Maverick reached down and lifted her up in a quick hug, but he shot Nina a wink over his daughter’s shoulder. ‘Mud pie?’
‘No! Pasta!’ Poppy chirped. ‘With ’matoes!’
Maverick put her back down. ‘Yum,’ he replied, sounding genuinely enthused. ‘But you forgot your manners in the kitchen.’ With one hand on each of Poppy’s shoulders, he turned her around to face Nina. ‘Did you say hi to Nina?’
Poppy angled her head. Those eyes sized Nina up openly, and a little sceptically. ‘Hi!’
‘Hi, Poppy.’
‘Who are you?’
The question, the direct manner it was asked in, had Nina searching her mind for an appropriate response. ‘I’m a friend of your dad’s,’ she said finally, choosing the path of least resistance.
‘Oh.’ Poppy laughed. ‘I have friends too. Lots.’
‘I bet you do,’ Nina replied, genuinely amused.
Before she could defer or escape, Poppy came forward and took her by the hand. ‘I made dinner. Come see!’
‘Oh.’ Nina let herself be led. ‘Okay.’ She cast one slightly panicked glance in Maverick’s direction, but he only grinned and followed close behind them.
They walked down a wide hallway that was lined with dozens of framed family photographs. Nina caught glimpses of a young Maverick and Sierra and even Benji before she entered the kitchen slightly bent over, Poppy’s tiny hand encased in hers.
Sierra Hunt stood at the stove, a white chef’s apron over her pristine black pencil skirt. She didn’t turn around, only asked, ‘How did it go with Nina?’
Knowing that she had been a subject of concern to them had Nina flushing in embarrassment. But when Sierra turned, a spoon in her hands, and saw Nina standing in front of her, her dark eyes widened in surprise for only a moment. ‘Oh. Hi,’ she said, recovering quickly. ‘I guess this answers my question.’
‘I’m so sorry for imposing,’ Nina began.
But Sierra only waved away her concern. ‘It’s no imposition.’
‘I offered Nina a more private place to stay in lieu of the resort.’ Behind them, Maverick spoke up. ‘Figured it would be a weight off all our shoulders.’
Sierra didn’t miss a beat. ‘Absolutely. We’ve been worried.’ She pointed the spoon in Maverick’s direction.
‘Please keep billing me,’ said Nina. ‘I wouldn’t feel right staying here otherwise.’
Sierra nodded slowly as she thought it through. ‘We’ll bring it down to our bunk rate and apply the summer special,’ Sierra said. ‘That way you’re still in our system as a guest and can access all the resort’s amenities even though you’re staying with us.’
Nina was instantly appeased. ‘Thank you.’ She consciously refrained from wringing her hands. ‘I know this isn’t exactly normal—’
‘Your situation’s not either,’ Sierra said simply. She turned to her brother. ‘Could you put Nina’s bag in the second spare room – the one next to yours. It was cleaned recently, and I’ve been storing some of my boxes in the other one.’
‘Yup.’
As Maverick disappeared around the corner again, Sierra walked to the fridge and pulled out an open bottle of white wine, held it up for Nina’s inspection. ‘Riesling?’
‘That would be great. Thanks.’
‘Come see,’ Poppy said, and tugged Nina’s hand again.
Nina followed. She watched in amusement as Poppy released her to pull one of the chairs from the kitchen table over to the stove. The five-year-old climbed up and peered into the pot of bubbling pasta sauce. ‘I made it,’ she said proudly.
‘I heard,’ Nina replied, but she couldn’t quite relax with Poppy standing so close to the bubbling pot. Maybe she just had an overactive imagination, but all she saw were the numerous ways things could go wrong. ‘Hold on,’ she said, and when Poppy gripped the back of the chair with both hands, Nina pushed the entire chair a good foot off to the side of the stove.
Poppy looked at the stove, then back at Nina. She frowned. ‘But now I can’t stir.’
‘How about I stir?’ Nina offered.
