Katrine waved it away. “Old news.”
Maybe, but it left Ele at a loss for what to say.
Until Annalise saved her again. “Mama, I want to go play with Tristan and Gabe. Can Ele take me?”
Katrine glanced at Ele for a sign. When Ele nodded, she said, “Yes. But we have to leave soon.”
Ele stood and held out her hand for Annalise. They looked like a matched set in their yellow dresses. Annalise skipped, keeping pace with Ele’s longer strides. Maybe it was the hat or maybe the little girl dressed like her or maybe her lack of hypervigilance, but whatever it was, no one seemed to even notice she was there.
They reached Gabe and Tristan. But the game had grown to include a few other children and Rowan and Caleb—the only three unattached members of the team. Annalise stood on the sidelines, suddenly shy.
“Don’t you want to play?” Ele asked, bending down to meet her eyes.
“I’m the only one with a dress.”
“True. It just means you have to be a bit fiercer.”
Seemingly satisfied, Annalise stepped out onto the makeshift pitch.
Of course, Tristan instantly noticed her and came to her. “Annalise is on my team,” he yelled for everyone to hear.
She smiled wide, and Ele kind of hated him in that moment for being so adorable. She stood on the sidelines, watching yet another football match. In the past few months alone, she’d quadrupled the amount of matches she’d watched in her life. This was different though. The competitive nature of the play lessened by the participants, and every time she caught a glimpse of Tristan, he was smiling wide.
Katrine and Nico joined her a few minutes later, calling for Gabe and Annalise. Before they trotted to their parents, Tristan stepped out of the action and pulled his phone from his pocket. He took a selfie with indiscriminate children in the background, their faces obscured by the color of dusk.
He ran over to Nico and showed it to him. “No faces—well, except mine,” he said. “Can I post it?”
Nico shook his head. “Bloody obsessed you are.” But he looked to Katrine, who smiled indulgently.
“I’ll have to approve the caption.”
Tristan chuckled. “Family football.”
Ele lost another tiny piece of her heart.
“That’s sweet. And, yes, you can post that.”
Tristan grinned and took off back to the game, rounding up Gabe and Annalise.
Katrine sidled closer to Ele. “I would tell you to hold on to your heart, but it seems I’m too late for any warnings.”
Ele shifted, bent on a rebuttal, but Katrine had already moved away, holding out her hands to her children.
Annalise tugged away and yelled, “Tristan.”
He had been retreating but quickly changed course. “Yes, sweets?”
“Will you take a picture of me and Ele?”
“Even my daughter knows of your camera obsession,” Nico commented wryly.
But Tristan ignored him, his gaze fixed on Ele. He was waiting for her permission, she realized. It hadn’t occurred to her to withhold it.
She bent down and pulled Annalise close to her.
“Smile.”
Ele didn’t need the instruction. Tristan nodded when he got it.