“That’s how it happens. One minute they’re crawling, the next they’re engaged and moving permanently to the States.”
It was the first time he’d said something suggesting any melancholy at all about his older daughter’s upcoming nuptials, but I’d suspected he felt it. “Good thing you have this one to help lessen the blow of losing that one.”
He came toward me with a smirk. “Yes. Good thing.” He reached for Cleo, and I passed her over, then had to take a second to catch my breath. The sight of a bare-chested man holding a baby had never done things to my insides until it was my bare-chested man holding my baby.
Whoa. It was the definition of breathtaking.
Edward rocked her as he stepped away, running his nose along her forehead. “Good morning, birdie,” he said, the variation on my nickname one he’d adopted for her recently. “It’s too bad you can’t talk yet. You could tell me what it is that Mommy’s trying to hide from Daddy.”
I froze midway from standing up from the rocker, color draining from my face. How did he know?
Dammit, I was an idiot. “The baby monitor,” I said as it dawned on me.
“The baby monitor,” he repeated.
He held out his hand to help me up the rest of the way then used it to pull me into him, wrapping his arm around my waist when I was there. I didn’t mistake it for affection, though it was clearly that too. No, this move was about asserting himself on me. “Do you have something you’d like to tell me?” he asked, pressing his lips to my temple.
I didn’t even consider lying. We were on the same side when it came to the Werner shares, even if we weren’t on the same side when it came to Hudson, but there was no reason for that to be an issue, as far as I could tell. “Hudson wants to meet up. He texted a little bit ago.”
“That’s great,” he said, surprising me. “Did you tell him yes?”
“I did.”
“Good. When are we seeing him?”
I pushed gently out of his arms. “Well. Tomorrow night. But he didn’t invite us. He invited me.”
“I’m okay with showing up without an invitation.” He said it casually, his focus seemingly on Cleo who was suddenly very interested in his beard.
“Edward…” I tried to decide if this was worth battling.
Yes, it was. For several reasons, not the least of which was that the fewer personal interactions that occurred between my husband and Hudson, the more likely I was to keep my secret about him.
Not that I could tell that to Edward.
“If we both show up, then he’ll feel outnumbered,” I said instead. “He won’t likely be willing to negotiate if he doesn’t feel like we’re coming to this on equal ground.”
He knew I was right, but he still considered. “I could go in your place.”
“If he wanted to talk to you he would have reached out to you.” I forced myself not to take a defensive posture. “Look. He didn’t have to ask to meet at all, and he did. I don’t think this is the time to try to turn the tables. I should go and see what he has to say, and if that doesn’t turn out to our benefit, we can change the game plan.”
A beat passed. Then two. I was just preparing to double down on my argument when he surprised me once again. “I suppose I can agree to that.”
“Really? Awesome.” I stood up on my tiptoes and gave him a chaste kiss. “Now, since you’re up...want to make the coffee or change the diaper?”
He pretended to think about it. “Hazelnut or Colombian blend?”
Turned out Edward’s agreement had caveats—he wouldn’t come in with me, but he insisted on waiting in the car.
“It’s not like there’s any parking here,” I said as the driver neared Randall’s bar. “Are you just going to have Bert circle the block until I text you, or what?”
“Works for me.” He called to the front seat. “How about you, Bert?”
Bert shrugged. “Whatever you want, Mr. Fasbender. Doesn’t matter to me.”
I folded my arms over my chest knowing anything I said would be dismissed. We’d already argued about it all afternoon as I’d gotten ready, donning a fitted red dress that I only just barely fit into post-pregnancy and taking extra care with my makeup. All I’d accomplished with the bickering was that I was arriving for my meeting almost fifteen minutes late. Edward wasn’t budging.
Still, I couldn’t drop it. “What’s even the point? I’d call you and tell you everything just as easily.”
“Call me eager,” he said as the car pulled up in front of the bar.
If it were only that, I wouldn’t be concerned. The problem was that I didn’t trust him. There was one reason he’d insist on coming with and one reason only.
I hesitated before opening the door. “Give me at least half an hour before showing up, if that’s what you’re planning. Please?”
The driver behind us laid on his horn, but Edward took his time answering. “Fine. Half an hour.” He looked at his watch. “Starting now.”
I couldn’t decide if I should take that as a victory or a loss. Since I was on the clock, I didn’t have time to ruminate. I opened the door and began to step out when Edward grabbed my arm to halt me.
“You’re a dragon, Celia. Go in breathing fire.”
It shouldn’t have boosted my confidence as much as it did, but I walked into the bar with courage and composure, my spine straight, my wits together.
Until I realized Hudson wasn’t alone—his wife was with him.
I knew right then, whatever I’d thought this meeting was about, I’d been wrong. This was something else entirely. Something I had not been prepared for. Hudson saw me as a threat to his marriage, to his wife. It was why he still held those shares over me. He’d never put us in the same room without good reason.
Unless I was wrong. Unless her presence signaled things had changed.
It was too much to hope for, and a knot tightened in my belly, weighing me down. To counter it, I rounded my shoulders. Lifted my chin. Put on my mask.
My eyes met Alayna’s before I got to the table, and I saw a flicker of insecurity. Should I take that as some sort of victory? Or should I admit that it hurt that she still didn’t trust me?
I stuffed the competing emotions down inside me and activated the safety switch, the one Hudson had shown me—I went numb.
“Hudson, Laynie,” I said, injecting a smile into my tone. They sat at a circular booth, Hudson on one end, his wife pressed so closely to him it was almost as though they were one person. Without being invited, I scooted in at the opposite end and addressed Hudson, mostly because he was the only one of the two of them I really knew how to talk to. I’d only ever been fake with Laynie. Attempting to be genuine now seemed futile.
But also, he’d been the one who set me up in this arrangement, and my complaint was meant specifically for him. “I didn't know we were bringing our significant others,” I said curtly. “Should I call Edward? He doesn't have any plans.”
He’s just down the block, I added, silently wondering now if that was a good thing or an even worse thing than I’d originally thought.