Beth grinned at him. “Once I’ve filled out more, you won’t be able to tell us apart.”
He shook his head, his fingers stroking through Naomi’s silky hair.
“I’ll always be able to tell you apart,” he said, with complete confidence.
“Oh yeah?” Beth’s eyes sparkled in challenge.
“Yeah,” he replied, leaning down to nuzzle Naomi’s hair. “I’ll always be able to tell, because it’s in how Naomi looks at me.”
“Aww,” Naomi’s arms tightened about him, and she smiled up at him. “That’s so sweet, Liam.”
“It really is,” Beth admitted, then pretended to pout. “It won’t be any fun if we can’t play switcheroo on him, though.”
“Never mind,” Naomi consoled, turning to lead the way to the buffet. “Let’s have breakfast, and I had a great idea! Liam, you’re off today?”
“Just this morning. I have clinic this afternoon. Why?”
“Well, I thought maybe you could text Miranda, see if she has time to meet us, and we could take Beth to see the house.”
“Oh!” Beth looked around, pausing in the process of piling a heap of scrambled eggs on her plate. “I’d love to see it!”
Liam shot off a quick text to the realtor, glancing at the clock. “It’s not quite nine yet, but at least I won’t have woken her up.”
“No, not on a weekend,” Naomi agreed.
They were halfway through their breakfast before his phone chimed in response.
“She can meet us there in an hour,” Liam reported with satisfaction.
Naomi grinned, taking a bite of bacon. “Perfect. We have plenty of time to finish what’s on our plates and work on seconds.”
“Speak for yourself,” Beth said, grimacing as she looked at the modest servings on her own plate. “It will be all I can do to finish this.”
Naomi leaned forward quickly to place her hand over Beth’s on the table. “It’ll get easier,” she assured. “Your appetite will come back, and you’ll be able to eat more at a time. Don’t push yourself and try to eat too much. Lots of little meals is good, and if we have to beg Renee for refrigerator room so you can make sandwiches and salads during the day when Liam and I are at work, I bet she wouldn’t mind.”
“I thought there was a mini fridge in your suite?” Liam said, frowning.
“Oh, duh.” Naomi smacked herself on the forehead with her palm. “There is. That’s great! We can fill it up with sandwich and salad makings, Beth, then we’ll all go out to dinner in the evenings.”
“So get to eating,” Liam urged. “We’ve got places to go, things to do, and I have to get you two back here in time to get to the clinic at one.”
“Okay, okay, sheesh,” Naomi mumbled, tucking into her breakfast.
After they’d eaten, Liam shooed them upstairs to get their purses and phones.
“I’ll go get the jeep warmed up and bring it around front. And don’t forget jackets,” he called after them as they scampered up the stairs. “It’s cold out there.”
“Yes, Dad,” Naomi shot back, Beth snickering beside her.
“We better hurry, we want time to look over the whole property. You’re going to love it,” Naomi prophesied.
Once they were in the jeep, it only took fifteen minutes to get to their destination.
“It’s not all that far,” Naomi observed. “We can get to the clinic easily, or Katerina and Troy, or Jacinth just a little farther away.”
Liam nodded, and they piled out of the car once he’d parked in the driveway beside Miranda’s sedan. The realtor had a large shoulder bag, and a cup of coffee in one hand.
“Good morning, Liam and Naomi,” the realtor greeted them, then did a double take, her mouth dropping open.
