Free The Romanov Legacy by Jenni Wiltz

tonight?”
    “Maybe.  If Roo can come, too.”  His soft blond
hair fell diagonally across his forehead and he brushed it up out of his eyes.
    “Is something wrong?”
    “No,” he said.  “Are you busy?”
    She held up the romance novel so he could see the
cover.  “Babe, I’m reading a book about pirates that doesn’t mention
anything about vitamin deficiency, disease, rats, or the lack of basic hygiene
on a pirate ship.  I think it’s safe to say I’m not busy.”
    Her son nodded, well versed in the falsehoods of popular
representations of pirates.  “Shark Week started tonight, Mom.”
    “Did they talk about great whites?”
    He shook his head.  “It was hammerheads.  Aunt
Natalie said she’d watch it with me, but she never came.”
    Beth felt a quiver of arrows pierce her heart.  Every
doctor who’d reviewed Natalie’s file had insisted she be kept away from Seth,
but Beth could never bring herself to obey them.  “Oh, sweetie,” she said,
forcing a smile.  “I think it was my fault.  I’m sorry.”
    Seth’s brown eyes blinked at her solemnly.  “Did you
tell her not to come?”
    “We had a fight.  She probably thinks I’m still angry
at her.”
    “You’re not, are you?  I mean, you said you’re sorry,
right?”
    “No, I didn’t.”
    “Why not?  You make me say I’m sorry all the time.”
    “I guess I thought I wasn’t sorry,” she said.  “But I
am.”
    “Then you need to tell her.  I don’t want you guys to
fight.”
    “I don’t want to fight with her, either.”
    “So can you call her?  And find out if she’s coming
over tomorrow?  It’s really important, Mom.  They’re gonna talk about
megamouth sharks.”
    Beth sighed.  “It’s not that easy, babe.”
    “Yes, it is.  You just pick up the phone and call
her.  Ask her if she’s coming tomorrow…please.”
    “All right.”  Beth put down her book, wondering why she
needed her eight-year-old son’s prompting to apologize to her sister.  I
should have done this myself , she thought.  Why is it so hard for
adults to say they’re sorry?   Her cheeks burned as she realized how
stupid it all was.  So what if her speech had been less than stellar and
received a tepid response?  If she was that dependant on cue cards, the
problem was hers, not Natalie’s.
    She reached for the phone and hit the speed dial for
Natalie’s number.  “It’s ringing,” she said to Seth, watching her
anxiously.  It rang four times before Natalie’s answering machine picked
up.  “Nat, it’s Beth.  Look, I’m sorry for getting mad at you the
other day.  I know you’re just trying to help, and I shouldn’t have
snapped like that.  I just want to make sure you’re okay.  I’ve got
someone else here who really wants to know if you’re coming over to watch
megalomaniac sharks tomorrow—”
    “Megamouth!” her son yelled.  “Mom, get it right!”
    “—so call me, or just come over, okay?  I love you,
sis.”  She hung up the phone and smiled for Seth.  “You’re my
witness.  I invited her over for sharks.”  She glanced at the clock
radio on her nightstand:  2:30 a.m.  It was odd that Nat wouldn’t
answer this late at night.  She should know Beth wouldn’t call this late
unless it was important, in which case she would pick up.  Natalie
couldn’t be out and about this late, could she?  What if something had
happened to her? 
    “Hey, kiddo, why don’t you go back to bed now?” she said, in
a voice that sounded falsely bright, even to her.  “If Nat calls back,
I’ll tell her you say hi.”  She held her breath, wondering if Seth would
call her bluff.
    He looked at her for a moment, the questioning expression in
his eyes so much like that of his father that she felt tears gather beneath her
lashes.  I wish you could have seen the best of him instead of the
worst, she thought.  Then he nodded, and slipped down off the
bed.  “See you in the morning, Mom,” he said, smiling