“Who are you, woman? Are you going soft on me? I thought you hated PDA.”
Emma ignores Sebastian. “So where’s Belle? With a babysitter?”
I swallow, trying to ignore the acid in my stomach that’s taken up residence since this whole thing started. “With her mom. They went out to lunch together.”
“Holy shit. Why didn’t you say anything?” Sebastian asks.
I shrug and help Emma with stringing the lights around the top of the tree.
“Did she tell you what she wants?” Emma asks.
I take a deep breath and try to center myself. It’s a practice I learned in martial arts that’s come in handy lately. “Claire’s pissed about the scandal. Her boyfriend isn’t happy that she and Belle are in the tabloids. The lawyers said that the nanny situation is a goldmine for Claire.”
“Oh shit, Ronan,” Chase says.
“All I care about is Belle. If Claire wants money, she can have as much as she wants.”
“Whoa, well, maybe don’t go overboard. Hope your lawyers aren’t leading with that,” Sebastian says.
“Has Belle indicated who she’d prefer to live with?”
I nod. “She wants to stay with me.” When she begged me not to send her back to her mother, it broke my heart. She loves her mom. But she says that she didn’t see her much when she lived with her. Belle spent most of her time with the nannies, which is ironic, considering she would love to do that if the nanny were Poppy.
We’ve just finished decorating when there’s a knock at the door.
I open it to find Belle and Claire standing there. Claire is elegant as usual, in a simple black sheath of a dress, a cream coat, and a sleek bob.
“We’re going to take a break from decorating, Ronan. We’ll be on the porch,” Emma says when she sees who is at the door. She herds Sebastian and Chase outside.
“Daddy,” Belle cries, giving me a big smile. Relief is evident on her face. Relief that she’s back home with me and not on a plane to England with her mom. “You bought a tree! You decorated!”
I kneel down. “I did, pumpkin.”
“I love it.” She runs over to it. She gasps as she looks at an ornament I placed on a low branch. “A shell ornament!” she says.
I smile. “I collected some shells on the beach, and I thought we could make them into ornaments together.”
“Just like Poppy would do,” Belle says.
I nod, my chest feeling tight. “Just like Poppy would do.”
Claire’s eyes narrow and she frowns.
“Is that Sebastian out there? And Chase and Emma?” Belle asks.
“It is. Why don’t you go and say hi while your mother and I talk.”
She walks out but looks back at us worriedly. I try my best to smile, though my mouth feels like it will crack.
When she’s gone, I turn to Claire. “What’s up?” I ask as neutrally as I can manage. I don’t want to antagonize her. I need to be smart. She’s Belle’s mom, which means that if I’m lucky enough to have a proper place in my daughter’s life, we’ll have a relationship for the rest of our lives. Lord help me.
“I want to talk about Belle.”
“We’ve done that with our lawyers,” I say.
“We did. And now I want to talk without the lawyers.” She holds up an elegant arm, gold bracelets jangling. “Aren’t you going to offer me anything? A glass of wine?
“I only have water.”
