“Grandfather got a place for us on the water, right by Markas. He showed me around, and I was besotted. It was the first time I fell in love, and it was with a town. We wandered the alleys, and he got me this wide-brimmed hat with a pink grosgrain ribbon and, I don’t know, I felt like some sort of princess wandering around.” Bea gave a wistful smile. “He showed me the synagogue where he met G, and the street he grew up on, and the place where his dad was a butcher. He even showed me the spot at the Old Fortress where the Nazis took them, at gunpoint, to wait all day under the scorching sun. Then those monsters squeezed them onto death boats and sent them to Auschwitz.”

“The Old Fortress?” Joey flinched. That was where she and Leo had gone to the meadow sometimes. She suddenly remembered being there one summer on a day Leo had decreed that every fifth word out of their mouths should be mulberry. She wasn’t sure she’d laughed as hard since. That such a day shared a history with the extermination of her grandparents’ families made her body jerk with a shiver. Maybe their whole island had been cursed.

“On our second week of vacation, I went to the beach without Grandfather. I wore this pink polka-dot bikini with my new hat, and I felt very fresh.”

“This is where you meet Rand,” said Joey, recognizing the beats of a story.

“Yes, Rand was with two friends. They’d graduated from Michigan and were traveling the Greek islands. They were only supposed to stay two days but wound up extending to ten.” Bea studied her lemon-yellow fingernails. “I suppose it would be cliché to say it was love at first sight.”

Joey felt herself getting riled. “It would be. Let me save you the trouble. Rand couldn’t take his eyes off your bikini. He said something suave and Rand-ish. He wined and dined you, and when Grandfather was sleeping, you sneaked off.”

“I guess.”

“Okay.” Joey twined her fingers together. “So then what?”

“Well, Grandfather wasn’t an idiot. Eventually, I had to introduce him to Rand, and he gathered immediately that Rand wasn’t Jewish. Now, Grandfather wasn’t particularly bothered by this, but his allegiance was clearly to G. He told her on the phone.”

“And?”

“And what do you think? G said things like extremely disappointed and this is what they died at Auschwitz for. She ordered us directly home. Grandfather did one thing for me though. He said, I’m going to sleep, and he kissed my forehead. It was six P.M. He gave me one last night. Our flight was the next day. I’ve never been so upset.”