Chapter 12 - ROMAN ASKED MADDIE A QUESTION BEFORE HE ASKED ME
Roman and Claire dated for eighteen months before he proposed again.
This time, he did not buy the ring first.
Apparently people could learn.
Before asking Claire anything, Roman asked Maddie to meet him at Groundwork after school.
Claire knew a conversation was happening.
Not what kind.
She hated that.
Then reminded herself Maddie was nine now and allowed private relationships with people she trusted.
Claire stayed downstairs.
Roman and Maddie sat in the apartment kitchen.
The same place Claire had hidden after leaving the Vale mansion years earlier.
Roman brought no gifts.
Maddie ate pretzels.
“So?”
She asked.
Roman almost smiled.
“You sound like your mother.”
“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t entirely a compliment.”
Maddie stared.
Roman surrendered.
“Fair.”
Then—
“I’m going to ask your mom if she wants to marry me.”
Maddie stopped chewing.
“Oh.”
“I’m not asking your permission.”
She frowned.
“Rude.”
Roman smiled.
“I’m telling you first because if she says yes, it affects your life.”
Maddie considered.
“Will we move?”
“Not unless all three of us agree.”
“Your apartment is boring.”
“I know.”
“Will you move above Groundwork?”
Roman looked horrified.
“The radiator sounds dangerous.”
“It’s George.”
“No, George is water stain.”
“Right.”
Roman had learned café mythology.
That mattered.
Maddie continued—
“If you marry Mommy, are you my dad?”
Roman’s expression softened.
“I’m already whatever you decide Dad Roman means.”
“But legally?”
“Maybe stepfather.”
She made a face.
“That sounds like stairs.”
“Unfortunately.”
Maddie looked down.
“Does Daddy Daniel stop being my daddy?”
Roman’s answer came immediately.
“No.”
Good.
“He was your father before I knew you.”
“He is your father now.”
“Nothing I become changes him.”
Maddie’s eyes filled slightly.
“Mommy still loves him.”
“Yes.”
“Does that make you mad?”
Roman thought.
“Sometimes it makes me sad that she had something with him I can never have.”
Honest.
“But mad at her?”
“No.”
“At him?”
“No.”
“He died.”
“Yes.”
“That would be unfair.”
“Yes.”
Maddie continued—
“Do you love him?”
Roman smiled faintly.
“No.”
“But I’m grateful he loved you.”
Her throat tightened.
“Why?”
“Because somebody should have.”
Maddie looked away.
Then—
“You lied to Mommy before.”
“Yes.”
“You could again.”
“Yes.”
Roman’s chest hurt.
He let it.
Maddie stared.
“That wasn’t right answer.”
“It’s the honest one.”
“I could lie again.”
“Your mom could lie.”
“You could.”
“People can hurt each other.”
Maddie frowned.
“Then why marry?”
Roman almost laughed.
“Excellent question.”
He thought.
“Because marriage isn’t proof someone becomes safe forever.”
“It’s a promise to keep choosing certain behavior.”
“Like what?”
“Truth.”
“Listening.”
“Not controlling your mother because I’m scared.”
“That one is important.”
Roman nodded.
“Very.”
“And if Mommy says no?”
His face tightened.
“I go home.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“No mafia?”
Roman stared.
“Your mother told you that word?”
“Internet.”
Of course.
Roman sighed.
“No mafia.”
“No dramatic men?”
“No.”
“No buying her coffee shop?”
“Never.”
Maddie smiled.
“Good.”
Then she took a pretzel.
“I think she’ll say yes.”
Roman stopped.
“What?”
“She looks at you weird.”
“I don’t know whether to be encouraged.”
“You should.”
He laughed.
Then Maddie became serious.
“Can I ask one thing?”
“Anything.”
“If you marry Mommy…”
She swallowed.
“…don’t disappear.”
Roman’s face changed.
Daniel.
Claire.
Prison.
Everything.
“I will do everything I can not to.”
Maddie frowned.
“Why not promise?”
