Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Tatiana
When we arrive home, a small welcoming party awaits me. Noah, Jazz, and Emily are gathered in the dining room. A crème br?lée cheesecake—my favorite—with a single birthday candle in the center stands on the table.
“Surprise,” they call out when I walk through the door.
“Mommy!” Noah runs to me and throws his arms around my legs. “Emily made you a cake. I helped her.”
He’s getting too heavy for me to pick up. My heart squeezes. He’s growing up so fast.
Crouching down, I hug him. “Thank you, sweetheart. It’s beautiful.” I give him a conspiratorial wink. “Did you sneak in a taste?”
He nods vigorously. “Emily let me lick out the bowl.”
I meet her gaze over his head. My mom used to let me do that when I was Noah’s age. She blinks and looks away quickly.
“You have to blow out the candle.” Noah takes my hand and pulls me to the table. “And you have to make a wish.”
Dante catches up with us. “Slow down, buddy.” He grabs Noah around the waist and hoists him into the air. “Let your mom say hello to everyone first.”
Laughing, Noah cries, “Again!”
“It’s only tomorrow,” Jazz says in a soft voice as she hugs me, “but I wanted to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday.” Overcome with emotion, she pulls away a little. “Well, after Noah, of course.” She adds with a tad of stiffness, “And Dante and Emily.”
I study her when she lets me go. “How are you?”
She flushes. “I’m great.”
Emily moves toward us, so I resign myself to leaving the questions for later.
“We wanted to do it tomorrow,” Emily says, “but Noah couldn’t wait.”
“Thanks for the cake. It looks delicious.”
Dante approaches with Noah, his big hand wrapped around Noah’s small one. There’s something about seeing my son’s father showing him affection and care, offering him his unconditioned love and protection, which melts my heart. Maybe it’s because my own father never showed me such consideration.
“I’m impressed.” I prop my hands on my hips and raise a brow at Noah. “I didn’t suspect a thing. You kept the secret really well.”
“It was a surprise.” He glances at Dante with pride. “I didn’t tell.”
Dante smiles down at him with a soft look in his eyes. “No, you didn’t.”
“Tea for everyone?” Emily asks.
I touch her arm. “Why don’t you relax for a change? I’ll make it.” I catch Jazz’s gaze. “Jazz will help me.”
Always quick to understand, Emily doesn’t argue.
“Can we get the gifts now?” Noah asks in a loud whisper.
Chuckling, Dante bends down to put them on eye level. “In a minute. Learning to practice patience is indispensable if you want to get far in life.”
Noah frowns. “What does indispensable mean?”
Emily laughs. “You asked for that one, Dante.”
“Come here.” He sits down, pulls the chair next to him around so that it faces his, and lifts Noah onto the seat. “It means not to be able to do without something.”
While Dante and Emily do their best to give Noah a vocabulary lesson, I escape to the kitchen with Jazz. Being familiar with the house, she’s at home. Without waiting to be invited, she fills the kettle with water and switches it on.
I steal a glance at her as I take the cups from the cupboard. “So, how are you really doing?”
She leans her butt on the counter and crosses her arms. “Why are you asking it like that?”
I take the milk from the fridge. “Like how?”
“Like that day you weren’t supposed to come over and walked in on my mother throwing dinner plates at me.”
Her mother was angry at her for not having done the dishes, so she broke them all… and it looked as if she was trying to break them on Jazz’s head. I was so upset for Jazz’s sake. Mrs. Everson stopped when she saw me, but she didn’t even apologize to Jazz. She just walked out without a word.
I put the milk on the counter and face my friend. “I saw you yesterday.”
It takes her a moment to catch on, and when she does, her cheeks turn red. “You were there?”
“I thought we could have lunch.” I make a face. “I should’ve called.”
She averts her gaze. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“Jazz.” I step closer, forcing her to look at me. “It’s me. You don’t have to pretend. And you don’t owe anyone explanations. You and Reino are two consenting adults.”
She blows a cherry-red curl from her forehead. “I don’t know what came over me. He came to apologize for setting me up, and well… I guess you can say the argument got heated.”
“At least he apologized.”
“Still.” Her expression hardens. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why? Why are you so angry with Reino? It’s not just about the musical.”
“It’s just…” She clenches her jaw. “It can’t work.”
“Are you sure it’s not worth a shot?”
She pushes off the counter. “I’ve never been surer of anything.”
Whatever happened between them, she’s not ready to talk about it.
She hesitates before blurting out, “I asked my agent to set me up for new auditions.”
“Jazz, that’s wonderful!”
She scoffs. “Let’s first see if anyone is interested.”
“Hey.” I hook my arm around hers. “That’s already a big step. It took guts. I’m proud of you.”
She flashes me a smile. “But this is your birthday party, and we’re supposed to talk about you. I bet Dante gave you something big and shiny that comes in a Hart Diamonds box.”
“Actually…” I bite my lip. “He gave me Teszner Agglomerates.”
Her eyes flare. She pulls away. “He did what?”
“Yep, it came as a shock to me too.”
To be honest, Dante and I haven’t spoken much since his confession. He never told me who the woman he took to the restaurant was, and I no longer want to find out. I don’t need to. I trust him when he says he’s not touched another woman since we’ve started seeing each other.
Jazz’s brow pleats. “Does Leander know?”
“We don’t have contact. Dante doesn’t want me to talk to him.”
“That’s definitely wise.” When I raise an eyebrow, she quickly adds, “You know I’ve never liked your brother. I think he’s the only person in the world I utterly and truly hate.”
I grin. “Except for Reino?”
She waves a hand. “That’s a different kind of hate.” Taking the kettle, she busies herself with pouring water in the teapot. “We better get back to the others. Noah is dying for a slice of cake.”
When we return with the tea, three gift bags are waiting next to the cake.
Noah runs to me. “Open them, Mommy! I made you a drawing.”
Jazz takes the tray from me to free my hands.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” I hug him. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Noah climbs onto a chair, grabs a gift parcel with a big, blue ribbon, and hands it to me. “This is from Jazz.”
I open my gifts surrounded by the people I care most about in the world. There are bath products from Jazz, scented candles from Emily, and a picture of Flash from Noah.
While Jazz pours the tea and Noah smells the bath salts and candles, Dante slips an arm around my waist. “We’ll have a proper party tomorrow.”
The strain in his voice gives me pause.
“Today is only for family.” A smile curves his lips. “Tomorrow is for everyone.”
I tense. Everyone means the people connected to his business.
That’s what’s expected when you’re high-ranking like Dante.
Birthdays aren’t only for making toasts with champagne.
They’re valuable opportunities for mingling and closing business deals.
That’s why he’s doing this today, trying to keep the celebration small and intimate.
Those big parties are stressful. You always have to be alert, watching your back while everyone criticizes the dress you’re wearing.
Emily lights the candle on the cake.
“Mommy, come!”
I’m flanked by my husband and son as I take a place at the table.
Noah tugs on my hand and looks up at me with his innocent face and those big amber eyes he inherited from his father. “Remember to make a wish.”
I look at the people around me, the people I love.
There’s so much that doesn’t make sense.
Not remembering my own birthday is perhaps the biggest red flag of all.
A part of me still doesn’t want to know.
But I can’t move on until I’ve dealt with the experiences I’m suppressing.
I can’t remove the barrier that remains between Dante and me if I don’t know what it is.
I can’t fix what’s broken if I’m too scared to face it.
I have to be brave—for me, for Noah, and also if I want my marriage to work.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath before blowing it out.
As the sharp smell of burnt wicker and candle wax tickles my nose, I make a wish.
I wish to remember.