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“And Ayesha, Sydney told me what you do for a living,” Dmitri said. “Even if she didn’t, I would have picked up on it. You have a warmth about you, and the way you look at people makes them want to open up.”
“I don’t think I have a special way of looking at people.”
“Even if there were days I forgot I was in charge, the way people look at me would remind me,” he said. “You look at me like you care, whether it’s if the room’s too cold or hot or if someone in my family recently passed away. It’s not common to find that in a stranger. Most of the time, people look to unload their worries onto someone else. They listen only for an opening. A chance to jump in with their personal struggles. People you can talk to,trulytalk to, are easy to spot. At least if you’ve spent your entire life having to read people.”
She smiled.
She liked this guy.
“I could just be good at what I do,” she protested.
“Or your personality is what called you to that profession in the first place.”
Josiah pointed at her. “Touché, Ma.”
Dmitri, chuckling, took a sip of water.
She examined the exhaustion on his handsome face, the sprinkle of sweat on his forehead, and the wild look that entered his eyes from time to time. He wasn’t well, but she hoped it wasn’t anything serious.
Sydney had worried about losing Joel to a bullet, but in times like these, she wondered whether Sydney realized that nature had more dangerous weapons at its disposal. Gage, Mike, Julien, Dez, and Giorgio could protect Joel from harm much better than they could ever protect him from illness. But thinking about Joel and illness made her sick.
She grabbed a piece of French toast, took a bite, and was pleasantly surprised. The boys had outdone themselves, but she suspected Joel had some involvement in the surprise breakfast, which meant she’d slept harder than she’d realized.
Joel and Sydney made their way down the stairs, and Sydney headed straight for Dmitri after tossing a glance her way. There was no hug, “hi,” or “See you later.”
The doorbell rang.
“Ma, that’s Julien.” Josiah kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie. Have a good day at school.”
Joel walked over to the table, tucked his fingers underneath her chin, and gave her a kiss so sweet, italmosterased all her earlier anxiety.
“Don’t eat without me, Eesh,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
He kissed her again, even sweeter, then walked out with Josiah, one hand around Josiah’s shoulders. As Dmitri and Sydney turned to leave, Dmitri nodded in her direction and mouthed, “Thank you.”
She responded with a smile.
Theo cartwheeled into the kitchen. “Hi, Mama.”
“Hi, Theo.”
“Who was that man?”
“A friend of Sydney’s.”
“Does he have the fluenza?”
“He did look a little under the weather, didn’t he?”
“Can somebody be on top of the weather?”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
“Whatever that means.” He hopped over to her chair. “Do you like the breakfast, Mama? I did the grapes and the cheese.”
“It’s very delicious, Theo.” It wasn’t their first time making her a meal, but the fact that everything was edible was another clue that Joel had assisted in some way. “It looks so filling. Thank you for an amazing breakfast.”
