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I glance around him to get a better look. “You’re good at this.”
“The smallest girl is doing all the talking,” he says. “Or she’s about to.”
As if on cue, the little brown-haired girl approaches Roman and taps his palm. “Hey, Romeo. It’s you, right?”
Romeo.
I fight to hold back a laugh.
The woman holding the toddler clucks her tongue as she approaches the small girl. “Let Roman be, sweetheart. It’s impolite to interrupt.”
“I’m not interr…interpupting,” she stutters. “I’m saying hi to him. He said we should when we see him.”
“Excuse me for just a minute,” Roman says to me.
I nod because I can’t wait to see what’s about to happen.
He spins on his heel. “It’s all good, Mika.”
The woman holding the toddler breathes a heavy sigh of relief. “They spotted you from the corner. They wanted to say hello.”
The five kids all join in on a chorus of hellos before the little boy Mika’s holding whispers, “hi,” in the softest, sweetest voice.
The oldest boy waves to me. “Hey, lady.”
“Hey,” I attempt to wave back with a hand that is buried beneath the bouquets.
“This is Mika.” Roman steps to the side to give me access to the mom. “Mika, meet Bianca.”
I shrug and laugh because I can’t reach out to greet her.
She chuckles. “Those are beautiful flowers.”
“So pretty,” one of the girls says. “They’re daisies.”
“They are,” I affirm with a nod of my head.
“We love daisies,” she whispers. “Mommy got some once. She let us each have one.”
I look down at their worn sneakers and the mismatched clothes they’re wearing. The youngest reminds me of Vivi with her big blue eyes and braided hair.
Roman glances back at me. “Daisies are Bianca’s favorite flowers.”
“Mine too,” the youngest girl exclaims. “When I grow up, I’m going to paint a daisy on my bedroom wall.”
“I’ve thought about doing that,” I joke. “Roman got me extra daisies today. Do you think you could all share them?”
I balance both bouquets in my arm so I can reach around to grab the bottom of one.
“You don’t have to do that,” Mika whispers before she looks at Roman. “You’ve already done so much for us.”
I look at his face to get his reaction, but his expression gives nothing away.
“I gave you a job,” he says. “One that you’re great at.”
She adjusts the toddler in her arms. “One I wasn’t qualified for.”
He shakes his head. “You learned fast. Besides, one day you’ll make partner with our firm. When that happens, I expect you to side with me when Thomas tells me I’m wrong about something I’m right about.”
That pulls a laugh from her. “Deal.”
Chapter 20
Roman
Who the fuck knew that a stroll down one city block in the middle of Manhattan on a Saturday afternoon could expose so much of my life to Bianca?
She’s met a client and one of the junior assistants from my firm.
It’s not as though I’m a well-known guy in New York. I work hard, I do what I can for the people around me, and I treasure my time at home.
Today, I savored the moments I had alone with Bianca, even though they were sparse.
“I have to get going,” Bianca announces to everyone gathered on the sidewalk around us. She clears her throat. “That came out louder than I anticipated.”
I huff out a laugh. “I got the message loud and clear.”
She looks to where Mika is rounding a corner with her crew in tow. “I’m sorry I gave away some of the flowers, but…”
“But nothing,” I interrupt, stepping closer to her. “I’m glad you did that. It made their day.”
Her eyes search my face. “Those kids are fond of you.”
There’s an unasked question in those words and her expression, so I answer it. “Mika faced a hard time after her husband died. I helped out.”
Her mouth falls open. “She’s young.”
“Thirty-nine.”
Her gaze drops to the ground. “That has to be rough.”
“Brutal,” I agree.
“You prepared their wills? Is that how you met?”
I see no reason to lie to her, so I don’t. “I met them when her husband, Brian, was in the hospital.”
Concern knits her brow. “Were you a patient too?”
“No,” I reassure her with a shake of my head. “Brian was on the same ward as someone I was visiting. We struck up a conversation when he was doing laps in the corridor and I passed him.”
“So you stepped up to help?”
“I did what I could,” I nod. “Mika had dreams of becoming a lawyer before she had kids. She’s slowly working toward that, so I gave her a job to help out in the meantime.”
“You did more than that.” She tilts her head. “Those kids were looking at you like you’re a superhero.”
“I played Santa and dropped off a few gifts at their place last Christmas. Thomas, my business partner, was the elf.”
A smile lights up her face. “Is there photographic evidence of this, counselor?”
