Lily thanked Mike for dropping her off at Nikoli's. He hadn't been thrilled, but it was either bring her or let her break down and call an Uber. She wanted to surprise the manwhore. Luther let her in and left, but only after she promised to save him some food. There'd be plenty left. She unpacked the groceries she'd brought with her and set about making dinner. She wanted to do something nice for him after all he'd done for her.
The one thing she could make really well was lasagna. It was something her dad had taught her, even going so far as to make sure she knew how to make his secret sauce. There was no jar sauce when it came to anything Italian. He'd prided himself on being a good cook. Something he'd learned from his grandmother.
She put the noodles on to boil, checked the hamburger browning, and then put together the garlic spread for the loaf of French bread she'd picked up. That done, she sliced the bread and applied the garlic spread. It would sit and soak into the bread until she was ready to put it into the oven.
Taking out her phone, she pulled up her favorite Spotify playlist and set it up so she'd have music while she worked. It made the time pass a little quicker. She hummed while she drained the hamburger of grease and added it back into the pan, this time adding the chopped onions. She wanted them to keep their crunch. She poured in the tomato sauce and her freshly chopped herbs and garlic. Letting it simmer, she set about mixing up her cottage cheese mixture. Lots of people used ricotta, but she hated the taste of ricotta. Plus, her dad always used cottage cheese.
The key turned in the lock, and she looked up to see Nikoli come in, toss his keys in the dish on the small table by the front door, and kick off his shoes.
"Smells good in here, Luther. Did you get take..." He stopped when he saw her standing there with a knife in one hand and a dish towel in the other.
"Hi." Lily gave him a small smile. She hadn't expected him back this soon. He'd told her he had some business to take care of in downtown Boston.
"Lily?" He looked from her to all the pots and pans. "You're cooking?"
"I wanted to do something nice for you to say thank you for everything you've done for me. I hope you don't mind me showing up unannounced. It was supposed to be a surprise, but you're early."
"My meeting wrapped up sooner than expected." He came over and hopped up on the small kitchen island. "And no, I don't mind you showing up, Lily Bells. It's kind of nice."
"You sound surprised by that."
"I am surprised by that."
He looked as confused as she felt most of the time. Maybe she wasn't the only one dealing with feelings she didn't expect.
"Do you like lasagna?" She swallowed nervously and glanced down, unsure of herself.
"Love it," he murmured. "I didn't know you could cook."
"I can't, really. This is one of the few things I know how to make. It's my dad's secret recipe, and he taught me and Laney how to make it. Everything else is iffy. I once set a frying pan on fire trying to make eggs."
"Really?" He scooted closer, and she let out a loud exhale.
"Yeah. Scared my mom to death. I was banned from the kitchen after that."
"How old were you?"
"Fourteen."
"Are you sure we don't need to get the fire extinguisher out?" he teased, enjoying seeing her nervous.
"I already did." She pointed next to her, and he leaned down to see it was sitting on the floor.
He laughed. "Well, at least you're prepared. Do you need any help?"
"Can you start loading dirty dishes into the dishwasher, please?"
He jumped down and did as she asked. The sink only had a handful of dishes and several spoons. "Why are so many spoons dirty?"
"Tasting spoons. No one wants to eat after someone else. That's gross, Nikoli." She picked up the colander of meat and added it to the sauce, turning the burner off. "Where are your baking pans?"
He pulled out the drawer under the stove. There was exactly one pan. Thankfully, it was a large one. She took it, and he leaned against the counter beside the stove and watched her put the layers of lasagna together.
It felt good to have her in his kitchen, cooking. No one had cooked for him since he'd come to America. His uncle told them if they wanted dinner, it was up to them. They'd scrounged around. Ate lots of sandwiches and takeout. He hadn't had a home-cooked meal since he'd visited his parents over a year ago.
It was nice.
Once she'd put the pan in the oven, he helped her clean up. Neither of them spoke. Tension hummed in the air around them, and Nikoli fought to keep his hands to himself.
"It's gonna take about an hour for the lasagna to get done, and then it'll have to rest for another half hour or forty-five minutes."
