Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,82
we should buy. And that’s how we ended up living here.
It’s been five years of total bliss. Well, not entirely. We haven’t just been on vacation for the last five years—Luke and I are both way too high achieving to do something like that, even though we could afford it. Not too long after moving to Greece, we both got back to work. Today is a business day for us. Maybe the most important one in a long time. And that’s why I dug out my old Chanel suit.
“Mommy, you look pretty.”
My daughter Alexandria is looking up at me, her eyes wide with amazement. She’s never seen me dressed up like this in her four years. Of course, I’ve dressed up to go out with Luke, but never in a suit before. This is something very different.
“Why, thank you,” I say. “You look pretty too.”
Alexandria spins around in her new pink dress. Luke bought it for her, because she loves dresses. I do my best to raise her right, but I’m not going to deny that our only child is spoiled rotten. But she’s still a very sweet girl. And so smart, you wouldn’t believe it. She’s only four, and she’s already reading Harry Potter.
Alexandria was born here in Greece. I was in labor forty-six miserable hours in a hospital in Athens before she finally made her appearance. She’s only been to the states a handful of times to visit family. She’s a Greek girl all over—she’s even fluent in the language, thanks to her father. Her skin is deeply tanned and her hair is golden like Luke’s. She looks a lot like him.
We got married when Alexandria was three months old. Luke wanted to get married before she was born, but I didn’t want to have a rushed wedding with a huge pregnant belly. So our daughter attended our wedding as a guest. Sophie and my mother took turns holding her through the ceremony.
“Also,” Alexandria adds, “Daddy looks handsome.”
I smile. “Does he?”
She nods solemnly.
As if on cue, Luke wheels out of the bedroom wearing a dark gray suit. As our daughter warned me, he looks achingly handsome. We are both pushing forty, but he just seems to get better looking every year. So unfair.
“Well, well, well,” I say. “Don’t you look sharp, Mr. Thayer.”
“Not as sharp as you, Mrs. Thayer.”
I swallow hard. God, he looks handsome in that suit. He never wears suits anymore—there’s no need since he never goes to the office anymore. He probably spends more time in a bathing suit than an Armani suit. Greece is far from the most handicapped friendly country in Europe, to put it mildly (the streets are a disaster), but Mykonos has several accessible beaches. There’s one only a short distance from us where there’s a wooden path to wheel right up to the ocean. Alexandria has spent most of her young life at the beach.
He gained the tan back that he lost over the last decade. His hair is as golden as our daughter’s, although laced with more gray now. Even his chest is tan. At first, he was reluctant to take his shirt off at the beach, but now he does it without even thinking about it. He looks the best he ever has.
He straightens out his posture. “Are you ready for the meeting?”
I nod, trying not to let on how nervous I am. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“What meeting?” Alexandria pipes up. She looks up at him with her adorable round face. “I want to go to a meeting!”
“No, sweetie,” Luke says patiently. “The meeting is just for Mom and Dad. Despina will take you to the beach while we’re busy.”
“But I want to stay with you!” Alexandria scrambles up onto Luke’s lap. It’s always frustrated him that his hands are too weak to lift her, but he can help give her a boost if she starts the process. And now she climbs up there on her own. “Can I stay? Pretty please?”
“I’ll tell you what,” Luke says. “Until it’s time to go, I’ll give you a ride on the ramp.”
When we purchased this spacious five-bedroom one-story house, there were six steps to get in the front door. The first thing we did before we moved in was to build a long ramp to go inside. The longer the better, to put less strain on his arms. One of Alexandria’s favorite things is riding with him down the ramp—she always squeals with excitement.
However, in the last year, she’s