“You’re good with him,” Isla said.
“Am I?You should know…” He leaned in and added, “I have no clue what I’m doing.”
“You’re a natural.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.You make him laugh.That’s honestly all it takes to win over a three-year-old.”
“What does it take to win over a one-year-old?”
“Patience.She’s in her shy, I-want-Mommy stage.”
“I get that.Mommy is pretty great.”
Her smile hithim in all the feels, filling him with a sense of absolute rightness that would’ve been unthinkable before she’d walked into his life and changed everything.“I ought to be pissed at you,” he said in a teasing tone.
“Pissed,” Theo said with a grin.
Julian winced.“Whoops.”
“He’s a parrot.Are you going to tell me why you should be PO’d with me?”
“I was just thinking how you came strolling into my office and turned my well-ordered life upside down in the course of an hour, and I’d like to know how exactly you did that.”
“First of all, I do notstroll.”
“Trust me.There was strolling.”
Her lips quivered with amusement.“You’re being ridiculous.”
“My siblings tell me that every day.Anyway, there I was, minding my own business and dealing with other people’s nonsense.I was perfectly fine until you showed up with two of the cutest kids I’ve ever met.Tell me the truth… Are you some sort of witch with magical powers who cast a spell on me or something?Because that’s the only possible explanation for why I’m at a pizza place in Ojai on a Monday afternoon with one kid in a booster, another on her mother’s lap and a very pretty mommy trying not to laugh at my soliloquy.”
“You found me out.I cast a spell on you.”
“I knew it.”
“I can undo it if you want me to.”
“Can I get back to you on that?”
“It’s a limited-time offer.”
“Is that right?”Had he ever had more fun simply talking to a woman?Not since Aimee…
The waitress brought placemats and crayons for the kids that immediately captured their attention.
“Can I tell you something?”she asked quietly so the children wouldn’t overhear her.
“I wish you would.”
“I feel so guilty for having fun when…”
He covered her hand with his.“I know, but what would he want for you?”
“He said he wanted me to have fun, to be happy with the kids and new friends who make me laugh.”
“There’s absolutely nothing else you can do for him besides your best to raise your kids to be great people and try to make yourself happy along the way.The choices he made for himself took a terrible toll on you.There’s nothing wrong with making this next phase the Age of Isla—and her kids.And wow, that sounds incredibly self-serving, doesn’t it?”