"So, what do you want to do for the next two hours?" He knew what he'd like to do.
"Well..." She twisted her hands, one of her tells. "I thought...maybe..."
"You thought maybe what, Milaya?"
"You said we'd talk about Laney every day, and my therapist thinks it's a good idea."
"You talked to your therapist about us?"
She nodded. "She had some interesting thoughts about you."
"Really?"
"But I'm not telling you about our session, so don't ask. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that."
"Okay, Lily Bells, I won't ask. Let me grab us some drinks out of the fridge, and then you can tell me a story about you and Laney."
She smiled hesitantly and picked up her bookbag off one of the barstools. When she sat down, she reached inside and pulled out a photo album.
He settled down beside her, handing her one of her nasty cherry Dr. Peppers.
"I haven't looked at this since before she died, but I thought maybe with you here, I might have the courage to open it."
He smiled and leaned over, careful to let her see what his intentions were, then kissed her temple. A shiver went through her, and he sat back, content. He was glad she trusted him enough to share something so personal with him.
Lily licked her lips and took a fortifying breath before opening the album to the first page. A picture of her and Laney took up the entire front page. They were eleven and at the state fair, cowboy hats perched on their heads, and they had on identical jean shorts and green tank tops.
"Which one are you?"
Lily felt his shoulder press into hers as he leaned over to look and let her breath out then breathed in deeply. As long as he didn't take her by surprise, she could tolerate him touching her. When it became too much, she knew he'd back off.
But for now, she liked how it felt, liked the heat seeping into her skin from his. It gave her the strength she needed to look at these photos.
"This one." She tapped the girl on the left. "We decided to dress alike and confuse everyone. By the time we were done, our parents were ready to murder us. It was a good day. One of the last days we spent together as a family. Dad died at the end of the summer."
"I'm so sorry you lost them both."
She turned the page. It was a picture of her, Laney, and Adam in front of the barn on his dad's farm. "Adam dared us to jump off the roof onto the hay bales. Laney didn't want to, but I was the first one up there. I broke my arm when I fell. Mom grounded us for a month. We were ten."
"And Boy Wonder?"
"I thought his dad was going to kill him. It was the one and only time I think his dad ever laid a hand on him, but he tore him up with a switch."
"A switch? What's that?"
"You guys didn't have those in Russia?"
"My English is good, but sometimes I don't always get all the different meanings of things."
"It's a tree branch they use to whip you with."
"His father whipped him with a tree branch?"
"Not a big one, a little one. Like I said, it was the only time he ever did that, but none of us knew how dangerous jumping off the roof of the barn could be. We might have died. I think that more than anything drove his father to do it. Sometimes, pain really is the only lesson you remember. I never jumped off a barn roof again. A broken bone hurts."
"I know. I've broken more than a few myself."
"You and your brothers raise hell growing up?"
"God, yes. Once Kade convinced Conner to hold a block of wood so he could chop it into firewood. Only he missed the wood, and the blade sliced through Conner's finger. Cut it off except for a little strip of skin. He ran into the house, blood squirting everywhere. Mama had just mopped the floor, and when she saw it, she almost passed out, but she grabbed him up and rushed him to the hospital. Papa was furious with all of us. I think we worked more that summer than we ever have. He used us as child labor to build a new fence, to put in a pond Mama wanted. We cleaned out the garage and so many other things. He kept us so busy, we didn't have time to get into trouble."
"Oh my God. Was your brother's finger all right?"
"Yeah. They sewed it back on, only what they used to stitch it up, he was allergic to. His finger swelled up so fat, it didn't even look like a finger. He was in the hospital for a month."
"You guys have us beat on crazy."
"Good thing too. Wouldn't want this beautiful skin scarred up." He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "This okay?"
She nodded. It was more than okay.
Lily let herself lean into him and showed him more pictures of her and Laney. Adam was in most of them. He'd grown up with them. They were all either at her house or his. She missed him. Maybe it was time to forgive him.
Nikoli laughed at the stories she told him. He'd tell her more things he and his brothers did growing up after each one she told him. They spent the rest of the evening exchanging stories, eating dinner, and having a nice evening.
It was simple, and one Lily loved.