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“Thanks.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and took a deep breath. “By the way, don’t freak out or turn around but the guy you hooked up with just walked in the door.”
I started to turn.
“Oh, my God, will you follow directions?” she hissed. “Don’t. Turn. Around. It’s too obvious. He has a little kid with him.”
I looked anyway, disappointed to see that it was, in fact, Christian. He had entered the restaurant carrying his son, who had on an adorable pair of red sunglasses. “That’s actually his twin brother, not him.”
“There are two of him?” She sounded scandalized.
“Well, not two of him. Just two humans with the same DNA.”
“Human number two is coming over here,” she said, sounding thoroughly intrigued.
“Sophie Bigelow,” Christian said. “How’s your lunch?”
“Cold,” I said truthfully.
He laughed. “Who is your friend?” he asked, giving Bella a once-over. There was a definite look of appreciation.
“This is my sister, Bella. Bella, this is Christian, Cain’s brother.” Then because I was still holding a grudge against Christian, I decided not to mention Bella was getting married. Let him be disappointed when he found out.
“Nice to meet you.” Bella touched the little boy’s leg. “Who is this cutie?”
I realized I had never asked the child’s name. That was typical of me. Social niceties didn’t come naturally.
“This is Camp.”
“Camp?” Bella repeated, like she wasn’t sure if she had heard it right or not.
“Yes. His mother named him. Don’t hold it against him.” Christian smiled, and I supposed most girls would say it was charming.
It was bizarre though, that he was identical in appearance to Cain, yet I had no attraction to him. It didn’t even feel strange to be staring at a man who looked exactly like a man I had kissed and touched so intimately.
“There are no rules these days for naming kids. I think it’s unique.”
Bella had social graces. I knew she didn’t believe that for one minute. She loved rules.
Christian laughed. “Well. If his mother ever reappears I’ll let her know. But considering she hasn’t called in sixteen months, I’m not holding my breath.”
That made me set my straw back down, a little surprised. That seemed like a little bit too much information. But it had the effect on Bella he had probably intended. Her hand came to her chest and her eyes went soft. She squeezed Camp’s little foot and stroked the smooth skin of his leg.
“Oh, my goodness, who could leave this little sweetheart?” I could practically hear her ovaries fluttering. Bella wanted to be a mother.
Me? I wasn’t sure. In theory, maybe. But only once I had accepted the inevitable fact that they wouldn’t be miniature versions of myself. I was only going to take that step when I could fully embrace they would be totally unique creatures and I wouldn’t know who or what they would be until they were here in existence already.
But I still felt the same tenderness that other women did when they saw cute babies. Camp was an adorable kid. I wondered if Cain had looked like that when he was a toddler. Then I worried why I cared.
Christian didn’t respond to Bella’s rhetorical question, which was probably a good thing. Personally, I did not want to hear the intimate details of his failed relationship with a woman who would ditch her child.
He gave her a smile. “I’d better get this guy some food before he launches a protest.”
He was a fairly silent child. He was just watching everything around him, his fist gripping the sleeve of Christian’s T-shirt. I couldn’t see his eyes behind the shades. I wondered if they were the same ice-blue as his father’s. And Cain’s.
“Nice to meet you,” Bella said. Her voice took on a singsong quality. “And you too, Campy.”
It was a talent she had, adding a vowel to the end of names that didn’t want one.
“Good to see you, Sophie,” Christian said. “I hope to see you around, Bella.”
