My daughter and my… love interest.
“I.” Words failed me. Sheer happiness rattled inside me so much I feared for the safety of our flight.
It took maybe three deep breaths, and at least four “oh my Gods” as we took off before I gathered my thoughts.
A shining light glowed from my bag as Edith helped calm me. It took a minute, but I managed to relax the rest of the way.
Remy and Imogene introduced themselves to Piper, and even Edith stuck her head out of the bag to say hi after she stopped glowing.
Imogene leaned against me and spoke, “How sweet of McKenzie to bring your girl along for the ride.”
“Mom, are you mad?” Piper asked in front of everyone, and I shook my head. I wasn’t mad, but I did feel a little unsure.
“I’m happy to see you, P.”
My assurance turned her growing frown into a smile. Iwashappy to see her.
Rylan’s warmth brushed against my neck as he spoke close to my ear. “Too much?”
The helicopter jostled us for a moment, and my hand shot out to grab his only to drop it like his touch burned me.
“I’m not sure how I feel about you talking to my daughter behind my back and conspiring to get her here.” I trust her to make decisions, and I didn’t think Rylan was a bad guy, but… wasn’t this too personal? Wrong? Right?
“I wanted to do something nice for you. I know you missed her. I have the capabilities to do anything you want, so if I can do something to make you smile, I’m gonna do it.”
Well, if that wasn’t one hell of panty dropping line... Rylan wasn’t just any guy. He was Rylan McKenzie, one of the richest men in the world.
He told me he’d stack the cards in his favor, and this move was dirty. But dammit if it didn’t make me like him more.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
You’re thick sometimes
“He really likes you.” Piper set the shopping bags on my bed then plopped down beside them with a big yawn.
If I were one to scrapbook, today would most definitely be a scrapbooking day.
Rylan took us to Dinan, where we shopped in the Saturday market, ate the most delicious food, and laughed more than I had in ages.
Edith and Piper were obsessed with finding little doll costumes to fit the noodle. Imogene told her stories about her short modeling career in her thirties. Claiming she only quit because she found a hankering, her words not mine, for cherry cheese pastries.
Remy grabbed a few items for herself and stayed relatively quiet but when I asked if she was okay, she just said she was having a blast. Listening and being part of the group was plenty of interaction she needed.
Not that she didn’t have Piper talking her ear off a lot. Baby P wanted to know everything about Remy.
Where she came from? California.
Did she have any siblings? Three.
What degrees did she have? Something about Earth Science, Engineering, Robotics, and Zoology.
When I asked about that last one, she inspected a yellow shirt on the rack and shrugged. “I went through a sea lions phase.”
And that was it. No other explanation as she left to try on the shirt.
Piper oo’d and ah’d over my roommate which turned toward her questioning herself. In a matter of seconds between gearing my legs to leap over a bin of shoes, and my sweet child’s sad expression, Remy opened up about the struggles of being autistic and how there are things she’s not great at.
Piper’s smile didn’t return right away, but she offered Remy a hug, and my roommate accepted it.
