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“And you’re my daddy.” She peeked around him at Mia. “Who’s that?”
He turned to face her with a broad grin. “This is Mia. She’s your new mommy, Toni.”
Bright golden-brown eyes, identical to Brand’s, glared in Mia’s direction. Eyes that pierced right through her and found her wanting. “She isn’tmymommy!” she retorted, each word sharp, staccato bites, the emphasis she gave them relaying every ounce of the fury and outrage her five-year-old body possessed. “I already have a mommy.”
And then she burst into tears.
Mia slippedsilently away, the back of her hand pressed tight against her lips to stop any sound that might betray her, while Brand held his tearfully furious daughter against his chest. She crept back down the hallway and retreated to the master bedroom. Unsure of where else to go, she slipped inside and closed the door, leaning her back against the solid wood.
She pressed her fist tighter to her mouth, the only thing stopping her tears from becoming outright sobs. Granted, she hadn’t expected Toni to fawn all over her. She’d been around little ones often enough to know better thanthat.
More shocking than the rejection had been the little girl’s appearance. Mia hadn’t expected to see the face of her childhood best friend, her cousin, mirrored on the little girl. Foolish not to have anticipated that. If she didn’t know better, she’d believe Carina lived on in the body of a furious, five-year-old little girl. The memory of her cousin, when she’d been younger, kinder, loving, proved too much for Mia. Dizzy from heartache, she leaned her full weight against the solid heft of thedoor.
Six years ago, after Brand had chosen Carina, and Mia returned to Italy to help nurse her aunt, her cousin cut off all communication. Her decision to pursue the one man Mia had ever wanted created too great a barrier. Though she had loved Carina dearly, she couldn’t bear thinking about her...Them. Together.
Stumbling across Brand at the Cinderella Ball had been beyond unexpected. But learning of Carina’s death had come as a horrible shock. Now, her unguarded reaction to Toni, the embodiment of her mother, filled Mia with grief. She wished she’d made things right with her cousin. Wished she had one more chance to hug her and tell her she lovedher.
Breathe. Breathe. Slow your breath.After several moments, the dizziness passed and the tears quieted. She opened her eyes and straightened. The afternoon sun cut through the blinds at an unforgiving angle. Exhaustion hit, stripping her of hope and energy. Wrung out from the past twenty-four hours, the four-poster bed beckoned to her. Without stopping to consider, she crossed the room and crawled onto the mattress.
She closed her eyes, vowing—somehow, some way—to do right by her cousin and her cousin’s child, before allowing sleep to take her under.
Despair.It was the only word Brand could use to describe the overwhelming feeling that washed over him when Toni rejectedMia.
The image of his wife escaping from Toni’s pink and blue bedroom blazed in his mind’s eye. It had taken an hour to calm his daughter, to reassure her that Mia had only come to help and, painfully, acknowledge that she wasn’t Toni’s real mother. The little spitfire sat on Brand’s lap, listening, questioning with pensive eyes that added so much more depth to her five-year-old interrogation.
“She’s not my mommy. Iwantmymommy.”Toni’s palm slapped her chest for added emphasis onmy, while her brow furrowed into a turbulent sea of knots and frown lines.
Brand struggled to find the right thing to say, desperate not to fumble this key moment. “I know, baby. Iwish I could bring your mommy back for you, but she’s needed in heaven.”
“No. She’s with me.” Toni’s shoulders hunched and she crossed her twiglike arms across her narrow chest. “We talkallthe time.”
Talked in her fantasy world, just as his father had warned. “No one can ever replace your mommy. That’s the simple truth,” he admitted gently. “I lost mymammaright after I was born, and I would give anything to have known her.”
“I want my real mommy.” Hope surged into her expression. “Maybe you can give her to me for Christmas.”
Brand shook his head. “I’m sorry, Toni. That’s not possible. No one can do that for you.”
Toni’s eyes welled up and her disappointment radiated off her in hot, messy waves of sadness. “Please, Daddy.” Her mouth quivered and her tears slipped free. “I don’t want a new mommy. Iwant myrealmommy.”
Brand struggled for an appropriate response, anything that might fix the situation. He’d taken a leap of faith in finding Mia. It hadn’t occurred to him that Toni believed Carina could return and she’d flat-out refuse to accept anyoneelse.
“I know you want your real mommy, baby. And if I could give her to you, Iwould. But, Ican’t. That’s why I brought Mia home.” The realization hit that no woman, no matter how perfectly she fit into his household, would be what Toni wanted, even if she was what Toni needed. He tiptoed through the landmines. “Mia is the closest we can get to your real mommy. Ithink you’ll like her once you get to know her. She’s very nice and I think she can be your friend, even if she’s not your mommy.”
Toni refused to answer, her hands clasped in her lap in a show of defiance. Refusal. Her lips pulled into a tight scowl. He knew that face. He knew from long experience the pointlessness of pushing too much further.
“I love you, Toni. And because I love you, Ibrought Mia here for you.”
“I don’t want her. Take her back.”
“Why don’t you want her?”
Another tear slid down her cheek. “Because now you’ll have a baby and place me.”
He shook his head in confusion. “Place you? What do you mean, pumpkin puss?”
She waved her hands in the air. “Place me, place me! You will have a baby to place me because I’m broken. Becca at school explained it to me.”
“Do you meanreplace you?”
