Sunsets in Santorini

Chapter 14

A silver Cadillac pulled up on the isolated airstrip to drive Will and I into town. Woody announced that he would tend to the plane and meet us back at the hotel. Santorini was 100 times more beautiful than the pictures Gio and Charles showed me back in Athens. I could hardly believe this was where my Mom and Dad met and fell in love. There were high cliffs above the sea and the roads in town snaked through buildings like the switchbacks I once drove on with Holly in Northern California. Almost every building I could see was a brilliant white and there were magnificent boats near the docks. One of them reminded me of Dad's boat back in Manchester.

I peered up at Will through my eyelashes. He was quiet again, looking out the window. His jaw set firmly in place, a trait I had begun to recognize. He had experienced belonging to a gang, joining the MI6, and the death of someone close to him; I wanted to know more about his story, but our game of 20 Questions had come to an end, and he looked uncomfortable talking about it. Idly I wondered if Gio knew about his history.

The car parked at a large structured edifice. The sight of it gave me the chills because the intimidating nature of it reminded me of WWM. The white sandstone matched much of every other building I saw there.

"This is the archive." Will remarked. My mouth dropped open looking at the sheer size of the place. For most of the buildings I've seen in Greece so far, this was the largest. Will and I left the driver behind,and walked through the entrance framed by glass. We were promptly greeted by a pretty dark-haired receptionist.

"We're here to see-" Will checked a card Gio had given him before we left. "Dr. Chen—we have an appointment."

"Right away." She picked up the phone and then put it down.

"He's in his office. Follow me." She led us through two security doors and down a long corridor. We arrived at an office that seemed to be at the back corner of the building, with windows looking out at the calm ocean.

"Ms. Westfield." A dark-haired man stood in front of one of the windows, looking at me intently. I walked over and shook his hand.

"Eva, please."

"When your assistant called me, I could hardly believe you were already coming. Your Father was right."

I gasped excitedly. "You knew my Father?"

He nodded as if he didn't understand.

"Yes, he said you were coming to collect the letters."

"Letters? What letters?" This was getting more confusing by the second. I already have the letters! I looked up at Will who shrugged.

"He didn't tell you?"

I shook my head.

"Hmm very strange." He folded his hands. "Very strange indeed. Maybe you can call him and he will be able to tell you more."

My jaw clenched. Will put his hand on my shoulder.

"What's wrong, dear?" The doctor's eyes widened.

I struggled to get the words out. "Well my Father actually—died two weeks ago."

"Oh dear, oh dear, I'm so sorry." He put both of his hands to his face. "I had no idea!"

"It's alright, you didn't know." I assured him. "But he left me letters that my assistant believed led to here. Having to do with original copies of Dickens novels."

"Come with me then, I'll show you the letters he left right away. Your Father paid frequent visits here, I remember well."

He led us out the door of his office. "They're letters of correspondence between your Mother and Father. He wanted them here for safe-keeping. He said that you may come looking for them."