Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
"Thank God."
"It’s quiet for now, Renata," I say. I don’t want to break the spell. I don’t want to be negative. As much as I want to believe that the peace we found is real and lasting, I can’t shake the feeling that danger still lurks. Maybe it’s all I’ve experienced haunting me. Maybe it’s legitimate, I don’t know. But I do know the La Sombra Roja cartel may be quiet for now, but they’re not gone. I glance at Renata and push the thought away.
For now, I have to live in this moment. For her. For us.
"I know," she says quietly. "There is no lasting peace, is there?"
I shake my head. "It just means that we live in the moment, that we appreciate everything we have now. Everything we worked for. Everything we earned. Everything we felt. We appreciate this. We take nothing for granted."
I can see it, just like she can—the laughter echoing across that yard, scooters and bikes askew by the drive. Lazy afternoons spent by the creek, teaching our kids how to fish or climb trees. I want that. We both do. But it’s still foreign to me to think about a future that’s not just survival.
"I like that. Take nothing for granted. Maybe that’s what all that bullshit about living in the moment actually means. Maybe we already have everything we need, right here.”
"Polina’s safety?” she asks, liberally buttering a roll.
"She’ll be married," I say simply.
"Does Mikhail have plans for that yet?”
“No, he wants to give us time to see what La Sombra Roja next move is first."
For one second, I’m pulled back to the smell of gunpowder thick in the air, Renata’s hand in mine. I don’t know if I’ll ever forget the fear in her eyes. I don’t want to. Seeing her here, full of hope and joy, I renew my conviction to keep her safe, to never give her reason to cling to me with fear ever again.
"So we’re not out of danger, but maybe it won’t be… It won’t be terrible," she says hopefully.
I grin at her and she smiles back. Hope mixed with realism, and just a touch of rose-colored glasses. I like that, though.
"Dessert? Cordial?" the waitress asks.
Renata winks at me. "This one's on me," she says magnanimously, spreading her hands across the table. "Order anything you want. The cake? An after-dinner cordial?”
I shake my head. “I let you buy the house. This is on me.”
The waitress’s eyes go wide. I don’t give a shit.
"Can you wrap this up, please?" Renata says sweetly, pushing her plate toward the waitress. She ate less than half of it.
The waitress leaves with her leftovers when it dawns on me. “Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you’re planning on feeding your steak to the dog,” I say with a groan. “You got the biggest steak on the menu only to bring it back home to him, didn’t you? Renata.”
"King Arthur is a good boy," she says in a little singsong voice. "Potty trained now and so obedient. Of course I'm giving this to him.” Her eyes flash with a hint of flirtation. “And don't you try to stop me, Ollie. Do you think I missed that bag of doggie treats on the front porch? I didn’t buy those."
"Whatever." I grunt. "They had a buy-one-get-one-free sale."
"Admit it. That playful, sweet pup has stolen your heart."
“Sure. He is a good boy.”
Renata can’t set foot out of our bed or head to the bathroom without him obediently following by her side. He growls and barks when people knock at the door until we tell him to heel. When she walks out to get the mail, he is glued to her side. He is a good boy.
"I like to see you with him,” she says softly. “Laugh all you want, but it shows me that you’ll be a good daddy."
"I guess, I mean if you think about it—" and then I realize her eyes are twinkling mischievously at me.
Did she say daddy? Did she mean that the way I thought she did? "Renata. Is there something you need to tell me?"
My heart breaks a little as I watch her. She's too beautiful for words. Her hair cascades over her shoulders, her eyes bright as starlight. She smiles as the waitress brings a huge piece of chocolate cake to our table.
"What do you think?" she says, grinning at me. Then she turns to the waitress. "Maybe you should make that two pieces of cake. One for him… and one for me and the baby.”
THE END