“You knew?” Dante shifted on his feet.
“Honey, I’m your mother. Of course I knew.” Emma glanced at him askance.
“He’ll lose his job, Emma.” Albert lifted his shoulders.
“You didn’t lose yours. That will just be a decision the Marshals Service will have to make. Not you. Now apologize to him.” Emma nodded at Dante.
“I will not—” Albert started.
“Apologize to him right now.” Emma enunciated every syllable. Her voice was a low, hissing rumble Dante had never heard before.
Albert stared at his wife.
Emma stared back, not even blinking, her hands on her hips.
Albert sighed.
“I’m sorry.” Albert ran his hand down his face.
Those two tiny words hit Dante like gunfire. His body shuddered from the shock. His father had never apologized to anyone for anything before. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“I accept,” Dante choked out.
“Good.” She pivoted on her heel and moved toward the stove.
Dante didn’t move. He wasn’t sure what had happened. It took him a minute to realize Laurie was hovering outside the doorway. She caught his eye. He walked over to her with halting steps.
“Hey, how long have you been standing there?” He touched her elbow.
“A while. I’m sorry,” she whispered back.
“No. It’s not your fault.” He placed his hands on her shoulders.
Her face contorted with embarrassment. She looked fresh and clean, with her face scrubbed and free of make-up. Her blonde hair was a tawny brown and dripping wet from the shower. In the soft morning light, she looked sweet enough to be his personal piece of heaven. He told his father he was glad that his relationship with Laurie had happened. That he cared about her. While that had been technically true, Dante realized it had been a vast understatement.
“Laurie, honey, you don’t need to hover outside the doorway,” Emma called from the stove. “Don’t you pay either of these men any mind.”
Laurie looked to Dante for help.
He placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her into the room.
Laurie took halting steps toward the coffee maker, and then realized she didn’t have a mug, so she tiptoed toward Emma to grab one from the cupboard.
“Laurie, what do you want for breakfast?” Emma turned toward her with forced cheerfulness.
“Whatever everyone else is having.” Laurie froze mid-way to the cupboard.
“How about some crepes? Do you know how to make them?” Emma gave her a smile.
“I haven’t made it since I was kid.” Laurie gave a nervous smile back.
“Oh, good. I’ll show you.” Emma plucked a bowl from the cabinet.
Dante saw Laurie relax as she breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down at the table. His father sat down across from him, looking weary. Dante almost felt sorry for him—almost. Dante stared into his coffee cup, lost in thought. He had just learned so much about his parents and their marriage. Now so much of his childhood made sense, the constant moving, the aliases, the secrecy, drilling him on what to do if a stranger approached him. His mind turned it over all through breakfast.
After breakfast, his parents asked if he and Laurie would work in the orchard for the day. They said they just weren’t able to handle harvesting apples and pears as well as they did with the berry season. That was the reason they said anyway. His mother gave them the keys to the other farmhouse. A little while later, Dante and Laurie were in the truck driving down the road.
“My mother was a spy.” Dante was trying to wrap his head around it.
“Well, it does make sense, I guess. But you wouldn’t ever identify her as one.” Laurie glanced at him. “I’m sorry I caused that fight with your dad.”
“It wasn’t your fault at all. It was him.”
“I know, but it was about me. I should have pushed you to tell him.”
“Would have been the exact same fight no matter which way it went. To have the nerve to tell me I shouldn’t be involved with you when that’s almost how he met Mom. I can’t believe that either.”
“He just doesn’t want you making the same mistakes he made.”
“What? Like finding the woman he married and not letting anyone else’s rules stand between them?”
Laurie laughed, giving him a small smile. “Didn’t know you were such a romantic rebel.”
“Guess it’s in my genes.” Dante smirked back at her.
Laurie laughed again.
Dante pulled up to the farmhouse. He switched off the truck engine. He sat, shaking his head for a couple of minutes.
“You told him you care about me.”
Dante smiled and turned to her.
“You heard that, huh?”
“Yes.”
He reached for her hand.
“Must have been the heat of the moment.” He looked her up and down.
“I care about you too.” She bit her lip, as if she wanted to say more.
Dante leaned forward, taking Laurie by the chin. He kissed her, slow and sweet. When he pulled back, he ran his fingers through her hair. It grabbed at his hand in damp tangles, but he didn’t care. Then he sighed.
“Come on,” he said finally. “Let’s go take care of these apples.”
She laughed, opening the car door. They grabbed the apple picker, heading out into the orchard with baskets in hand. They worked until well past noon, scooping up apples dangling from above. The sun was high. The day got warm enough to burn off the morning dew on the leaves of the trees. It was just turning into fall, and some of the apple tree leaves were beginning to yellow. As they walked back toward the farmhouse, Dante and Laurie could almost feel the seasons changing.
When they got to the front porch, Dante unlocked the door. They entered into a large sitting room that still had an assortment of antique wooden furniture. There were two matching end tables and a coffee table, all made out of deep mahogany, with ornate golden accents. The room was painted a light green, with dark green trim. To their right was the entrance to the hallway. They saw the base of the staircase leading to the second floor. At the back of the sitting room, a door led to the kitchen.
They headed toward the kitchen. The room had pristine, tiled floors with a blue and white pattern. There was an oak kitchen table in front of them, with six matching chairs. Beyond it, was a door leading to the back yard and several windows with views of the grape vineyard out back. The walls were painted a light blue with dark blue trim, which matched the floor tiles. To their right was an island in the center of a large kitchen. The island was tiled to match the floor, but the rest of the kitchen counter top was a polished oak, like the kitchen cabinets.
“This kitchen is so amazing.” Laurie sucked in a breath as she took it all in.
“Nicest kitchen I’ve ever seen.” Dante set their lunch down on the table. “Mom said their neighbors just remodeled it. They did a good job.”
“I agree.” Laurie sat down at the table.
Their work in the orchard made them so hungry they devoured their food without saying a word.
“Let’s take a look at the rest of the house.” Laurie said when they finished.
“All right.” He wasn’t one to snoop around, but it was his parents’ house now.
They went from room to room. Almost every room still had a smattering of furniture left inside, a desk, a lamp, some tables, or chairs. They were pieces the previous owners didn’t care about or just couldn’t fit into their new home. There was a formal dining room off the kitchen, and a family room next to that. Upstairs were several bedrooms and bathrooms. The master bedroom had a large, four-poster bed, complete with mattress and box spring. The bathroom attached to the master bedroom was enormous, with two large sinks, a shower, and a full tub. There was even room for a vanity, which was beside the door. Everything in the room was light sandstone.
“This bathroom is incredible. I can’t even believe this. Why don’t your parents live here?” Laurie gestured to the vanity.
“I have no idea, but they seem pretty settled into their simple farm house.”