He shook his head with a serious look. “I dreamed about Mama.”
Meredith paused in uncertainty before responding, “Was it a happy dream?”
He nodded again, more eagerly this time.
“That’s wonderful. I used to have dreams about my mother…sometimes.” It had been quite a while now.
His brightness faded. “But she had to go. And I wanted her to stay.”
She put a hand on his small shoulder. “I know what you mean. I used to feel that same way when I had a dream about my mom.” She sighed. “But I’m encouraged to know I’ll see her again…someday.”
“Really?” He looked hopeful and doubtful at the same time.
“I believe I will. But only in God’s timing.”
“What does that mean? God’s timing?”
She considered her answer. “Well, God is huge. He created the world we live in and the entire universe. The way He plans things isn’t how we would plan things. We couldn’t make elephants or lions or stars in the sky, could we?”
Mishka shook his head. “No, that’s impossible.”
“So I tell myself since I can’t do those things, I have to trust God—because He can do those things. And I have to go along with the way He thinks is best.” She peered at him. “Does that make sense?”
He still had a pondering look. “I think so.”
“It’s a lot to make sense of.” She chuckled. “I’m a lot older than you are, and I’m still working on it. But you’re an intelligent boy. Maybe you can.” She picked up his hairbrush to smooth down the back of his hair. “There. Perfect.” She glanced at the clock by his bed to see it was nearly eight. “Should we see if Kat’s awake yet?”
He grimaced.
“Maybe I should do that. Why don’t I meet you downstairs?”
“Okay.” With that, he scurried away.
With some trepidation, Meredith knocked lightly on Kat’s closed door. With no answer, she rapt a bit harder. Still nothing. Suddenly worried that headstrong girl could’ve slipped out after Meredith had fallen asleep—but why would she?—Meredith cracked open the door. “Kat?” she said quietly. “Are you up?”She went into the room, where to her relief, Kat was in bed. Okay, she’d have felt more relief if the girl had been up. She went over and gently shook Kat’s shoulder. “Hey, sleepyhead, time to get up.”
Kat groaned and rolled over. “I’m tired.”
Meredith considered this. Hadn’t there been times when she’d longed to sleep in? Especially in adolescence. Sure, Kat wasn’t a teenager yet, but she acted like one. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to let her sleep a bit longer.
“Okay,” she whispered in Kat’s ear. “You can sleep in until nine, but then I’m getting you up. I’ll save some breakfast for you. Because you’re going to need it today if you want to beat me in a tennis match.” She chuckled and, as she stood, she thought she saw one of those pale eyebrows arch, ever so slightly. Pleased that she’d baited the trap, Meredith went down for breakfast.
A small but elegant buffet was all set up in the dining room. It seemed a bit much for three diners, but remembering the children were royalty, she figured it was typical. As she loaded her plate with eggs, crepes, sausage, and fruit, she felt quite indulgent. “Do you always have breakfast like this?” she quietly asked Mishka as she sat across from him.
“No.” He shook his head. “When we eat in the kitchen, Mrs. Warner sometimes gives us mush and soft-boiled eggs and juice.”
Meredith filled her coffee cup, pausing to inhale the fragrant aroma of what had to be good coffee, not the instant she’d gotten used to over the years. Delightful. And the view from this room, looking out onto the lush green grounds and the pond…once again, she felt like she’d won a free trip to an Austrian vacation destination resort. “Do you and Kat come here every summer?” she asked. “For your holiday?”
“Uh-huh,” he answered as he chewed.
Instead of reminding him about talking with a full mouth, she asked if they always came without parents. “Just you and Kat and the Warners?”
“And the nanny. I mean, the governess.”
“Did you have the same governess here that you had back in your homeland?” She was trying to remember the name of their tiny country, wishing she’d written it down. Maybe on her hand!
“We had Nanny Bosko for a long time. But she got too old. She was Mama’s nanny when she was a little girl. After her we had some other ones. Papa wanted British nannies so we could work on our English.”
“I’m guessing you don’t speak English in your, uh, your country.”
