“Oh, okay,” Preston says. “I think your mom is beautiful inside and out.”
It’s a very nice answer, if a bit general.Though I only have myself to blame for that, given how little of myself I’ve actually shown him. He smiles winningly atThea after this answer, but I don’t think she’s swayed.
“What do you like about your mom?” Preston asks her.
Thea pauses. “Her mashed potatoes,” she says, staring him down without cracking a smile.
I laugh, and Preston chuckles too, but it seems forced. I don’t get the sense he’s incredibly comfortable around kids, but I do think he’s trying.Thea’s not exactly making it easy on him.
Rosie cuts back in with more questions, this time about whether he’s seenMy Little Ponyand if he thinksTwilight Sparkle is the best or Applejack, and on and on for awhile until we’re pretty much done eating. I realize belatedly that we’re eating spinach, and oh god, am I going to have spinach in my teeth on camera?
At least I haveThea with me today. If I do, she’ll tell me in a heartbeat.
“Hey, guys,” Nate says, and his voice sends a thrill through me. He crouches down between my seat andThea’s and lowers his voice. “Thea told me earlier that she’s scared of being on camera, so we wanted to make sure she had some time alone with you to help her get comfortable before the second part of the date.”
I look atThea in surprise. She is avoiding my eyes and shifting nervously in her seat. Is that why she’s been acting off since she got here? She didn’t have a problem being on camera before.
Clearlysomethingis going on. “Of course,” I say, reaching over to squeezeThea’s hand. She squeezes tightly back and a prickle of fear stabs at me. Is she okay? Did something happen while I was gone?
“Thea, are you afraid of the camera?” Rosie demands, signing for herself, andThea glares at her.
“Hey, Rosie,” Nate says, standing back up. “Why don’t you come with me, while Preston gets interviewed and your mom andThea talk.There’s a cool fountain across the street you might like to see.”
Rosie cheers and jumps from her seat, grabbing Nate’s hand and tugging on it. “Let’s go!”
He grins, and the sight of how natural his smile at her is and how easily she takes to him warms me all over.
“Why don’t you andThea take a walk,” he suggests. “Production will follow to make sure you’re all right, but they’ve agreed not to record.”
Production never agrees not to record, so Nate must really have worked his magic on this one. We head outside, leaving the interpreter behind for the moment, and I lift up the back of my shirt just enough to turn off my mic.Thea and I pass a cute little bakery that could be pulled straight out of some storybook.
“You’re not wearing a gown today,”Thea signs, looking over my silk halter top and slim dark jeans.
“Probably a good thing, considering I was cooking.”
“He was in prince clothes,” she points out. Preston had another of those more formal jackets with the gold buttons and braiding, though he took that off for the actual cooking.
“He’s the prince. He always gets stuck wearing those.”
“You look really pretty.” She pauses, sucking in her lips. “Did he tell you that?”
I blink at her. “He did.”
At the end of the block, we reach a small park. Olivia has followed us, but she’s waiting down the block, and there are no cameras or microphones in sight.There’s a colorful playground being used by a couple of kids, their parents chatting on a bench nearby.Thea and I find our way to an unoccupied bench that’s across the way from the others and blocked from Olivia’s view by the slide.
We sit together andThea scuffs her feet on the ground beneath the bench.
“Thea, what’s wrong?” I ask.
She holds up her hands for moment before signing. “I know Daddy was mean to you sometimes.”
My heart stops.
“What?” I ask.
She frowns. “I know he said things that made you cry. I know he would be mad at you and you would be sad a lot when he was there.”
I don’t think I can breathe; my hands are trembling as I sign. “You saw that?”
