Chapter 88

“I don’t like this place, because it seems like we’re alone,” Mirko said again. “Everything is so silent. And it makes me miss Mom a lot, more than before. It’s like we’re in Alaska, waiting for her to come back for dinner.”

I managed to take the plate from Sasha and grab her hand to wipe it with a napkin; my pulse trembled at those sincere words. My daughter screamed in anger, but the only thing I heard in my head was what Mirko had just confessed.

“It’s like we’re in Alaska, waiting for her to come back for dinner.”

I don’t know how I managed to tell him:

“I’m sorry, son, I didn’t know you felt that way. Why don’t you two sleep with me in my bed for a few days?” I proposed, softly. “Until we can fix this place up a little, and it stops looking so ugly and silent. I’m going to need help, of course. Someone to give me the nails and the tiles, to hold the ladder for me…”

Mirko stirred his already cold dinner once again, silently.

“What are you sayi