We finish dinner in a strained silence. The only one who seemed to have enjoyed his meal is Noah. He climbs onto his knees on the bench when his dessert arrives. The waffle is served with a dollop of cream on the side and an array of toppings that comes in small bowls, allowing him to make his own creation, a task he takes to heart. He adds a little of everything, including chocolate chips, jellybeans, and colorful sprinkles, before presenting us with his artwork.
I snap a photo with my phone of a proud Noah showing off his dessert. My mind goes to the photos that were on the wall in Tatiana’s rented house, which are now safely in my briefcase. The past is what it is. I can’t turn back time and change it. But I’ll be damned if I don’t fill my walls with all the moments of his life yet to come—school portraits that map the years from gap-tooth smiles to awkward young adulthood, holidays, graduation, a wedding, and maybe, if I’m lucky, grandchildren. I nurse that idea like a man nurses a drink he doesn’t want to finish too quickly, allowing the sweetness of the promise to ease the loss the first four years of absence had eaten into my heart.
We’re back at the hotel early. I check that my men are in place and lock the elevator and door. Tatiana slips away with Noah to run him a bath.
Once more, I find myself facing off with Jasper in the lounge. “Do I need to lock you in?”
She crosses her arms. “Where am I going to go? You have men at every exit.”
“I’m glad you understand. In that case, I’ll say goodnight.”
She stares after me, her eyes burning holes into the back of my head as I walk to the study. When I return after locking the key card and my phone in the safe, Jasper is gone, and her bedroom door is closed.
I go to the bathroom between Jasper and Noah’s rooms. Splashing and Noah’s laughter come from the other side of the door.
I knock before entering. Noah sits in the tub in water up to his waist with shampoo bubbles in his hair and his curls fashioned into a spike on his head. He’s looking at his reflection in a hand mirror that Tatiana is holding from where she’s kneeling on the rug next to the tub.
They look up when I approach. The smile vanishes from Tatiana’s face. Tension replaces her carefree manner.
“Look, Dante.” Noah laughs. “I’m a woodpecker.”
I stop next to the bath. “A woodpecker, huh?” I tilt my head. “You look more like a dinosaur to me.”
“Oh, yeah.” He’s all teeth as he grins at me. “That’s a lot cooler.”
Tatiana’s tone holds a bite. “We’re learning about birds.”
Ignoring her hostility, I adopt an amiable tone. “We should go to the bird park.”
Noah is quick to jump on the offer. “Can we?”
Tatiana pushes to her feet, refusing the hand I offer her. “We’ll see.” She puts the mirror on the vanity. “Two more minutes, Noah.”
He pouts. “But I want to stay longer.”
“Bedtime is at eight. If you want me to read you a story, you better finish your bath.”
His shoulders sag in a dramatic way, making me smile, but he doesn’t argue.
“Can Dante read the story?” he asks.
“We’ll see,” Tatiana says again, turning away from me to pick his clothes up from the floor.
She carries the garments to the basin, which is filled with soapy water, and dunks them inside.
I come up behind her. “The hotel has a laundry service.”
She shrugs, keeping her back turned to me. “I’m used to washing our clothes by hand.”
I don’t like it. “You don’t have to.”
“It’s just a T-shirt and underpants.”
“Tatiana.”
At my stern tone, she spins around, soap bubbles dripping from her hands. “What?”
And there it is, that feisty nature of hers. She could never contain her anger or irritation.