“So,” Connelly says. “How’s fatherhood?”
Caleb laughs, a sound edged with exhaustion. “Terrifying. Amazing. I haven’t slept more than two hours in a row since Henry was born.”
“That’s normal,” Sasha assures him. “Sometimes it gets better around six weeks.”
“Six weeks,” Caleb repeats, like it’s a life sentence.
She decides not to emphasize that she said sometimes. No need to wrest a life preserver out of the man’s arms.
Finn blurts, “What’s his favorite book?”
Caleb blinks. “He’s not even a week old. He doesn’t have a favorite anything yet.”
“But you’re reading to him, right?” Finn looks genuinely concerned.
“Of course. Goodnight Moon, mostly.”
Finn nods, satisfied. “Good.”
Emmaline returns with Henry, who’s asleep again, thanks to a full belly and a dry diaper. Connelly goes to the kitchen to check on the baking pizzas. The twins pepper Caleb and Emmaline with questions about England, teaching, and if they’ve ever seen a palace guard crack a smile.
When the pizzas are ready, the group moves to the dining room. This relocation disturbs Henry, and Emmaline stands up, swaying gently to soothe him while eating one-handed.
Once he’s calm and everyone’s eaten their fill, she lets Fiona hold him. Sasha reminds her to support the baby’s neck. Finn holds out his finger, and Henry wraps his teeny fist around it.
After a few minutes spent cooing at Henry, Fiona passes him back to his mother.
“Can we watch our tv show?” Finn asks Sasha.
It’s time for a new episode of the mystery-solving, skateboarding, middle school sleuth.
“Sure. We’ll have dessert when you come back down.”
Once they’ve run off, Connelly turns to Caleb.
“So,” he says casually. “How are book sales? I saw a great review the other day.”
Caleb’s expression shutters slightly and refills his wine glass. “I don’t get real-time sales figures. But if it’s the review I’m thinking of, it got a lot of attention because of … current events.”
“Where do you get your ideas?” Sasha asks. “The technical details in The Payback were so specific. You must do a lot of research.”
“I read a lot. Watch documentaries.”
“About Turkey? Or silver mining? Chemistry? The military? So much information to keep track of.”
“I work from a detailed outline.”
“But you still have to do the research, right? Or do you have a research assistant?” Connelly asks.
Caleb shifts in his chair “Sort of. It’s complicated.”
Emmaline touches his arm. “You don’t have to talk about work, darling. We’re supposed to be relaxing.”
“We’re just fascinated by all the details. It’s not often we get talk to a real live author,” Sasha says excitedly.
Caleb looks at her for a long moment. “I can’t really talk about it. There are confidentiality agreements.”
“Of course,” Connelly says smoothly. “We didn’t mean to pry.”
