Maggie: Please explain.
Miles: *sigh* Remember the guy from the plane?
Maggie: You mean the guy who visibly rocked your socks at the gate? Yeah. I think we all remember.
Miles: Alex. He’s sort of the sous chef at Ambrosia.
Maggie let out a small giggle, thinking, See? This day is so going to end up better than it started.
Maggie: No further explanation needed. Enjoy yourself.
Miles: You sure you’re okay without me?
She took a selfie, holding up a manicured hand for him to see and making sure she captured the table of food behind her. Then she pressed send.
Miles: Looks like you are being very well taken care of.
Maggie: And I’m drinking Turkish coffee. Holy caffeine. I may be up for days.
Miles: I’ll see you soon, then?
Maggie: No rush. Enjoy yourself.
Miles: I think I will.
Jordan plopped down in the seat next to her. “Griffin?”
Maggie shook her head. “Miles. Remember the guy from the plane, or after the plane, I should say?”
Jordan giggled. “Uh, I don’t think any of us will forget witnessing a kiss like that.”
“Well,” Maggie continued. “Looks like he’s the one in the kitchen making all of this amazing food.”
“Get out!” Jordan’s eyes widened. “Maybe this is a sign, you know? Like, everyone will get a happy ending, even Miles!” She sighed. “The guys will land, get Duncan here, and everything will be fine, right? This whole wedding thing has to happen.”
Maggie smiled and took a sip of her coffee. She couldn’t explain it—her unwavering confidence—but she knew there was no way they’d leave Greece without seeing a wedding.
“It’s going to happen,” she said.
Jordan looked at Maggie’s small coffee mug and wrinkled her nose.
“Elaina tried for a full year to get me to drink her coffee, but I never did.”
Maggie swirled the remnants of the liquid in her cup before polishing it off. “It’s really good,” she said. “Strong, but good.”
“And she is going to try it now.” Elaina strode up behind Jordan’s chair, placing her hands on her friend’s shoulders. Jordan swallowed hard, and Maggie laughed.
“Oh my goodness,” Maggie said. “It’s just coffee.”
Elaina bent, draping her arms over Jordan’s shoulders and resting her chin on her head.
“But this one is a pussy lightweight,” Elaina informed her. “She cannot handle her liquor, which means she probably cannot handle her coffee.”
Maggie laughed. Jordan’s lips pursed into a pout.
“Why is everyone ganging up on me for my beverage intake?” She raised her brows in Elaina’s direction. “I’d expect it from this one, but you, too, Maggie?”
Maggie laughed, and Elaina kissed Jordan on the cheek before straightening up again.
“Papa?” Elaina’s father was at the other end of the table replenishing an almost empty tray.
He looked up, and his eyes shone when he gazed at his daughter. “What do you need, koritsi mou?”
Maggie let out a wistful sigh. The closest thing to a father she ever had was her grandpa. But he was gone now, and Gran was in Florida. She realized that her immediate family consisted of Miles and Griffin, and the thought both terrified and delighted her.
“More coffee, se parakalo? For Jordan.”
Jordan rolled her eyes, and all three of them laughed.
“Fine,” Jordan relented. “Only because it’s your day, all right? Then I’m off the hook?”
Elaina’s father darted back into the kitchen and came out moments later with a small cup on a saucer. He set it down on the table in front of Jordan, and Maggie peered into it with her. Despite the shallow depth of the mug, the coffee was so dark they couldn’t see the bottom.
“You got this,” Maggie assured her. “It’s just coffee. Really thick, really strong, unsweetened coffee.”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “You aren’t helping.”
While Jordan contemplated her coffee, Elaina pulled her cell phone from her pocket and stared at it. She held it out for Maggie and Jordan to see.
“Why do you think this is all I got?”
Maggie read the short message.
Duncan: Forgive me. I couldn’t get on the second plane.
“Maybe his phone died,” Maggie offered.
Elaina sighed. “Griffin has a phone, no? And Noah, too? Why do they send all the messages and Duncan says nothing?”
Jordan opened her mouth to say something, but Elaina waved her off.
“I scare him,” Elaina said softly.
“You don’t scare him,” Jordan said, and Elaina gave her a pointed look. “Okay, you might be a little scary, but it’s part of your charm.”
“Do you think he is marrying me because he is afraid not to after all of this time? Noah did say in his text that he was afraid to tell me what happened.”
Maggie and Jordan both shook their heads. Maggie didn’t know Elaina and Duncan other than the one time she’d met them last year and from what she’d learned from Griffin. Elaina was guarded, yes. And maybe a little rough around the edges. But Duncan wore his heart on his sleeve, and she’d known the minute she met them that he was over the moon for this girl.
“Elaina,” Jordan started, grabbing her friend’s hand, but Elaina just shook her head and took a shaky breath.
“I don’t want him to feel forced to do something that doesn’t feel right to him. I don’t want to scare him into staying.” She took Jordan’s coffee from the table. “And I will not force you to drink the stupid coffee,” Elaina said. “I will not force anyone to do anything.”
And with that Elaina retreated from the restaurant and up the stairs that led to the Tripoli family’s apartment.
Maggie looked at her phone, opening up the last text Griffin had sent her. She’d seen it pop up when she was getting her nails done but couldn’t read it. She only now remembered it was there.
Griffin: We’ve got Duncan. Catching an afternoon flight back. The first one available. We need to talk, okay? As soon as I see you. There’s something I should have told you before we left, and I don’t want to wait anymore. I hope you’ll forgive me for waiting this long.
“What?”
“What?” Jordan asked, and Maggie realized she’d spoken out loud.
“Huh?” Maggie asked. “I mean, nothing. It’s nothing.” Because as comfortable as she had felt in her recent surroundings, Jordan wasn’t her friend. She wasn’t a person Maggie confided in. That person was Griffin, and if it couldn’t be Griffin, it was Miles. Well, how could she confide in Griffin about a frighteningly cryptic text that he had sent? And how could she confide in Miles when he was probably having sex in much too close a vicinity to the evening’s meal preparations?
“Are you sure?” Jordan asked. “I was about to go talk to Elaina, but if you need someone…”
Maggie waved her off. “No, no. Go talk to Elaina. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation why Duncan hasn’t called her yet. She needs a friend right now, and you can smooth things over.”
Jordan bounced on her toes. “Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
And she was off and up the stairs, leaving Maggie to read Griffin’s text over and over again.
She had tried not to notice it, how something with Griffin had been off the past couple days. Now she couldn’t help but see the signs. Whenever she’d seen that look in his eyes, that silent retreat, she’d asked if everything was okay.