Lena had hoped, in the back of her mind, that he would be here. She had the romantic idea that he might have felt her presence here in Oia. He would have hurried up to the rock, she could have looked at him, and she could have known.
Lena had been absolutely sure of two things throughout her life. The first was the Septembers. The second was that Kostos had loved her. She felt sure of Paul, but in a different way.
Paul was sweet. He was dependable, reliable, and handsome. He let her be silent. He had never said a word about how pretty she was, except for one time they went somewhere dressy.
But Paul was safe. Paul was who everyone expected little Lena to marry. Paul did nothing for Lena. She could be the same person she always was.
So why had she said yes?
"Hurry, Lenny," Carmen called up the stairs.
"I'm coming, I just didn't know he was coming," she called back down.
"That's the definition of a surprise. Don't forget to look nice!" Carmen knew Lena was beautiful no matter what, but she also understood Lena might not understand that she might want to look nice for this occasion.
Paul looked awkward, standing in Lena's semiformal house. Carmen bounced over to him. She couldn't hold her excitement in. "I'm so excited Paul! I'm sure she'll say yes. You did talk to her dad, didn't you?"
Paul nodded. "Yes."
Carmen rolled her eyes. "Are you nervous?"
He looked at her again, blinked. "Yes."
She laughed. "Don't be. Lena loves you, she told me so last night. It's absolutely crazy! I am so happy for you guys!" She turned and faced the stairs. "LENA!" she bellowed. It was fun to be the loud one sometimes.
She came down the stairs, looking so sweet and shining that Carmen had to keep the jealousy off her face.
Lena had seen Paul there and her heart had done that usual little flip-flop. She had then looked back at Carmen, who was smiling like crazy. "Carma, I'm so surprised," she whispered to her.
Carmen smiled, a big fat smile that stretched all over her face. "You're going to have a lot of surprises tonight."
Then Lena went to Paul. They smiled. She didn't feel the need to say anything clever, be entertaining. "Hi."
She liked his simplicity. "Hi."
They went to the car. He took her to dinner. It was a small quiet restaurant by a river. The table had roses on it.
He had a job, at a brokerage firm here in Washington. He seemed nervous, which was entirely unusual. He told her about Krista. He said how he enjoyed his time with Carmen so much.
Lena was content to sit and soak in his words, to let them rush over her. She sensed he was trying to tell her something important. Then he took her outside, even though it was chilly. He held her hand. She kissed his cheek. He brushed her hair behind her ear.
And then he was on one knee, saying words that she didn't hear. She was distracted. He was presenting her with a glittering shard of light.
"Yes," she felt herself say.