“And perhaps some clothes for the wedding?” Mairi suggested as she gave a pointed glance to Jodie’s bright green dress. “It will be very...conservative.”
Jodie nodded. Mairi had shown remarkable restraint not commenting on her short hem or towering heels. What was considered understated in New York City was different than her stepmother’s opinions. She had to make some adjustments. “I understand.”
“I’m sorry we have to leave just when you’ve arrived,” Mairi said as Gregory helped her out of her chair, “but your father and I have some business to attend to in the city.”
“Please don’t feel like you need to entertain me.” She didn’t want to be the center of attention. She wanted to show her father that she could seamlessly be part of his life without any trouble or work.
“Make yourself at home,” her father said as he gave an awkward pat on her shoulder before he trailed after Mairi.
Home. She grimaced as she felt a pang in her chest. This stately mansion had never been her home. She had arrived here the first time when she was fifteen after she had been kicked out of another boarding school. Jodie had felt as if she’d been on probation the moment she had first entered the vestibule. But it hadn’t mattered if she had behaved or caused trouble. She was always going to be sent away to another school, another country.
Now her actions would make a difference. For better or for worse. One mistake and her father would disown her for good.
Jodie rose from her seat and strolled into the entrance hall. She barely glanced at the marble grand staircase or the carved limestone walls. It was the silence that grabbed her attention. She forgot how quiet it was in this place even though Mairi liked having her extended family live under one roof.
She linked her hands behind her back and walked outside onto the shadowy portico. Her eyes widened with pleasure as she surveyed the bold colors of the grounds, the scent of the exotic flowers and the sounds of a gurgling fountain in the distance. She sighed as the tension ebbed from her shoulders. It felt as if she had paradise all to herself.
Jodie remembered spending many hours following the web of gravel paths to escape the house. She had frequently skinny-dipped in the large lake until her stepmother found out and put a stop to it. She also climbed the trees in the wooded area, daring to go as high as she could, often ignoring Stergios’s exasperation and words of warning.
Jodie descended the terrace and noticed the garden had thrived in her absence. It took her several moments to recognize the changes in the landscaping. She suspected they were made in favor of the high-tech security features. Mairi could have hidden the cameras and emergency call buttons but the Antonious always needed to see what protective measures were being taken around them.
She left the terrace and wondered if there was a new piece of sculpture or work of art. Walking past the formal flower garden, she remembered how exploring the grounds had been one of her many solitary diversions.
When she had first moved here, she’d thought having many relatives would be a blessing. For an only child who had lived in boarding schools since she was six years old, the idea of a big family was as tantalizing as it was foreign. It had ultimately been a disappointment. It wasn’t easy being an outsider in a close-knit family.
It was only after Jodie had been banished that she’d realized the Antoniou home was more than a showpiece. She paused and brushed her fingertips against the velvety petals of a flower. The house and the grounds were part of the family’s fortress. Mairi only felt safe when she was at home and surrounded by loved ones.
The Antonious didn’t trust any outsider with the exception of Gregory. Jodie understood why. They had placed their trust in one of their own and paid the cost. They may never recover from being blindsided decades ago when Stergios was kidnapped as a child.
Jodie closed her eyes as the wave of sympathy washed over her. She had only collected bits and pieces of the story since everyone seemed to follow a pact of not discussing it. She knew Mairi and her ex-husband had been in an ugly custody dispute and that Stergios’s father had hired a team to kidnap his son. Stergios had only been seven years old.
Jodie blinked away the sting of unshed tears as she imagined a young and vulnerable Stergios. Mairi was a tigress when it came to her only child but she didn’t find him until he was nine. Stergios had lived on the run and in horrible conditions. He had emerged scarred, malnourished and tormented from the experience.
From the day Stergios had been taken, the house and grounds became impenetrable. So had the Antoniou family. Jodie accepted the fact and she knew their wariness wasn’t entirely personal.