로그인Night fell over Oregon in a way far too polite for a house currently being ruled by two tiny four-year-old criminals.Outside, rain clung to the large windows of the family room, its lines sliding down slowly like someone was trying to clean the world from the outside. Inside, the world refused to be cleaned. My linen sofa had lost two pillows. The expensive rug in the middle of the room was covered in LEGO pieces, Max’s socks, one of Issa’s plastic tiaras, three empty string cheese wrappers, and the tiny trail of something I sincerely hoped was chocolate.I sat on the sofa with one leg tucked beneath me, my hair still half damp from the shower I had taken too quickly earlier that afternoon after getting home from Nathan’s house. My cream sweater had slipped slightly off one shoulder. In my hand was a mug of chamomile that had gone cold because every time I tried to drink, one of my children decided they needed to declare a new war.Beside me, Bianna slept like the victim of a ritual.
Max narrowed his eyes. “You are not food.”Issa turned slowly. “Good.”“You are a cupcake that fell on the floor.”Issa blinked once. “I am an expensive cupcake,” she said. “You are a nugget someone forgot to cook.”Max immediately pouted. His round cheeks pushed forward, his blue eyes deeply offended in a way far too adorable for a boy who had stolen a spoon ten seconds ago. “I’m not a nugget.”“You look like a nugget when you sit like that.”“I’m handsome.”“Nuggets can have confidence too.”“Isabella,” I said.“What?” She looked at me with a face so innocent it failed completely, because her mouth was still holding back a smile. “I’m just saying the truth.”Max folded his arms over his chest, his mouth puckering. “I don’t want to talk to you,” Issa picked up her strawberry and took a small bite. “Finally. Peace.”“Okay.” I exhaled softly. “One more criminal sentence from either of you and I’m sending you to preschool in potato sacks.”Max turned fast. “What color are the sacks?”“
Max was trying to take one piece of strawberry from the side of Issa’s mug.Issa saw him. Her hand moved fast, small and ready to pinch.“Aw!” Max pulled his hand back, his lower lip immediately pushing forward. “Issa!”“That’s my strawberry.”“Your name isn’t on the strawberry.”“I saw it first.”“That’s not ownership.”“That’s destiny.”Nathan was still watching them with an expression far too entertained for a man whose countertop was currently being threatened by a fruit war.Max pouted, turned his body slightly, then very slowly took the small spoon from beside Issa’s red mug.Issa immediately turned her head. “Maxime.”Max froze with the spoon in his hand. “I’m just borrowing it.”“You’re stealing.”“I’ll give it back later.”“You always say later. Later is where all my things go to die.”I lowered my glass. “Max, give your sister back her spoon.”“I need a spoon.”“You have a spoon.”“Mine isn’t powerful.”Issa let out a small growl. The sound of a four-year-old with Gómez bloo
Nathan’s kitchen was not a kitchen.It was some kind of culinary museum that happened to have a sink.Dark marble stretched across the massive island like the surface of night polished until it could reflect small sins. Copper pans hung neatly above the large stove, not the kind of pans normal humans used to cook eggs, but the kind of pans that might make someone whisper in French before sautéing onions. In the left corner, an Italian chrome coffee machine stood arrogantly, full of tiny buttons and levers that looked like they could summon the mafia if pressed incorrectly.The large windows overlooked the wet forest behind the house. Pine trees, thin mist, dark soil, leaves still holding on to rainwater. Everything looked peaceful.Because this house did not have my two children as its official owners.Max was already sitting on a tall stool by the island, one knee up, his preschool shoe almost touching the side of the marble. He was eating pieces of fruit from a crystal bowl like nob
Some things, apparently, did not die just because five years had passed, two children had been born, and my life had turned into a combination of preschool schedules, board meetings, and glitter appearing in places no human being should ever find glitter.Some memories did not live in the head.They lived in the skin.In the way my breath stopped when Zach’s hands pressed into my waist. In the way my fingers crushed the lapels of his jacket the way they used to crush his jersey in the tiny kitchen of that Boston apartment, back when we were too young, too free, too stupid to know the world never let anything beautiful stay whole without demanding payment.Zach used to always be attached to me.In campus hallways, in the corners of parties, in front of the vending machine that sold disgusting coffee at two in the morning. His hand on my waist. His chin on my shoulder. His fingers hooked through the belt loop of my jeans as if I might disappear if he let go for more than five seconds.I
He led the way to the door.I walked first because I was not giving that man a chance to look like he was escorting me anywhere. My heels tapped against the wet stone. Behind me, Zach’s steps were heavier, slow, measured. He didn’t touch me again until we were inside the mansion.The inside of Nathan’s house smelled like old wood, citrus, and something expensive without a name. The foyer was wide, the pale stone floor polished, a curved staircase rising to the second floor with a black iron railing. No wealth was screaming. No tacky crystal, no gold begging to be noticed.Everything was calm.Too calm.Sand-colored linen sofas, a large abstract painting on the wall, a black ceramic vase on the console table, warm lights hidden in the ceiling recesses.“Uncle Handsome, Max said Dante has a villain face!” Issa called out.“Dante does have a villain face,” Nathan answered.“See!” Max shouted. “I was right!”“But don’t say it in front of Dante,” Nathan added. “He has an ego.”“Like Mommy,







