He took a deep breath and reached for my waist again to pull me close. Some people were looking, but most people weren’t. We were in the middle of a crowded public coffee shop and no onecared.
Talk about a dream come to life.
“Your dad wasn’t sure it would happen, and he didn’t want to break your heart if it didn’t. And once we knew itwouldhappen, I told him I wanted to be the one to tell you,” he said, tracing rhythmic circles on my hip, as much to comfort himself as me. “In person. And he respected me enough to let me.”
The message.Thatwas why my dad had asked me to call. He’d known Shai was on his way here, or maybe had already arrived. Astonishingly, my dad hadmade it happen. And he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
“Wait. My dad? You?Respect?”
“I know. Historically, those three things haven’t really gone together, but you shouldseehim, Lou. I know science, but I don’t know business, and he does, and he’s already taught me a lot, and well… shit, he’strying. He really is. Come to think of it,” he said, his awkwardness filling me with sympathy for the countlessotherawkward moments he and my father must have endured in the past week, “in his own way, I think he alwayswastrying.”
“You know,” I said slowly, “I think he was, too.”
“Want to go for a walk?” Shai asked. “I know you’re working, but?—”
“It’s all good, Louisa!” called Basia with a wink. “Consider this working for the cause.”
Over by the register, Malin piped up, “What cause? Public indecency awareness? You know that by ‘walk,’ he means?—”
Rebekah shushed her, but Basia just laughed.
“You and Malin would get along famously, I think,” I remarked to Shai. “Also, it’s snowing.”No shit.He’d just come in from outside. Clearly, my brain had switched off, but I wasn’t sure it would ever fully switch on again. Not as long as I hadthisto look at.
“It’s okay. I lived in the desert for a while, you know.” He pushed open the door with a rapid, nearly undetectable glance at me, something about its slyness bringing on memories so strong they almost knocked me over before the brisk rush of air even had a chance. And then there we were, as public as public gets, emerging right out onto the sidewalk, into the rush of traffic and the orange glow of the streetlamps just lit. In front of cars. In front of people. In front of the world that was about to be ours.
“So I kind of like the snow,” he explained. “It’s more like home. Only problem is I’m in a Porsche convertible.”
“Excuse me?”
He laughed, brushing a few stray flakes from my hair playfully. “Don’t worry, it’s just a rental. A really fucking stupid rental, given the forecast,” he said sheepishly. “But it’s smarter than a motorcycle, which I was also considering. Although at least with that, it would have been easier to find parking.”
We strolled to the end of the block, boots crunching. I nestled closer into him, shielding myself against the chill.
“You have a driver’s license already?”
“Let me put it this way: Until you have friends in the feds, you don’t realize how much you need them.”
We paused at the edge of the common, taking in the serenity.
“And the money?—”
“I’m getting a salary. A modest one. But the majority of it, for right now, will go right back into the business, to help us scale. Your dad’s getting some extra to go toward freeing the other slaves. The board considered that a business expense, too. Optics, you know.”
When we got to the first light, he pulled me closer, our bodies pressed together as the snow fell gently over us, the rapid beat of his heart right up against my own chest. I gazed up at him in shock. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Dead serious. The valet, of course, said he’d rather stay, and your dad’s promised him a home for life, in any case.”
“But Aveline—” I asked, thinking of the maid who had finally confessed her birth name to me in San Diego after one too many passionfruit margaritas. It was probably the one thing that had actually gonerightduring that bizarre little jaunt, but I didn’t regret any of it, and I hoped she didn’t, either.
“She’s headed up north with the housekeeper—Samantha, that is. Newfoundland, I think? Sam wants to try to see her kids, and Aveline says she has no interest in tracking down her parents, so they decided to stick together for a while.”
I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder as we walked, the snow muffling the distant sounds of the city surrounding us. There would be time enough for all of that now.
“Are they okay? Also, how have my parents not starved to death under a pile of dirt?”
“Your dad can cook and clean, as it turns out. It’s been twenty years since he’s had to, but he can.” He continued in a quieter voice as we waited for the next light to change, the weight of his arm resting perfectly around my waist. He raised my hand, thumb on the back of my palm, fingers mingling with mine. “And as for them… Well, it’s not easy, Lou. For any of us.”
And it’s not something you’ll ever fully understandwas implied.
