Page 47 of The Pretender

“See you at dinner then.”

She waves, turning to put vegetables in the fridge. Before we leave, Nonna comes ambling into the room, a smile spreading over her face when she sees us.

“My boys. Did you have a fun outing?”

Brogan leans in and kisses her cheek. “We sure did. How’s your day been so far?”

“Good. I’m almost done with a crossword that’s taken me a damn week to solve. It’s good for the brain.” She taps her temple. “Annoys the hell out of me but keeps me sharp.”

“You are that, Nonna,” Brogan says.

“Don’t you forget it.”

“I’m gonna make alfredo for dinner,” Mom announces for Nonna’s benefit. “Would you like to make the gnocchi with me?”

“Oooh, gnocchi?” Balt says. “Sounds delicious.”

Nonna smiles at Balt. “We make it good too. Little puffs of clouds in your mouth. I’d love to make them with you, Jan.”

Brogan rubs their hands together. “Still full from lunch but already looking forward to dinner.”

“Me too,” I say.

“And the limoncello bars,” Mom adds. “For your birthday. Belated, of course.”

“We just missed it, didn’t we?” Brogan says.

“I’m home now. We can still celebrate.”

Balt smiles warmly at me and winks. We say our goodbyes to my family, bundle back up, then begin the walk back to the cottage. It’s definitely getting colder as the day goes on, and now I’m looking forward to a little cuddling on the couch.

Once we’re inside, Balt carries our groceries to the kitchen while I dump our other bags in the tiny living room. This feels so unexpectedly domestic. Balt is comfortable to hang out with even when I’m not climbing all over him.

“Want some cocoa?” he calls out from the kitchen.

“Yes, please.” I kick off my sneakers and join him in the kitchen, where he’s opening up cupboards until he finds a pot. I get to unpacking groceries and putting them away while he focuses on our warm beverages.

“This is nice,” he says, almost under his breath. “Better than I expected when I decided to get out of town.”

“You’re pretty brave, buying a ticket with no plans.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know if brave is the right word.” Balt takes a couple of bags of chips from me and puts them in the pantry. “I’ve learned that even the most particular plans don’t always go the way we hope. I’m not known for spur-of-the-moment decisions, but maybe it was time I tried something new.”

I nod while my mind entertains new, and very filthy, things we could try.

“What’s on your mind, Deo?”

“Nothing. Why?”

“Your cheeks are turning pink.”

I clear my throat. “Oh. I was thinking about what you said. About trying new things. I can relate to being in a rut in a few areas of life. I guess that’s what led me back here.”

“And so far so good?”

“Yeah. It feels better than I expected. I don’t think I realized how much I missed home.”

He nods, placing a bunch of bananas by the coffee machine. “A long time ago my grandfather told me that you had to pay attention to your life, because if you didn’t, one day you’d wake up and not recognize yourself. I took it to heart, but still, at some point, I looked away.”