Then without thinking, she gently enfolded Casey in her strong embrace.

The tears turned into sobs at Tessa's tender and compa.s.sionate touch. Soon Tessa held Casey against her tightly, running her fingers through the short blond locks and pressing her lips softly against the top of Casey's head.

Casey melted into the warm embrace and let the tears of a great many frustrations loose at once. She was comforted, not only by the arms surrounding her, but by the fact that Tessa didn't offer insincere and meaningless words to console.

"Shh, Ca.s.sandra...I'm here," Tessa murmured.

Tessa listened to Casey's weeping but could think of no words to ease the pain. Little did she know, but the ones she uttered cut straight through to Casey's heart. Tessa wanted to give more comfort to the woman in her arms, but frankly, she didn't know how. She had never been a woman of words, and now when she needed them the most, they deserted her.

It seemed as if a long time pa.s.sed before Casey's tears stopped and she leaned against Tessa's chest, listening to the strong heart beating steadily. No words were exchanged as Tessa ran her hand in small circles against Casey's back. Tessa cursed herself once again for her inability to do or say more for Casey, but for Casey, what Tessa did offer was enough.

Chapter 7.

It was coincidence that Tessa and Casey left their rooms at the same time. They met at the top of the winding staircase on their way to morning coffee. Casey was finding it hard to look Tessa in the eye.

"Well, you are quickly seeing me in all of my pathetic, vulnerable glory . I'm not exactly putting my best foot forward where you're concerned."

Tessa gave her usual low chuckle. "If that's as bad as it gets, I still got ya beat."

"Thanks, for...well, for just being there, I guess."

Tessa didn't know what to say to this display of emotion and grat.i.tude, so she did what she was best at. She graced Casey with a lopsided smile and winked at her.

"Ahh, Mahtia Mou, is the world looking better in the light of day?" Andreas Meridio asked, kissing the top of Casey's head as he pulled a chair out for her.

"Yes, Pappa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake up the whole villa."

"Nonsense. Although Tessa looked a little disappointed that she didn't get to shoot anyone."

Tessa set down her newspaper and placed a small koulourakia on her plate. The rolls were covered in sesame seeds and stuffed with currants. Tessa still believed, like most Greeks, that breakfast was the least important meal of the day, but she was quickly *becoming seduced by the American tradition of a roll with her morning coffee.

Placing small bites of the bread in her mouth, Tessa spoke in her usual matter-of-fact tone, nothing like Casey knew her to be when they were alone.

"She scared the h.e.l.l out of me," she said in Meridio's direction, and the man laughed out loud. "Trust me, if you ever get accosted in a dark alley, let loose with one of those yells. I guarantee it will bring help left and right. You took away a few years of my life with that thing, which I can ill afford at this point," Tessa finished with a smirk.

"Oh, very funny. I hope you're both enjoying yourselves at my expense," Casey said with a smile.

Casey was surprised at this tirade from Tessa , but she understood the reasoning behind it. Tessa wasn't supposed to be growing close to Casey; she was in close contact with her for the sole purpose of looking after Meridio's daughter for a while. It wouldn't do for Andreas Meridio to see his Kare in a position like she was in the night before. As innocent as the physical contact had been, Casey realized her father would never allow it.

Casey watched her father as he read the morning Ta Nea, occasionally jotting a note on the legal pad that he had in front of him.

"Pappa," Casey began enthusiastically, "come horseback riding with me today?"

"Oh, that's impossible today. I have appointments to keep.

Besides, I'm too old to be riding hills like these. That's why you have Tessa. She'll go with you." Meridio motioned to Tessa .

"Horses...great. My days just keep getting better and better,"

Tessa deadpanned.

Although Casey smiled at Tessa's attempt at humor, Casey was affected by her father's behavior. Casey couldn't understand it, either. If she even brought up moving into an apartment of her own, he became incensed. But since she'd returned to Greece, they hardly saw each other. Casey was beginning to feel like that prized mare again, only around for show.

*"As much as I would enjoy riding with Tessa, I'm sure she has better things to do than baby-sit me. I could wait, Pappa. Perhaps we could go this afternoon?"

"Go with Tessa," Meridio said firmly. "I'll be gone until late this evening, don't wait up. Katalavaynes?"

"Yes, of course, I understand." Casey put on an artificial smile for her father's benefit as he left the patio.

