~Chapter 1~

The sun was starting to shine it's rays down to hit the Parga Beach water for the day just as Katherine was waking up. It was the beginning of summer vacation and Katherine had decided to spend it in her favorite place in the whole entire world, Parga. Her aunt Francy allowed her to stay in the apartment above her shop—the Eden Bistro—so long as she helps out during the weekdays.

She was getting dressed when her phone began to ring. Katherine walked over and noticed her cousin Skylar was calling. She answered the phone.

"Hey! What're you up to today?" Skylar asked.

"Nothing much. I have to work until 2 but after that, it's beach time!" Katherine replied.

"Well then, maybe I can join you. That is, if it's okay with you?"

"Wait, what? Where are you?"

"Well, I am currently standing in front of a set of two doors atop these beautifully decorated stairs near this restaurant titled, 'Eden Bistro' where are you?"

Katherine pulled her shirt over her head and tugged it down over her waist when she walked over to the door. "Wait...no, you can't be..." When she opened the door, she immediately recognized a familiar face. Katherine flung her arms around her cousin and pulled her in close to her. "I thought you had to go to a swim camp in Oklahoma?"

"I did, but I decided that whether I was in Greece or Oklahoma, I'd be getting some swim reps in for the season coming up. Except, my cousin was here and I couldn't pass up that opportunity, I mean.." Skylar eased.

Katherine gave her cousin another heartfelt hug. "Ugh, you're the best. You're gonna love it here, I promise! Here, let me take those." She took Skylar's luggage from her and walked back inside the apartment. "So, welcome to your home for the next..."Katherine searched for an answer.

"Oh! Right. The next month!"

"Ah, okay. Next month." Katherine looked at the time on her Apple Watch and gasped. "Oh gosh, I have to get to work. I'm 4 minutes late."

Skylar giggled, "Oh boy, you better get down there, Francy's going to kick your butt!"

"Noooo, she's never done that. She'll just scold me. Why don't you come down there with me and I can make you whatever you would like? Eggs, toast, a chocolate crépe, anything."

"Are you sure?" Skylar questioned trying not to be in the way.

"Are you kidding? Of course! Nobody really comes for at least another half hour. The town people are early morning people, but not that early. They sleep in a bit after partying all night until 1 or 2 am."

"Geez, for real? Every night?!"

"Yeah, mostly on the weekends, and it makes Monday more harsh than it already is." They both laughed. Katherine began walking out the door and locked it when Skylar followed her out. They went down the steps and right into the Bistro and Skylar sat on the middle bar stool seat.

"Wow, this place looks really nice. It's small, but it's beautiful." Katherine was opening the other side door to the shop and taking the chairs off of the tables. Skylar helped her out by setting up the few tables on the one side.

"Oh yeah, this place is filled with memories that I can remember as far back as I can think. There was one memory that I can remember vividly when Kathy and Shea traveled out here with us. I was sitting at that chair and I'm pretty sure it was Athena who made me the famous hot chocolate. Ugh, it was so good! I was sitting there alone and Francy came out to check on me and had to wipe my mouth because I had whipping cream smothered near my top lip." The girls laughed and Katherine continued to share a few more memories.

"Wow, I wish I could've come out here and traveled with your family before now. This place is starting to grow on me in these short minutes that I've been here!"

"Oh, you haven't even seen the bulk of it. You're just getting started." Just then, they both noticed the shops around them opening their doors to their shops and the sales racks coming out. The two cousins walked back in and Katherine started on those requested eggs. While Skylar sat there, she noticed the toy store shop near the bottom of the stairs.

"I bet that shop right there included a bunch of memories, huh?"

"Oh yeah, you know it. One time—I think I was around five or six—Francy bought me a plastic Barbie phone with a lanyard attached to it so that you could wear it, and boy did that thing get used up real nice!" Suddenly, Francy walked through the main doors and ran over to Skylar as soon as she noticed who she was.

"SKYLAR!! What are you doing here?! Don't you have a camp that you need to be at?" They shared a tight hug.

"Yeah, but I thought practicing in these waters would be a lot more fun."

"Oh gosh, I think it is! Oh! Let's all take a swim after we change shifts with Anthi and Mack!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Katherine exclaimed from the kitchen.

"Count me in! Oh and, no promises on swimming slow for you guys to keep up. I happen to be a fast one once I get in the water." Skylar contends.

They shared a short laugh. "Katherine, what are you making?"

"I'm on breakfast duty for Skylar's tapeworm. Oh, and do you have any goldfish for her to devour throughout the day?" The two cousins looked at each other and smiled at the inside joke.

"I don't, but if you get hungry, here's 10 euros to go get some food for lunch or ice cream or a souvenir, anything you'd like."

"Thank you Francy."

"Of course sweetheart. And you!" Francy pointed at Katherine in the kitchen as she finished scrambling the eggs. "Hot guy approaching, get out here..hurry!" Francy winked. Just as Katherine reached the drink area, she looked out the side door and saw a handsome figure gazing from shop to shop glancing on the insides of the individual stores. His blue eyes were as beautiful as the water in town did around midday and his hair looked like an actual wave from the water. He had swim shorts on and a light blue tank top. From his looks, there was definitely a possibility of him being a famous surfer, but at the very least, he knew how to swim. Skylar looked from him to Katherine and immediately got an idea.

