Chapter 16
NINA
Nina was very aware of Theo sitting next to her, his shoulder pressed against hers.
Warmth blossomed from her hand, where his fingers were still interlaced with hers.
Nina didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but holding his hand like this felt so right.
It was as if their hands had been made to fit together, like two pieces of a puzzle.
Get yourself together, Nina chided. For someone who didn’t believe in love stories, she was sure starting to sound like a romantic.
“Oh, looks like lunch is ready,” Charles said as a timer on his watch sounded. He and Jenny both got up to check on the food, and Theo leaned closer to whisper in Nina’s ear.
“You’re doing great,” he said softly. His breath was warm on Nina’s cheek, and a shiver ran down her spine. It was all too easy to imagine him pressing a kiss to the side of her neck, near where his lips were now.
“Thanks,” she said, scooting away to put a few inches of distance between them.
“And good save with the story,” he added softly.
“I’d already told another mom that story,” Nina whispered back. “So, I thought we’d better stay consistent.”
“What are you two lovebirds whispering about?” Jenny asked, straightening up from the fire and smiling at them with her hands on her hips.
“Nothing,” Nina said quickly, her cheeks pinking. She felt like a teenager caught with her boyfriend by her parents, though that was silly. Jenny and Charles weren’t much older than she and Theo were, and they were supposed to believe they were a couple anyway.
Nina was much more worried about starting to believe they were a couple herself.
“Sure, sure,” Jenny said with another smile. She turned and called to the kids, who came running back. Pretty soon, everyone had plates full of food, and they took places around the large wooden table on the patio. As they ate, Nina took in the scene around her.
They were in a beautiful area under an unseasonably blue sky.
Jack was laughing with Sam and Michael, their heads bent together.
Lizzy was talking with her mother, and Charles and Theo were engaged in conversation about their favorite sports teams. Theo’s laugh about some barb from Charles was warm and genuine and reminded her of the evenings they’d spent together talking.
For the first time in years, she was surrounded by happy families. And with Theo at her side, she didn’t feel as anxious as she’d expected she would. He was there, a steady presence, perfectly complementing her strengths with his own.
Nina trusted him. It was a strange realization. After Jack’s dad had left, she’d thought she’d never trust any man again, much less one like Theo. Yet here she was, leaning against him in this beautiful garden, sitting side by side as they ate, and it felt so very right.
This was only temporary. Nina knew that. Still, it was nice to know she could trust again. It was nice to be around Theo and to see him with Jack.
Maybe, Nina thought as she took a bite of her burger, this was another sign that it was time to start dating again. It would be good for Jack to have a father figure, and she was clearly ready for a relationship, based on how she was thinking about Theo.
Yet, when Nina imagined a handsome gentleman coming to her door with flowers, the only face she could picture was Theo’s.
That was the problem. She didn’t just want to date again.
She wanted to be with Theo, even though that was impossible.
Even though he would never want that, and she shouldn’t, either.
“How’s your food?” Theo asked, bringing Nina back to the present. She smiled.
“Delicious. My compliments to the chefs.”
Charles and Jenny smiled. “We do this every week, so we’ve gotten good at it. Do you have any family traditions like this?”
“Saturday pancakes is the biggest one,” Theo said easily.
When Nina thought about it, she realized this wasn’t even a lie — they really had eaten pancakes every Saturday since she and Jack had moved in.
How had she not noticed that before? “But we have a few other things, too, like family movie nights and going for walks together after work and school.”
“That sounds lovely,” Jenny said. “Family traditions are so important. When I was a child, my parents always had a Friday game night for us, and we do that with our kids now, too.”
“Did you have traditions like that, Charles?” Theo asked.
“Not really.” Charles took a bite of his burger.
It was strange, but nice, to see such a serious businessman looking so relaxed with his family.
“My family wasn’t very close, and I actually spent part of my childhood in foster care.
But that just makes me so much more thankful for the family I have now. ”
“That must have been difficult,” Nina said, “I’m sorry.”
“Really, it’s all right. Difficulties can be part of our past without taking up all of our future,” Charles said.
Nina nodded, though she wasn’t so sure about that.
Sometimes, it felt like her whole life was defined by Jack’s father walking out on them.
Like her son, she lived in fear of the people she loved leaving, too.
Which was why it was so surprising that she felt so safe around Theo.
“Did you have good family traditions growing up, Nina?” Jenny asked.
“A few,” Nina said. She cast her mind back to rainy Seattle Saturdays and smiled. “We had one great tradition of sharing one good and one bad thing about each day at the dinner table. It was called Bests and Worsts.”
“We should do that with Jack,” Theo said. Nina glanced at him and nodded.
“We should. He’d love that.”
“How about you, Theo?” Charles asked. “Any good family traditions?”
Nina was just as curious about the answer as Charles was. Theo rarely spoke about his family, and she didn’t even know if he had siblings. They’d shared plenty of information about their later lives, but Theo was always vague about his childhood.
“We did a few things,” Theo said, vaguely as always. “Like homemade pizza on Wednesday nights, and an annual beach trip.”
The conversation moved on, but Nina kept thinking about Theo as a little boy with his parents and possible siblings, going to the beach and eating homemade pizza. Somehow, the image didn’t mesh well with the Theo she’d gotten to know over the last few weeks.
