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As the queue moved forward, Melody continued boisterously laughing at everything Dean said, shifting her body away from Claire and Liam until there was something she wanted to say to them. Claire, however, remained silent.

“Did you have a good day today?” he asked as Melody and Dean showed their tickets to the worker standing nearby.

Claire nodded, her eyes brightening. “Yeah, we actually—”

“Come on!” Melody interrupted again, waving them forward as she and Dean moved into the fair.

Liam thought he heard a sigh coming from Claire’s lips, but she smiled and followed Melody in silence. Liam did the same, though he wanted to give his cousin a piece of his mind. Was she so oblivious to Claire’s unhappiness? No, Melody just cared more about her own pleasure than anyone else’s.

But then, this was exactly why he’d come today. He had been a text away from saying no to Melody’s request for him to come to the fair and the ballet later on, but the second he heard that Dean would be with them, he knew there was no way he could ever leave Claire to their mercy.

“Oh, look at the littles!” Melody squealed next, dragging Dean and the rest of them toward the bumper cars first, where kids rode around in penguin carts. “Aren’t they adorable?”

“So sweet,” Dean agreed, his eyes focusing solely on Melody. “But I think I see someone even more adorable than those children.”

“Oh, you are so funny,” Melody said laughing. “Isn’t he funny, Claire?”

Claire smiled with a succinct nod, then looked over her shoulder. If she was anything like Liam, she was looking for a distraction before she became sick all over the pavement.

“Oh, I just want one of those babies so bad,” Melody continued.

It was no wonder they’d entered through the Red Gate instead of one of the other three entrances. Melody had clearly wanted to walk through the family section to impress Dean with her love of children.

Liam would hate to break it to her, but Dean wasn’t a fan of kids, as he’d been apt to announce to the men during every Christmas Eve party he’d attended of Mum’s.

Focus on Claire.

He turned toward her as Melody pulled them to the next station, where kids rode around in circles atop plastic reindeers.

“So you were supposed to visit a few museums today, right?” he asked.

Claire glanced to Melody, as if to ensure she was occupied enough not to interrupt her again, then she finally responded. “Yeah, we got to go to the Natural History Museum, but we ended up going to the Tower of London instead of the Tate Modern.”

He raised his eyebrows. “So you managed to get Melody to budge, then.”

Her lips curved. “Barely.”

Was it bad for Liam to hope that Melody had a terrible time there, since she was making him have a terrible time at the fair?

“Dean, you goose!” came Melody’s voice above the sound of children’s laughter. “Don’t you dare say such a thing. You’d be an amazing father. I just know it.”

Liam refused to look at them again, though they followed them to the next section, the Santa Land Train Station. “So were you more impressed with the Tower than Melody was?”

The light shone a bit brighter in Claire’s eyes, though they were a mere fraction of what they’d been the day before. “Oh, yeah. I seriously loved it. It’s definitely been a highlight of the trip so far.”

Liam had to check his smile. Why did that make him so happy to know that she’d loved something he’d recommended again?

“And did you go back to Greggs for lunch?”

She hesitated, though her smile grew. “Um, not exactly.”

“Oh, don’t tell me. You finally made it to your blessed Pizza Hut?”

Her grin was dazzling, brighter than any star, brighter than the sun, warming him through to his soul.

“I should’ve known,” he said, shaking his head in feigned disbelief.

“But I still loved—”