polite to do anything else, but he imagined she wanted to bolt.

"Don't just sit there, Nick," Apollo urged. "Get the chair for your girl."

As Paula approached the table, he leaned over her and whispered, "Sorry about this. I knew something was up, but no one told me what."

"Hey, everyone's here! Opa!" Apollo held up his water glass, followed by the rest of the group.

"Opa!"

Nick offered an apologetic grin. "I hope you're okay with this. They mean well."

She shrugged. "I'm fine with it. I sort of figured it out as soon as we walked inside. Steph told me to meet her here before her shift, which isn't all that unusual since we've done that before." Paula looked at him with amusement. "But she was way more nervous than normal."

"What can I say? I have a conniving family."