‘I think you’ll find I was too busy chasing this one around.’ I gesture to Lottie. It’s not a complete lie. I was chasing her around,whilebeing choked up. Because now my tear ducts have found their purpose, they’re at it every damn chance they get. ‘Apparently, four-year-olds can’t sit through one wedding meal without trying to scale the cake. Who knew?’
‘You’re loving it, though.’
‘You think?’
His eyes dip to Lottie again and it takes him a moment to answer.
‘Yeah. I think.’ His dark eyes return to mine, the air thickening with his voice. ‘She adores you.’
‘She’s four,’ I say, laughing it off. ‘She adores unicorns, insects, and breadsticks.’
‘You know what I mean.’
Yeah, I do. But it’s still not enough to fill the hole in my chest.
‘And it’s pretty ingenious if you ask me,’ he says, his gaze drifting to Theo and Sadie now kissing in the shallows.
‘Ingenious?’ I mean, yeah, I get kids have their obsessions, and maybe I’m one of Lottie’s latest, but ingenious?
He nods. ‘Your sister and Theo inviting us to be guests at their wedding, then keeping us trapped here for the week.’
‘Trapped?’ I cock a brow. ‘You really do hate weddings, don’t you?’
‘How many divorces come with a hefty side of wedding debt, do you reckon?’
Okay, so he has a point, but…
‘Theo can afford it,’ I say automatically.
Not that it’s something they’ll ever have to worry about. Wedding budgetsordivorce bills. I’m pretty convinced they’re in it for life. Odd, considering my own stance on marriage, but nevertheless true.
He makes some sound low in his chest. All grave and serious, and I’m not sure why. Is he thinking the same as me? Comparing his beliefs to what he sees for them? Thinking about his past, and what he sees in his own future?
‘At least your sister kept it small. But a whole week, withthatgoing on?’
I chuckle. ‘It irks you that much, hey?’
‘Don’t tell me it doesn’t bother you, too. A day, sure. But five days? With that in our faces…’
‘I don’t know… It is kind of nice.’
‘Wow.’ He turns to face me full on. ‘You really have changed your tune.’
‘No. Not changed. Just… open to possibility.’
‘Possibility?’ he echoes, holding my gaze, and my heart picks up speed again. The desire for a child beating its way to thesurface, my desire for him to be the one to make it happen, quick on its tail.
‘For them, at least,’ I rush out, tearing my gaze away and swallowing it all down with my cocktail. Now isn’t the time to get into babies and baby-making requests. ‘I fail to see what’s ingenious about it, though.’
‘Really?’ His eyes are back on Lottie, his mouth twisting to the side. ‘A wedding week with babysitters on tap?’
‘You think that’s all we are to them? Glorified babysitters?’
‘You, absolutely. Me? I’m the human equivalent of a safety gate. Functional but not exactly cuddly.’
‘Ha, you do yourself a disservice. She adores you, too. Maybe not for your lullaby skills, but still…’
‘Is that why she hides between your legs every time I come on the scene and calls me the giant?’
