The Villa

gaze to lift. "If it's what you want so much, you could make him choose between you and me. I wouldn't have a chance. I'm asking you to give me one. If you can't, just can't, I'll make an excuse, clean this stuff up and be out of here before he gets home."
    Maddy wiped a tear off her cheek as she stared across the table. "Why?"
    "Because I don't want to hurt him, either."
    Maddy sniffled, frowned down at the table. "Can I taste that?"
    Pilar lifted a brow at her cup of espresso, then silently slid it toward Maddy. The girl sniffed it first, wrinkled her nose, but lifted the cup and tasted.
    "It's horrible. How can anybody drink that?"
    "An acquired taste, I guess. You'd like it better in the tiramisu."
    "Maybe." Maddy pushed the cup back across the table. "I guess I'll give it a chance."
     
    One thing Pilar was sure of: No one had a problem with her cooking. It had been a long time since she'd personally prepared a family dinner. Long enough for her to be outrageously pleased at the requests for second helpings and the cheerful compliments between bites.
    She'd used the dining room for the meal, hoping that thin layer of formality would be less threatening to Maddy. But the formality had broken down the minute Theo had the first bite of her manicotti and announced it "awesome grub."
    Theo did most of the talking, with his sister watching, digesting, then occasionally skewering through with a pointed question. It made her laugh, then it warmed her heart when David used a sports metaphor to illustrate an opinion and Maddy and she shared female amusement over the male mind.
    "Dad played baseball in college," Maddy told her.
    "Really? Another hidden talent. Were you good?"
    "I was great. First base."
    "Yeah, and he was so worried about his batting average, he never got past first base with the girls." Theo snickered, and easily ducked David's swing.
    "A lot you know. I was a home run…" He trailed off. "Any way I play that, I'm in trouble. So instead I'll just say that was an amazing meal. On behalf of myself and my two gluttons, I thank you."
    "You're welcome, but on behalf of your two gluttons, I'd like to point out you outate the table."
    "I have a fast metabolism," he claimed as Pilar got to her feet.
    "That's what they all say."
    "Oh no." He laid a hand over hers before she could stack the dishes. "House rule. He who cooks, cleans not."
    "I see. Well, that's a rule I can get behind." She lifted her plate, offered it to him. "Enjoy."
    "Another house rule," he said over Theo's whoop of laughter. "Dad gets to delegate. Theo and Maddy will be delighted to do the dishes."
    "Figures." Maddy heaved a sigh. "What do you get to do?"
    "I get to work off some of this excellent meal by taking the chef for a walk." Testing the waters with his kids, he leaned in and kissed Pilar warmly. "That work for you?"
    "Hard to complain."
    She went with him, pleased to be out in the spring night. "That's a lot of mess to leave two teenagers to handle."
    "Builds character. Besides, it'll give them time to talk about how I lured you outside for a make-out session."
    "Oh. Have I been lured?"
    "Sure hope so." He turned her into his arms, drawing her closer when she lifted her mouth to his. A long, slow thrill rippled through him at the way she sighed against him. The way she fit. "Haven't had much time to be together lately."
    "It's hard. So much going on." Content for now, she rested her head on his shoulder. "I know I've been hovering around Sophie. I can't help it. Thinking of her being attacked, right in our own home. Knowing someone walked in and out of her room, and mine, and my mother's… I've caught myself lying in bed at night listening for sounds the way I never have before."
    "I look out my window some nights, across the fields, and see your light. I want to tell you not to worry, but until this is settled, you will. We all will."
    "If it helps, I feel better when I look out my window and see the light in yours. It helps knowing you're so close."
    "Pilar." He drew her away, then lowered his forehead to hers.
    "What is it?"
    "There're some problems in the Italian offices. Some discrepancies in the figures that have turned up during the audit. I might have to go over for a few days. I don't like leaving now." His gaze shifted past her, back to the house with the kitchen lights bright in the window.
    "The kids can stay at the villa while you're gone. We'll take care of them, David. You don't have to worry about that."
    "No." Tereza