Page 68

She hesitated before answering. “It’s hard. After my husband…it was just easier to come back here. Too many memories.”
“It’s very hard losing someone you love.”
“I guess I believed that when you’ve had the love of your life, it wouldn’t be likely that you’d find another. Maybe I was wrong.”
Whit took a long swallow of his wine. “I once thought that myself. Do you believe in the concept of soul mates?”
She looked surprised by the question. “Soul mates?”
“You know. Someone you’re destined to be with.”
“Yes. I do.”
“I do as well. But you know what I’m discovering?”
“What?”
“Sometimes the person you thought was your soul mate is just a way station for your real one.”
He sipped his wine and let the words hang between them.
“Do you think Sloane is your soul mate?” Athena finally asked.
“I thought so at one point, but I don’t anymore. Can you truly be soul mates if it’s one-sided?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Robert was her true soul mate. I don’t think she’s ever really let him go. She’s pulled away from me with her illness and talks more and more about him and how much she wishes she were with him. I wish I knew what he used to do to comfort her.”
“You’re doing the best you can.”
“I hope so, but I don’t even know what to say anymore. She didn’t even remember going to the doctor this morning.”
“Really?”
“Yes. No memory of it at all. The prognosis is not good, I’m afraid. Just more suffering.”
Athena was quiet.
Whit skimmed the back of his hand across her cheek. “You know, I hate that it was Sloane’s illness that brought you into my life, but I can’t help but be grateful I found you.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
“It might be true, but it’s not the right time.”
“I wish we could put all of this behind us and leave together,” he said. “That we could drink wine together in the country where the grape is grown. That you could show me the Greece you love.”
“That sounds like an impossible dream,” Athena said, raising an eyebrow.
He lifted his glass. “To impossible dreams,” he said. “And soul mates.”
“To soul mates,” she said, and they drank again.
“This is nice,” he said quietly. “Been so long since I’ve felt happy. Thank you.” He reached out and took her hand in his, his thumb rubbing the top of hers. “This could be our life together,” he whispered. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?”
She turned toward him, her eyes shining. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”