Tessa tried to keep her gaze on her paper and appear as though she were not listening to the conversation, which wasn't all that easy considering the fact that father and daughter were practically talking over her. Even Tessa could see that Casey looked like a hurt little girl who had been put off one too many times. The way Meridio talked about Casey all these years, Tessa thought perhaps he was different when it came to her, that maybe she would be the one redeeming quality of his life. It was turning out that Andreas Meridio was like any other man in Greece. Their women were cherished so long as they did what they were told and made sure they were around when he needed a bauble to hang on his arm.

"So when do we go?" Tessa asked.

Casey gave a weak attempt at a smile. "It doesn't sound like it's one of your favorite things."

Tessa thought Casey was trying to fight off tears. "You know that was for show, don't you?" Tessa asked in a voice that was softer than usual.

"I know." Casey nodded. "The Meridio Kare must have a pretty girl she wants to do something with on a beautiful day like today." Casey tried to give Tessa an out.

"Yes, she does." Tessa grinned slightly, the smile giving her a look of charm and mystery.

She tilted her head slightly to meet Casey's eyes. When their gazes met, the sparkle and note of mischief appeared uncharacteristic for Tessa. It took Casey a full minute before she caught Tessa's meaning.

"Are you sure?" Casey brightened.

"Absolutely." Tessa grinned. "Somebody's got to teach you to ride."

"Oh, is that right? I guess we'll just have to see about that."

*The smile in Tessa's heart grew larger as she saw the spark of fire return to Casey's eyes.

"Gahmoh Toh!" Casey cursed. "f.u.c.k!" She decided to add the English version for good measure. "Oh, it's all right, girl. It's not your fault." She laid a gentle hand on the neck of the large chestnut mare. "She threw it," she said to Tessa.

Tessa jumped down from her mount and examined the horse's hoof just as Casey had done.

"You're absolutely right." Tessa mocked Casey's ability to recognize the missing horseshoe.

Casey pushed Tessa back slightly. "Oh, very funny."

Tessa laughed and it felt good. They spent the whole day in the hills, riding the horses, stopping for a picnic lunch. It all seemed like a dream to Tessa. She'd never had anyone to be with this way, no one she could call a friend, and she was seeing a small glimpse of what she'd been missing all her life.

"I'll just walk her back, you can go ahead," Casey said.

"It must be a good three miles back to the villa. By the time you get back on foot, I'll be too old to enjoy that dinner you owe me," she said with a smug grin.

Casey realized the truth of what Tessa said, but she didn't know if she was so upset because her horse had thrown a shoe or whether it was because she lost the race to the top of the rise.

Loser paid for dinner, that had been the bet, but Casey hadn't antic.i.p.ated that Tessa was as good a rider as she showed herself to be. Oh, well...There are definitely worse things that could happen to a girl than looking into those baby blues over dinner.

"This guy's a big boy." Tessa patiently patted her horse's flank.

"I don't think he'll have any trouble giving both of us a ride."

Tessa pulled the reins of the incapacitated animal over the mare's head and tied the leather thongs off on the back of her horse's saddle. After pulling herself easily into her saddle, she extended a hand to Casey. Casey put her foot in the stirrup that Tessa had vacated and allowed Tessa to pull her up into the saddle.

Situated behind Tessa, Casey was a lot closer to Tessa than was probably good for her, given her feelings for the woman.

*Tessa steered the animal down the steep path, and Casey quickly realized she had only one thing to hang on to. It was either wrap her arms around Tessa's waist or be pitched headfirst onto the ground below. She tried to be casual about it, grabbing a hold of Tessa's belt rather than her body.

"You better hold on tighter than that, little one." Tessa's voice came from in front of her.

For a moment, Casey thought she was falling as she let go of Tessa's belt. Casey grew dizzy, then a wave of nausea caused her hands to tremble.

"Hey, I said you better hold on-" Tessa turned in the saddle to look at Casey, but her voice froze at the sight of Casey's face.

"Casey, are you all right?" Tessa asked in a strained voice, pulling up on the horse's reins.

Casey opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to produce any sound. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she couldn't imagine why she felt this way.

"I don't feel so good. Can we stop for a minute?"

Tessa dismounted immediately, grabbing her canteen and helping Casey from the saddle. Casey felt like the blood had been drained from her legs and she faltered with her first step, leaning heavily against Tessa. Tessa didn't think twice as concern overrode propriety. She bent down and with surprising strength scooped Casey into her arms and carried her off the rocky path onto a dry gra.s.sy patch of ground.

