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“Oh, that’s my old stuff. Lily can have it as a gift.”
“Thank you, Nadia. She’ll probably want to call to thank you herself.”
“You know this is your son’s home. I shouldn’t stay here,” I stammered.
“No, it’s your home, Nadia. Paul wants you here.”
“Paul is upset with me now. I’ll probably have to leave.” I averted my eyes and chewed my lip.
“No, you’re merely curious about the life of someone you care about. There’s no reason to be upset about that. Aubrey was a sensitive, sweet woman who tried too hard to make everyone happy. Please understand his bitterness; he feels powerless. He’d been unable to protect her from her family struggles. Thinking of her makes us all regret not helping her.”
“I understand more now,” I murmured.
“Don’t worry. Paul will be fine. One thing I know about Paul is he’ll do his duty.”
Paul had to swallow his pain. My heart hurt for him.
Jonas kept me entertained and distracted, though. We played two rounds of checkers, and he won both.
I tensed before setting up the next game. “Don’t you have other things to do? Like, attend that dinner at Paul’s?”
“The dinner was his mom’s idea. Paul wasn’t involved. Besides, I’m retired. I do whatever I want to do. My daughter, Darling, is away with her aunt Mary to see some singer I can’teven try to remember. Lily and I have a moment of peace from her singing.”
He showed me a photo of Darling, and she had the Crane beauty. “She has the silver eyes like her mom Lily.”
The door opened with Paul. “Hey, Dad. Thank you.”
He got up and hugged Paul. “Anytime. Nadia is lovely and a pretty good checkers player.”
“I lost all our games,” I pointed out.
“As I said, I enjoy playing checkers with you.” Jonas winked.
“I’ll see Dad out. Go sit in the bedroom.”
I stood stubbornly in place and lifted my chin.
Jonas laughed. “I like her a lot, son.”
Paul returned, and I still stood where he’d left me ten minutes before. His eyes softened as he stared at me. “I shouldn’t have come in here with orders. I was caught off guard when I saw you tonight. I didn’t invite you because it was Aubrey’s event, and I feared you’d feel uncomfortable. My family and I are still at odds, and I wanted to protect you from that.”
What Paul said made sense. There was tension between his family, especially with his sister-in-law. My presence may have made them sadder for all they had lost. The other reason I wanted to let things go was because I wanted to give Paul another chance. We were good together, and perhaps he needed more time.
“How about we swim?” I suggested.
He eyed me speculatively. “We’re fighting, and you suggest we swim?”
Didn’t only people who cared about each other fight? Although, to be honest, I didn’t think we were fighting. Paul could have ignored me completely tonight. He could have stayed at his own place and not come to seek me out to apologize. He’d spoken to his family about me, too, which showed he wasn’t exactly hiding me. I know he didn’t love me, but at least he was showing me respect. I needed to be honest with him.
“I was upset about how you shut me out, but I understand why you kept Aubrey’s event from me now. Though I’d have preferred you to explain it before today, I want to move forward. Even more, I’d like to make you happy again.”
Paul came over and encircled my waist. “Being with you is the happiest I’ve felt all day.”
“I hadn’t known about what happened with Aubrey and her family. I’m so sorry.”
He exhaled long. “I shouldn’t have blamed Faith. Sure, she’s selfish and cruel, but the crash wasn’t her fault. It’s hard to try to be perfect for everyone.”I could definitely understand that. I’d tried to be perfect for my parents all my life. What nagged at me was why Paul didn’t insist she take his family jet home. He was always so bossy with me—insistent, even—that I couldn’t work out why he hadn’t been with his new wife. The only explanation I could come up with was that she didn’t tell him she was leaving.
And that is a question I will never ask him.