“Because I promised things once because the words sounded good.”
“I don’t want to do that again.”
Maddie considered.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
That evening, Roman came downstairs.
Claire stared.
“What did you two discuss?”
Maddie shouted from above—
“NOTHING.”
Roman almost smiled.
Claire narrowed her eyes.
“Suspicious.”
“Very.”
Three nights later, Roman asked Claire to close Groundwork herself.
That was odd.
She normally did.
At 9:20, the final employee left.
Roman stood beside table seven.
Of course.
Claire laughed.
“No.”
“What?”
“You are not proposing at the table where you stalked me for evidence.”
“I was conducting surveillance.”
“That is worse.”
Roman looked toward the counter.
“Alternative?”
Claire pointed.
“Daniel proposed to me near the old apartment.”
Roman’s face softened.
“I know.”
“Do not compete with ghosts.”
“I’m not.”
Good.
He walked behind the counter.
Claire stared.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying something.”
He stood beside the espresso machine.
The same place he had proposed the first time.
Claire froze.
Roman’s expression changed.
“I know.”
He said.
“The first time I put a ring beside your cleaning towel.”
“Yes.”
“I told you I wanted to take care of you.”
“You did.”
“That was not entirely love.”
Claire swallowed.
“I wanted to be needed.”
“I wanted to solve your life.”
“I wanted you close enough that I could control what I was afraid of.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
Roman reached into his coat.
Stopped.
“Before I take anything out…”
She almost laughed through tears.
“…I need you to know there is no expectation.”
“If you say no, nothing happens to Maddie.”
“Nothing happens to Groundwork.”
“Nothing happens to us except I learn the answer.”
Claire stared.
“I own my apartment.”
“Yes.”
“You own your businesses.”
“Yes.”
“Your café remains yours.”
“Always.”
“Maddie remains free to call me Dad Roman whether you marry me or never speak to me romantically again.”
Her throat closed.
Roman took out a small ring.
Not enormous.
Claire noticed.
“Did Maddie choose that?”
Roman looked offended.
“She vetoed the first one.”
“Too big?”
“She said it looked like a doorknob.”
Claire burst out laughing.
Roman smiled.
Then his face became serious.
“Claire Archer.”
He did not kneel yet.
“I loved you badly.”
Her eyes filled.
“I loved you selfishly.”
“I loved you honestly too, sometimes.”
“But I mixed all three together and expected the word love to make the result acceptable.”
“It didn’t.”
Claire cried.
“I cannot promise I will never be afraid.”
“I cannot promise I will never want control.”
“That is part of who I was trained to be.”
His voice shook.
“But I promise I will recognize the difference between wanting control and having the right to take it.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“I promise I will never ask you to become smaller so I feel safer.”
“I promise Daniel’s place in this family will remain Daniel’s.”
“And I promise Maddie will never again hear me treat her like she is optional.”
Roman finally knelt.
No bodyguards.
No empire.
No hidden agenda.
“Will you marry me again?”
Claire stared at him.
Three years earlier, she would have needed certainty.
Now she knew certainty was often just fear wearing expensive clothes.
“Yes.”
Roman stopped breathing.
Claire laughed.
“Yes.”
He stood.
She kissed him.
Then Maddie screamed from the stairs—
“I KNEW IT.”
Claire spun.
“Maddie!”
She appeared holding her stuffed rabbit even though she was nine and claimed not to need it anymore.
“You were spying?”
“No.”
“You’re standing behind the wall.”
“Coincidence.”
Roman laughed.
Claire pointed.
“Bed.”
Maddie ran down instead.
She hugged both of them.
Then looked at the ring.
“Better.”
Roman stared.
“Thank you.”
“Doorknob one was embarrassing.”
Claire laughed until she cried.
They stood inside Groundwork.
Daniel’s crooked shelf behind them.
George the water stain still faintly visible above table seven.
The place Claire built to survive one husband’s death.
The place another husband entered with a lie.
May you like
Now—
the place where truth finally had enough room to stay.