Tessa noticed the flush on Casey's face and removed a bandanna from her neck, poured water from the canteen onto the cloth, soaking it through. She pressed the cool cloth to Casey's face, then her neck until Casey looked up with a weak grin.

"Gee, that was kind of scary," she said, her pallor a little less ghostly.

"You're telling me." Tessa leaned back on her heels, resting her palms on her thighs. "What just happened? Too much sun?"

"G.o.d, you're going to laugh at me, but I dreamed what just happened back there. I don't mean my nearly pa.s.sing out, I mean when we were on the horse. In my dream last night, you said that to me. You told me to hold on to you tighter and you called me *little one." Casey ran her fingers through her now damp hair. "I don't remember your face, but I remember your voice. You don't get it, do you?" Casey asked . "Tessa, I've never remembered anything from that dream, not once in all these years. This is the first time I've been able to recall even small bits of it."

Casey seemed confused while Tessa bit her lip, concentrating on Casey's face. Tessa fought with herself as she listened.

Shouldn't I tell her? G.o.d, after all these years. But if she knows who I am, she'll remember what happened. She'll figure out what I'm going to do. I won't be able to hide it, not from her. Oh, I'm sorry, but I just can't do this yet. You don't understand what's involved, little one.

"I don't know what to say," Tessa said honestly. "It sounds a little farfetched, but stranger things have happened, I guess."

She reached out to touch Casey's cheek. "Feel up to heading back now?"

"Yeah." Casey nodded. She was quick to add a smile for the woman who was turning into more than Casey ever imagined.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now. Come on, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Tessa added with a chuckle.

They situated themselves on the large gelding once more.

This time, Tessa was taking no chances and she took Casey's hands in her own until Casey's arms circled Tessa's waist. Casey certainly wasn't complaining about the arrangement, and silently, each woman enjoyed her circ.u.mstance.

Casey was silent for most of the trip, lost in her own thoughts.

I know you think I'm a huge flake, but it was you. It was your voice I heard screaming, and it was you I rode on the horse with, just like this. How could my dreams be about a woman I've never met before? Especially when I've been having this same dream for most of my life?

Tessa was wrapped within her own private memories. Two women and their thoughts mirrored each other's so completely, yet in their hearts, they were worlds apart. One sought enlightenment, while the other tried to hide from the truth.

0.

*Tessa and Casey walked back into the quiet villa, laughing loudly.

"I can just picture it." Tessa wiped tears from her eyes.

"There wasn't a thing I could do. I just held on for dear life and prayed to the Virgin until this huge stallion carried me across the finish line," Casey laughed.

"Did your father ever find out?"

"Oh, no, and spoil the illusion? I simply had mother take a picture of me with a smile on my face and a first-place trophy in my hand as I sat on the back of that terrible beast."

"You're something else, do you know that?" The two women walked up the stairs to their suites together, realizing by the silence that Andreas Meridio was still out. "I've looked at that picture every day for five years and wondered how a tiny thing like you got the arkhedhias to mount an animal that size."

"Hey," Casey said, looking wounded, "it's vertically challenged, not tiny."

"Oh, excuse m-"

Both women froze at a crashing sound from within Casey's suite."Stay here," Tessa commanded in a tight voice.

Casey watched as Tessa reached behind her and pulled out a pistol from under her jacket. She hadn't realized Tessa carried one, but now the reason Tessa always wore a jacket became clear. She followed Tessa's progress with her eyes as Tessa quietly opened the door and slipped inside.

Casey couldn't stand this helpless female routine. She couldn't hear anything inside the room and became concerned about Tessa. Just as Tessa had done, Casey quietly slipped inside the dark room. She saw the curtains by the French doors blowing into the room with the breeze but couldn't see Tessa anywhere.

"Tessa?" she whispered.

"When I tell you to stay, it's for a reason." Tessa's warm breath brushed against Casey's ear.

Casey let out a startled cry, and Tessa moved away from her.

The lights came on in the room. Tessa stood by the light switch on the wall, shaking her head.

*"I got worried about you," Casey offered as explanation.

"Casey," Tessa's voice was soft but commanding. "I can take care of myself. I won't need to worry if I know that when something happens, you will do exactly what I say, when I say it.