"I'm on it! I'll be right back." Skylar winked.

"No! What're you doing? Where are you going?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"What kind of mischievous plan do you have up your sleeve now?" Katherine exclaimed with fear.

"You'll see. Wait right here and don't do something stupid like trip over your shoelace."

"Yeah, sure. I'll try my best!" Just then, Skylar strutted out the side door to catch up to him and began talking with him.

"Hello. My name is Skylar and you should really consider giving this bistro a second look. Are you hungry? Pfftt, of course you are, it's already 7:30 in the morning. Come with me." The man didn't say a thing, but he still followed Skylar into the bistro where he saw Francy. All of a sudden, Skylar soon realized that the guy she just told to come with her might speak Greek. She turned around hurriedly. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I didn't even ask you your name let alone what language you speak. Um so, what language do you speak?" After a few seconds, Francy realized who it was and ran into his arms to give him a hug. Skylar and Katherine were abashed. They looked at each other in confusion and looked back at the two of them speaking in English.

"Excuse me, did I miss something? Do you two know each other?" Skylar questioned.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, this is my friend Lela's son, Colton. He also lives in America, but he came out to visit for the summer." Francy commented with a grand smile on her face showing that she was up to something.

"Oh okay, cool. Who's Lela again? I've heard that name before, I swear."

"Lela was the woman I told you about that made the absolute best chocolate crepes in the entire world. There is nothing like hers." Katherine added from behind the bar listening in on the conversation between the three of them.

"Oh, right, I knew that!"

"Oh yeah! Colton, I have someone for you to meet. This is my niece, Katherine. She is from Colorado. Well, they're both from Colorado, but this is the one I was telling you about from earlier."

"Hello, I'm Colton," Just then, Katherine turned around, put the wine glass from the sink on the counter and came around the corner to wrap her arms around him. Colton was befuddled at why she was hugging him, but he followed suit and gave her a slight squeeze. When they let go, he caught his breath and tried to say something else but no words came out.

"I'm Katherine, and I'm pretty sure you live in Rhode Island, right? Unless you moved since we were 16 years old."

"No freaking way, is this really THE Katherine?!" Colton smiled happily and Katherine cheeks began to turn red. They released their gaze and hugged joyously, finding themselves holding each other quite tightly. Francy hinted in a drink motion for Katherine to get him something to drink.

"Oh, would you like something to drink?" Katherine walked over to the fridge near the front of the shop. We have orange juice, water, beer, soda, and a few more options."

"Umm, I'll take a nice glass of your cold water please."

"Yeah, sure, I can grab that. Give me a second." Skylar could sense the awkwardness arising in the shop so she interrupted it for a moment.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go look around and explore this wonderful city that I've heard such great things about for years. See you at 2 Katherine, have fun!" Skylar endorses.

"I'm gonna go with you. Can you manage the first 20 minutes while I give Skylar a tour? I'll be sure to leave some fun parts to you to show her later. Have fun catching up!"

"Yeah, that's fine. You too!"

Katherine walked over to the table Colton was sitting at and brought two glasses of water for both of them. After a few moments, Colton finally broke the silence. "Wow, has it really been seven years since we've seen each other?"

"Yeah, sounds about right! It feels so long ago."

"It does! You look good though, you grew up stunning as ever." Katherine began to smile.

"Why thank you, so do you, you grew up real nice. How's everyone in Rhode Island?"

"Everyone's doing well. My family and I moved to a smaller house because my brother branched off and started the family journey."

"How lovely! Does he have any kids?"

"His first is on its way. I think they're what, maybe six months pregnant with a girl."

"Oh my goodness how exciting!! Are you excited to become an uncle?"

"I think so. I've never done this uncle stuff before but it'll be fine after a while."

"I'm sure you're going to be just fine. You are a wonderful person as it is. I think you're absolutely ready."

"Thank you, that means a lot. What about you? How's your brother, still being a punk to you?"

"Oh gosh, has he ever not been a punk to me?" They laughed.

"Not that I know of. Do you want me to straighten him out for you?"

"No thank you, I think he's getting better at it. Although I'm sure he would like to hear from you."

Colton and Katherine's brother, John Philip used to be best friends when they were younger. Colton was a few months older than JP and almost a full year older than Katherine. Back in the day, the three of them were so close that leaving because the summer was ending completely ripped their hearts to pieces. However, that didn't stop them from continuing their friendship when they met the following summer. There were a few instances where JP would try to remove Katherine from the picture, though. One time, he pushed her to the ground and told her to stay there until Francy found her. When Colton noticed what JP had done, he walked over to Katherine, put a hand out and helped her up and put her behind him telling JP that he needed to include her or else they would leave him to play alone. After JP walked away, Katherine hugged Colton and thanked him for standing up to her brother.

"Yeah, absolutely. I'll give him a call when I get a chance!" The two of them continued to catch up until customers began to show up.

"Hey, I better go, my shift ends at 2, can we continue this around that time?"

"Definitely. I look forward to it. Good luck! Call me if you need any help, I'm scheduled to be here until the beginning of August." Colton put his hands in his pockets and walked out the door smoldering. Katherine got up with a smile that was glued to her face for the remainder of the shift. She was eager to see his handsome, good-looking face again later.