She roasted a leg of lamb, his favorite, hoping that might change his mind. Wasn’t food supposed to be one way to a man’s heart? When he arrived at the door, he sniffed the air and said, “Smells good,” before giving her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

Nicole rushed to fling her arms around Bess.

“Hi there, world traveler.” Bill ruffled her hair. “How’s the jet lag?”

“I’m OK,” Nicole told him. “I’ve been telling all my friends how amazing Russia is.”

Bill raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was a boring country for boring old people.”

Val returned to the kitchen, half listening to them from the next room. She was jumpy with nerves. Was he planning to tell her it was over when Nicole went to bed? She would have to keep up her nonchalant act till then.

* * *

Nicole fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and Val wandered back to the sitting room clutching a couple of beers. She passed one to Bill, then sat down and waited, an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach despite the meal she had just eaten.

“I’ve been thinking about your dad,” he began, “and I feel sorry for the bloke. He probably didn’t have any choice about being part of the execution squad. The Bolsheviks were pretty forceful back in those days. And it clearly haunted him for the rest of his life, which is why he said what he did in the nursing home.”

Val was taken aback. This wasn’t the conversation she’d been expecting, but she replied, “If you had been ordered to shoot five youngsters, you wouldn’t have done it, would you?”

“We live in different times,” he commented. “The Red Army was brutal. My parents lived through some godawful times during the civil war and the years after. They emigrated when Stalin began his purges in 1933, but had seen some pure evil before then.” He took a swig of his beer. “That’s why I can’t understand them going back. They reckon it’s all changed, but look at our experience: we weren’t allowed to wander round freely, our hotel rooms were probably bugged, and we had to employ subterfuge to visit Sverdlovsk. A state that’s fairly run shouldn’t have to resort to such measures.”

Val braced herself to bring up their argument. “I’m sorry I could have compromised your parents’ situation by talking about the Romanovs. I wasn’t thinking.”

Bill waved his beer can. “No worries. It doesn’t seem as though any harm’s been done.”

Val looked at him in astonishment. Was that it?