“Jonathan’s still playing hard to get?”
He nodded, propping his chin on one hand. “Refusing to give us a fair price on the property. I’m this close”—he held up two fingers—“to telling him where he can shove it.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
Oliver’s brow arched.
“Sorry,” I said, grinning. “Not laughing at your misery. It’s just refreshing to see you so… over it.”
“Yeah, well. Kid number two broke my spirit. I don’t have the energy to care.”
“Why not get a night nurse?”
He waved that off, sitting up straighter. “Char and I don’t want our kids raised by an army of nannies. You know that. It’s just rough right now because they’re both so little. But it’ll get better.”
I offered him a small, unsure smile.
“Besides,” he said, shoulders relaxing as his face softened, “even if they’re feral hyenas ninety percent of the time, when they wake up at five in the morning and smile at you… there’s nothing like it.”
That was disgustingly heartwarming. And like so many times before, I felt that same dull ache: guilt, affection, and a longingto be closer. Not that I was exactly nanny material, but I could at least attempt to help.
“How about you, Ash? How are you holding up?” His tone was careful now, his posture almost bracing as he pushed the question out.
I couldn’t blame him. The rock in my stomach dropped hard and fast, my mouth going dry.
“As well as can be expected.” I shrugged, attempting a smile. “We’re deep in the legal trenches right now, trying to find a solution.”
Oliver drummed his fingers on the table, hesitating again, eyes sharp. “How much of your revenue was tied to state contracts? What’s the loss?”
Through the screen, a burst of distant noise carried over. Amelia’s laugh rang out somewhere in the background, followed by something clattering and Charlotte calling after her.
“Twenty-five percent.”
Oliver’s eyes closed as he swore under his breath. “Let me see if I can think of something,” he said, looking back at me through the screen. “But, fuck, Ash…”
“Don’t worry too much about it.” I focused on the table instead of his face, letting out a brittle huff. “It is what it is. We’re working through it.” I felt like I’d said those words a million times over the past few weeks, and they were starting to lose their meaning. Their hope.
Charlotte reappeared and dropped into Oliver’s lap, dissolving the tightness that had settled between us.
Her chestnut hair was a half-up, half-down disaster, and a red smear stained the side of her untucked white button-down. “What’d I miss?”
Oliver’s arm slid around her waist automatically, and they melted together seamlessly. He glanced at me, a quick knowing look, before turning back to her. “Our children are feral.” Oliverlifted his fingers one by one as he recited the list. “We haven’t slept in four years, and he’s mad we didn’t give him a heads-up about E.”
Charlotte nodded like that summed it up perfectly.
“Are the kids okay?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Julia’s got Liam in the bath, and Amelia’s trying to help,” she said. “I’ve got five minutes before I have to get back to the battlefield, so make it count.”
They both looked at me, expectant.
I rolled my lips before shrugging. “I’m in a relationship.”
“No!” they gasped in unison.
I nodded once.
“Did you tell E?” Charlotte asked.
