Chapter 16 - The House Elise Bought for Tomorrow
The key turned easily.
Roman stood on the porch of the blue Maine house with Jude strapped against his chest.
Naomi held Leo.
Miles slept in his carrier beside the door.
Wind moved through tall pine trees.
The ocean was somewhere beyond them.
They could hear it.
No gates.
No guards.
No security checkpoints.
Elise had chosen exactly what she'd promised.
Ordinary.
Roman opened the door.
The smell hit him first.
Wood.
Dust.
Sea air.
Then lavender.
Elise's perfume.
He stopped.
Naomi looked at him.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Want to wait?"
Roman shook his head.
"No."
They entered.
The house was modest compared with Roman's estate.
Three bedrooms.
Small kitchen.
Fireplace.
Worn floors.
White curtains.
A refrigerator covered with magnets from towns Roman and Elise had visited.
Naomi stared.
"She decorated it."
Roman touched one magnet.
"Without telling me."
He smiled sadly.
"Of course."
On the dining table sat a wooden box.
ROMAN.
He looked at Naomi.
"She seriously prepared everything."
Naomi smiled.
"Open it."
Inside were photographs.
Elise painting walls.
Elise assembling cribs badly.
Elise holding a drill upside down.
Roman laughed.
The sound cracked into tears.
Naomi took Jude while he sat.
At the bottom was a video tablet.
One file.
Roman pressed play.
Elise appeared.
Pregnant.
Very pregnant.
She stood inside the same kitchen.
"Okay," recorded Elise said, laughing. "If you're watching this without me, I'm already mad."
Roman covered his mouth.
Naomi sat beside him.
Elise continued.
"Roman, this is our escape plan."
She turned the camera toward the room.
"No marble. No staff. No terrifying men whispering into earpieces."
Victor wasn't there to be offended.
Naomi smiled.
"Three cribs upstairs. Grocery store eleven minutes away. There's a bakery in town with terrible coffee but excellent cinnamon rolls."
Roman was crying openly now.
Elise looked into the camera.
"I bought this because someday I want our boys to know their father without Crown Street standing behind him."
She paused.
"And I want you to know yourself that way too."
Roman whispered, "I don't."
Naomi touched his hand.
Elise continued.
"If we get here, really get here, promise me something."
Roman stared.
"Breakfast."
Naomi smiled through tears.
"No phones. No business. No fear."
Elise laughed.
"Okay, some fear. Triplets are terrifying."
Roman laughed.
Then the recording changed.
Elise's expression became more serious.
"And if I'm not there..."
Roman closed his eyes.
"Don't make the house a museum."
Naomi looked around.
"Live here."
Elise smiled.
"Bring people who make you laugh. Let the boys draw on things. Burn dinner. Fight. Apologize. Be boring."
Her voice softened.
"Be alive."
The video ended.
Roman sat silently.
Jude began fussing.
Naomi handed him over.
Roman kissed his son's head.
"Your mother was bossy."
Naomi smiled.
"She had to manage you."
That evening they attempted normal breakfast for dinner.
Cereal.
Eggs.
Cinnamon rolls from the town bakery.
The coffee really was terrible.
Roman said so.
Naomi accused him of snobbery.
Miles cried through most of the meal.
Leo threw a pacifier.
Jude spit milk on Roman's shirt.
Roman looked down.
Naomi waited.
Then he began laughing.
Hard.
Really laughing.
"This is what she wanted."
Naomi's eyes filled.
"Yes."
Roman looked around.
Mess.
Noise.
Life.
"She would've loved this."
They spent four weeks in Maine before Roman's surrender date.
Those weeks became the closest thing either had experienced to healing.
Not cure.
Healing.
Naomi walked along the beach with the babies.
Roman learned to cook pasta.
Poorly.
They hung pictures.
Not only Elise.
Naomi placed one of Micah on a shelf.
Roman did not ask permission.
He simply made space.
One night Naomi found him staring at it.
"He had your eyes."
Naomi smiled.
"Everyone said that."
Roman looked at the photograph.
"He mattered."
Naomi's throat tightened.
"Yes."
Roman turned.
"You know he doesn't disappear because you love these boys."
"I know."
"Do you?"
She thought.
"More than before."
Roman nodded.
The relationship between them remained unnamed.
Neither pushed.
They slept separately.
Touched rarely.
But the space between them changed.
One night, after the babies were finally asleep, they sat on the porch.
Roman said, "I'm scared."
Naomi smiled faintly.
"Of prison?"
"Yes."
"What else?"
"Missing them."
"Understandable."
"Missing you."
Naomi looked away.
Roman continued.
"I'm not asking you to wait."
"Good."
"I mean it."
"I know."
"I don't want Elise's letter turned into some obligation."
Naomi looked at him.
"She said don't ask me to save you."
Roman smiled.
"I remember."
"You've done fairly well."
"High praise."
Naomi laughed.
Roman's face became serious.
"I think I'm falling in love with you."
Silence.
The ocean moved beyond the trees.
Naomi's heart stopped.
"Roman."
"I know."
"Your wife died weeks ago."
"I know."
"You're grieving."
"I know."
"I'm grieving."
"I know."
Naomi stood.
Roman stayed seated.
"I don't want an answer."
She stared.
"Then why say it?"
"Because I've spent enough of my life hiding important things until later."
That landed.
Roman continued.
"I'm not asking you to love me."
Naomi's eyes filled.
"I'm telling you the truth before I run out of days to say it."
She looked toward the dark road.
Then back.
"I don't know what I feel."
"That's okay."
"I care about you."
"I know."
"I might love you someday."
Roman smiled.
"That's terrifyingly optimistic."
Naomi laughed.
"Don't ruin it."
He stood.
They faced one another.
Close.
Roman didn't kiss her.
He simply touched his forehead to hers.
Naomi allowed it.
That was enough.
Three days before Roman's surrender, Evelyn called.
Kincaid had accepted a plea that guaranteed decades in federal prison.
Gabriel faced life-equivalent sentencing.
Marcus cooperated.
Grant entered protection with his daughter.
Celeste pleaded guilty.
The Crown Street network collapsed.
Roman's legitimate companies entered independent management.
For the first time, the external war truly seemed finished.
Then Victor called the next morning.
His voice was urgent.
"Roman, turn on the news."
Roman did.
A reporter stood outside a courthouse.
BREAKING: FEDERAL WITNESS MALCOLM KINCAID ATTACKED DURING TRANSFER
Roman stared.
Naomi's stomach dropped.
"Is he dead?"
Victor answered through speakerphone.
"No."
"Who attacked him?"
"Unknown."
Roman's expression hardened.
Victor continued.
"Authorities intercepted a message."
"What message?"
"One word."
Roman waited.
Victor said:
"Dominic."
Roman closed his eyes.
Naomi felt cold.
Roman's father had been dead nine years.
Yet someone was still acting in his name.
The old Crown Street loyalists.
The remnants.
The men Roman had ignored.
And now they were sending a final message before he entered custody:
His past wasn't finished with his sons.
May you like
Not yet.
---
