him. “Hello, Tomasz.”
Tomasz locked eyes with him fearlessly.
“Tomasz, be a good boy and say hello to Mr. Ryan,” Liliana urged.
“You can call me Jack.”
“Jack is having dinner with us tonight. Are you hungry?”
The boy nodded furiously.
His grandmother spoke to him in Polish. He reached for her and she took him.
“He’s, what, two, two and a half?”
“Two and a half next week,” Liliana said.
“He’s a beautiful boy.”
“Thank you.”
“And he’s obviously bright if he speaks English and Polish already.”
“Mother only speaks to him in Polish, and I only speak to him in English.”
“That’s brilliant. I studied languages in college. They didn’t stick so well.”
“It’s always better to learn them when you’re young. The brain is wired for it.”
“Let’s get you washed up for dinner,” Maria said in Polish, and carried Tomasz off to the bathroom.
“I apologize for my son’s rudeness,” Liliana said.
“He wasn’t rude at all. He was just checking out the stranger. He’s the man of the house. It’s his job. How long will his father be deployed?”
Liliana’s eyes narrowed, curious. “Why do you ask that?”
Jack nodded toward the fireplace mantel on the far wall. A handsome soldier in a Polish uniform stood inside a silver frame.
“He’s a good-looking fellow. I see where Tomasz gets it from.”
“Yes. Tadeusz was a very handsome man . . .” Her voice trailed off, nearly cracking.
“I’m so sorry. How did it happen?”
“Six months after Tomasz was born. He was a lieutenant with Task Force White Eagle, attached to the American First Cavalry Division in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. A roadside IED took out his vehicle.”
“It’s a shitty war that never ends.”
“He served his country faithfully and bravely. I would rather be the widow to a brave man than a wife to a coward.”
When she said death wasn’t a stranger, she wasn’t kidding.
Now Jack felt like a pile of shit. She was a grieving widow and a single working mom and he had allowed his mind to go places it shouldn’t have gone. All he wanted to do was leave.
“I need to secure my weapon and wash up a bit. Please, make yourself comfortable. I’m sure dinner will be ready soon.”
Jack turned toward the front door.
“Jack?” It was Maria.
He turned back around. Tomasz was in her arms, staring at him. They approached.
“Come, let’s get you something to drink.”
“I hate to be a bother—”
“Nonsense.” She sniffed the air. “My steaks!” She set Tomasz down and pointed at a box of toys in the living room, urging the boy in Polish to go play with them. Tomasz scampered off with a squeal while she dashed to the kitchen, shouting, “Excuse me, Jack—” over her shoulder as she went.
Jack watched Tomasz attack the toy box, yanking out each piece one at a time, obviously searching for something. He leaned over into the box and emerged with a triumphant grin on his face, with a plastic giraffe in one hand and a lion in the other.
He glanced up at Jack and then the animals in his hands, and then held up the giraffe toward Jack. “Play?”
“Me? Heck, yeah, bud. Let’s play.”
Jack dropped down on the floor with him and the two began their plastic safari adventure.
* * *
—
Fifteen minutes passed before Liliana came back out into the front room in a fresh change of clothes and with her face washed.
“What are you two up to?” she asked.
Jack sat cross-legged on the ground and proudly pointed at his giraffe standing in the back of a dump truck that Tomasz was pushing around with the help of the lion. There was also a plastic hammer, a Thomas the Tank Engine figure, and a green plastic knight with a broadsword held high over his helmeted head.
“Seems we’re on some kind of construction-related safari.”
“He loves to play. He’d rather play than watch TV any day.”
She reached out her hand toward her son. “Come, it’s time for dinner.”
“Nie,” Tomasz said, half pouting.
“Put your toys away right now, Son. You can play later, after Mr. Ryan leaves.”
“Nie.”
“Can we play some more after dinner?” Jack pleaded with Liliana, like a trial attorney on behalf of his young client.
Liliana shrugged. “Only if Tomasz eats all of his dinner.”
Jack turned to Tomasz. He nodded. “Hey, bud. That sounds like a pretty good deal. Okay?”
Tomasz grinned and bobbled his head exactly like Jack, nod for nod.
“Great!”
Jack stood up.
Tomasz reached up.
To Jack.
Jack picked him up. “Here we go!”
Jack tossed him up in the air a little. The toddler giggled.
“Again!”
Jack tossed him one more time.
“Again!”
“After dinner, okay?”
“Okay.”
“If you two are done fooling