Athena's Daughter Read Free Page A

and smiled down at her,
strands of long blonde hair escaping his ponytail. “My God, Athena.
Where have you been all these years?” He touched her cheek and hair
as if to reassure himself she was real. “You just disappeared after
that summer. Why didn’t you keep in touch?”
    Before she could answer, she was swept up
into hugs by Ian and Robin, their surprise and pleasure at seeing
her evident by their huge smiles.
    Athena returned their hugs, her emotions
whipsawing. On the one hand, she was so thrilled to see them again,
warmed by the good memories of their time together. On the other
hand…
    “I can’t believe you guys even remember me,”
she told them, wiping away a few stray tears that had escaped.
    “Of course we remember you,” Paul laughed.
“Who can forget that summer?”
    She managed a genuine smile. “Those were good
times. But I swear I still have dents in my back from sleeping on
top of Ian’s drum cases in the back of the van.”
    “We provided excellent accommodations, didn’t
we?” Paul squeezed her hand and turned to Robin. “Go tell Derek to
put out his cig and get in here. I can’t wait to see his face when
he sees who we’ve found.”
    For one brief, hopeful moment Athena had
prayed the band had a new guitar player. When her panicked gaze
hadn’t found Derek Marshall among the group, she was swamped by a
combination of relief and bone-crushing disappointment. Knowing he
was about to walk through the door added anxiety and a large dose
of fear, and the cocktail of emotions left her feeling sick.
    Keeping her focus on Paul’s animated face,
she tried to concentrate on what he was saying, but the roaring in
her ears made it impossible. She might as well have been standing
on the runway at Memphis International Airport for all the good it
did her. But one voice cut through the noise, and she heard it with
startling clarity even though it was nothing louder than a shocked
whisper.
    “Athena?”
    Oh, God, that voice. Just that one word went
through her like a knife and brought back a torrent of memories she
had spent years trying to keep buried.
    “Athena?” the voice repeated. “Is it really
you?”
    Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and
looked up. Derek Marshall stood before her, his beautiful face a
mask of astonishment. This was the moment she had been both
dreading and anticipating, and the reason she’d wanted to wear
something nice. She wanted to show him that she’d recovered from
his callous betrayal and that she wasn’t the same gullible girl
he’d known all those years ago.
    The thought made her lift her chin a bit and
gave her the strength to look him in the face. When she did, it hit
her like a blow to the midsection. With trembling lips she stared
into Derek’s eyes; eyes that were the same vivid blue as
Elizabeth’s.
     
     
     

CHAPTER THREE

    London, England, June 18, 1967
     
    “Happy birthday, dear Paulie; happy birthday
to you!”
    The line of teenage girls swayed in rhythm as
they sang, eyes fixed on the stark black door that marked the
entrance to 3 Savile Row. None of them knew if Paul McCartney was
even at the Apple Records office that day, but they still wanted to
mark his birthday in some unforgettable manner. There had been a
half-hearted suggestion to go in and ask if Paul was present, but
the thought of singing to him in person was too daunting. Much
easier to serenade from the sidewalk where they could remain
anonymous.
    As the song came to an end, they broke apart
with giggles and started to drift away down the sidewalk. Athena
Hill hung back for a moment with a last, wistful glance at the door
behind the iron fence. She had made the suggestion that they try to
get inside and was still willing to give it a shot. Meeting Paul
McCartney would be worth any amount of embarrassment in her
opinion, but her companions weren’t having it. With a sigh, she
turned to follow them, already regretting the lost opportunity.
    Athena had been in London