I dart back and try to make a run for it, but the door’s already swinging open by then and Daniil is looking me right in the face.
“Lurking in the hall, I see,” he notes with amusement.
I try to keep my attitude at a minimum, considering we have an audience today. “I was just passing by. Did you two have a good chat?”
Isla is standing right behind Daniil, looking curiously back and forth between us. Then she sniffs the air, momentarily distracted. “Are we having pasta for dinner?”
I nod, trying not to shed a pathetic tear at how good it is just to see her happy about something so small and simple. “Good. Why don’t you go set the table for dinner?”
“Daniil,” she says, glancing up at him. She has to crane her neck pretty far. “You’re staying for dinner, right?”
He doesn’t even bother t