After lunch, they all cleared the table, and Lizzy brought out a game she’d gotten for her birthday a few weeks ago called Family Challenges.
She unpacked the board and explained that each square corresponded to a different kind of challenge.
Again, Nina was surprised to see how much the Ackley family seemed to genuinely enjoy spending time together, doing silly things.
In the first round, Jack had to try to say the alphabet backwards (which he did, with a little help), Lizzy had to sing the “Happy Birthday” song while standing on one foot, and Charles had to act out three different zoo animals for everyone to guess.
Nina would never get the image of the distinguished billionaire businessman acting like an elephant out of her mind.
On Theo’s turn, he drew a card and looked down at it with the wide eyes of someone staring into the face of doom. Then he took a deep breath.
“Okay. I have to show off my best chicken dance,” he said.
He got up and flapped his arms like wings, sending everyone into fits of laughter.
Pretty soon, Theo was laughing, too. This was yet another side to him, and Nina enjoyed every second of it.
Somehow, his silliness made her like him even more.
Jenny was next. Her challenge was to compliment everyone at the table, which she did easily, giving personalized comments to each member of her family. When she got to Theo and Nina, she complimented them on how sweet and in love they looked together, which made Nina blush.
Then it was her turn. She drew a card, and her cheeks turned pink.
“I have to kiss two people on their cheeks.”
“Easy!” Jack said, leaning closer to her. Nina kissed her son on his cheek and ruffled his hair. He glared at her and smoothed his hair, apparently not wanting to be embarrassed in front of his young friends.
Then Nina turned to the only other person it made sense for her to kiss.
Theo. If she didn’t kiss his cheek, everyone would wonder why not.
She had to. Theo looked nervous, too. Nina forced herself to take a deep breath, then leaned closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
There was a hint of five o’clock shadow that tickled her lips, and she was very aware of how close they suddenly were.
It was as if they were suddenly alone under the open sky, just the two of them.
If Theo turned his head just a few inches, she’d be kissing him on the lips.
But he didn’t turn his head, and after a second, Nina pulled away.
The game continued with a mix of funny challenges and questions. None of them required any more of Nina and Theo’s touch boundaries to be broken, which was a good thing — even though Nina couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.
Jack won, which he celebrated with an adorable victory dance that had everyone clapping. They hung around a little while longer, the adults chatting while the kids played, before it was time to go.
“It was so lovely to meet you,” Jenny said, as the Ackleys walked them out to the car.
“You too,” Nina said. She meant it. Jenny was very different from the other private-school moms she’d talked to, who seemed more interested in proving they were better than her, than in actual friendship.
“We should get together for coffee sometime, just the two of us,” Jenny continued.
“Absolutely. I’d love that.” Nina smiled at her, and the two women hugged by way of goodbye. Nina helped Jack into the back seat, then came around to say goodbye to Charles. He and Theo were engaged in what looked like a serious conversation, and Nina held back, not wanting to interrupt them.
“… so, you can see why I was concerned,” Charles said with a warm smile.
“My family means everything to me, and when I thought you were an eternal bachelor with completely different values, I held back from aligning my legacy with yours. I’ve seen a different side of you today, though, and the last few times we’ve met.
It’s clear that your family means everything to you, too. ”
“They do,” Theo said. “You’re right that I was a bachelor for a long time. But when Nina and Jack came into my life, I suddenly understood that I’d been missing the big picture. They’ve really changed me.”
Nina’s breath caught in her throat. Theo was only saying this because of their ruse, of course, but hearing those words from him made her breathless. If only he were telling the truth. If only all this were real. In that moment, she wanted it to be real so much that her head spun.
“I understand that completely,” Charles said. “Now that we’ve gotten to know each other a little better, I’d love to hear more about your business in a formal setting. Shall we set up a meeting and discuss how we might be able to work together?”
“Absolutely,” Theo said easily. His tone was casual, but Nina knew how excited he must be. “I’ll have someone call your office and arrange something.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” The two men shook hands, then Theo got in the car. Nina said a quick goodbye to Charles, thanking him for the afternoon, before joining him.
She waited until they’d exited the drive before turning to Theo.
“I overheard some of your conversation. Congratulations!” She kept her tone bright and happy, though internally, she was worried. This was everything Theo had been working towards. Once he had his agreement, he’d be done with her and Jack, and she wasn’t ready for that.
“Thanks,” Theo smiled at her. “It’s all because of you, you know. You’ve been so helpful.”
“I try,” Nina said, smiling back. “Should we celebrate?”
“Not yet.” Theo looked ahead again. “These things tend to drag on in business. I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes a few more weeks, maybe even a few months, before everything falls into place. We’ll celebrate then. I just hope you don’t mind sticking around a little longer.”
Nina looked straight ahead, too, at the autumn trees and rolling hills they were passing on the way back into the city. She kept her expression as neutral as she could, though she couldn’t suppress a small smile. Theo wanted to keep them around a little longer.
“That’ll be fine,” she said. “We don’t mind. Do we, Jack?”
But Jack, tired out from a day of playing, was already asleep in the back seat.
As they drove home, Nina gazed out the window, letting her thoughts drift.
She felt close to Theo after their afternoon of pretending to be a couple.
And maybe, just maybe, he felt it too. After all, he’d mentioned wanting them to stick around.
And when he’d spoken about how things were different with her and Jack around, maybe he’d meant it — at least a little.