“Exactly. If we’re doing this, we should do it sooner rather than later.”
“You’re insane.”
“Possibly. But I’m also right.”
I don’t know how to respond to that. Don’t know how to process the fact that he’s lying here talking about our future like it’s inevitable. Like we’re building something permanent instead of just surviving an arrangement neither of us chose.
“Think about it,” he says again.
Then he pulls me closer, and I let him because I don’t know what else to do.
23
LUCA
Maxim showsup unannounced on a Saturday morning.
I’m in the garden with the twins. Alexei is explaining his elaborate plan for a train track that will circle the entire estate. Mila is making flower crowns and insisting I wear one. Anna is inside making lunch.
Pavel appears at the garden gate. “Maxim is here. He’s asking to see you.”
I glance at the twins. “Tell him I’m busy.”
“He says it’s important. He’s willing to wait.”
Alexei looks up from his blueprint drawn in the dirt. “Who’s Maxim?”
“My son. Your brother.”
“The mean one?”
Out of the mouths of children. “Yes. The mean one.”
“I don’t like him.”
“That’s fair. He wasn’t very nice last time you saw him.”
Mila stops weaving flowers. “Is he going to yell again?”
“No. If he yells, he leaves. That’s the rule.”
Pavel is still standing at the gate. “Should I tell him to come back another time?”
I consider this. Maxim drove all the way here. Waited for Pavel to announce him instead of barging in. That’s more restraint than he showed at the disastrous dinner weeks ago.
“Tell him to wait in my study. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Pavel nods and leaves.
“Is the mean brother staying for lunch?” Mila asks.
“I don’t know yet.”
“I hope not. Mama made sandwiches, and there might not be enough.”
“There’s always enough sandwiches, baby.”
“But what if he eats all of them? He’s big like you.”
