The comment is ordinary enough to pass as admiration, but my attention sharpens. Luca has not mentioned the children tonight, and Alastair offers the detail as though they have already discussed his home life.
Luca doesn't hesitate. “I have a large family and excellent staff.”
“That makes all the difference.” Alastair releases his hand, praises the evening again, and moves toward another group without asking Luca for private time or offering him a card.
The room continues around us, but I watch it more carefully after he moves away. Blake waits until Luca is pulled into another conversation before coming to my side. He keeps his voice low enough that the people nearest us cannot hear.
“When Mercer shook his hand, he looked down Luca’s body before he let go.”
“Attraction?”
“No.” Blake adjusts his grip on the cane. “It was too quick to challenge, and I may be wrong. It looked evaluative.”
I find Alastair near the garden display, listening while a resident explains which plants she chose for the winter beds. His posture remains open, his attention fixed on the person speaking. Nothing in his expression supports Blake’s conclusion.
“Keep it with the rest,” I say.
Blake nods once and returns his attention to Luca.
Josie remains near the refreshment table after Alastair moves on. Her gaze follows Maya across the room when Maya catches Luca by the sleeve and brings him toward another resident. For several seconds, Josie’s expression is unguarded. I cannot tell whether I am seeing envy, grief, or simple exhaustion. She watches Maya lean comfortably into Luca’s side while he listens, and something in her face tightens.
Alastair returns and places one hand lightly on her upper arm.
Josie straightens at once. Her shoulders settle, her expression clears, and she turns toward the couple Alastair is greeting as though she had never been watching Luca at all. The touch could be nothing more than a signal that he wants her attention. I remember it anyway.
Alastair leaves before the event is fully over. He thanks Blossom, shakes Luca’s hand a second time without repeatingthe personal comment, and departs with Josie while several donors are still collecting their coats.
The room empties slowly after that. Staff members stack information packets, residents gather children and misplaced sweaters, and the catering trays disappear one by one into the kitchen. Blossom carries the last platter through the doorway with both hands and sets it down harder than necessary.
“The next person who orders miniature quiches can eat all of them alone,” she says.
Maya follows her with a stack of cups. “You ate four.”
“For quality control.”
Luca laughs as he lowers himself into the chair at the edge of the kitchen table. The sound is softer than it was earlier, and his shoulders settle heavily against the back of the chair. Blossom slides a plate of real food in front of him before he can claim he isn't hungry.
I take the chair beside him. Luca eats two bites, then turns sideways and stretches one tired leg across my lap as though the space has been waiting for him all evening. I slide my hand beneath his ankle and work my thumb slowly into the arch of his foot.
His shoulders loosen. He reaches across without asking and steals a piece of chicken from my plate.
“That was mine.”
Luca smiles around the bite, laughter still warming his face. “You were too slow.”
Maya laughs from the doorway while Blossom begins wrapping the remaining food. Luca takes another bite and looks through the kitchen toward the emptied common room.
“It went well.”
“It did.”
Blake pauses in the doorway. His eyes meet mine briefly before shifting to Luca and the plate in front of him. I keepAlastair’s glance and Josie’s reaction where I have placed them, beside the donor withdrawals, the altered acquisition terms, and the questions that continue appearing around Ember House.
Luca leans back in the chair and closes his eyes while my thumb moves once more along the arch of his foot. The evening has lasted for hours, and he has spent most of it standing, answering questions, and moving between rooms. His fatigue has an easy explanation.
For tonight, that explanation is enough.
11
