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“Yeah. I just started seeing her.”
She snapped her fingers. “Wait a minute. She’s that woman you hired last year, slobbering all over you.”
I laughed, rocking Tate slowly. “I don’t quite remember it that way.”
Brielle didn’t continue, but I walked over to the couch while she stood staring at the photo.
“Can I get you three anything?” I asked.
Brielle held up her Starbucks cup while Nick shook his head. I glanced over at Amy, who looked like she’d love something.
“Did you want water, soda, anything?”
“I’d love water.” Amy smiled. “But let me get it. Just point me to the right cabinet.”
Brielle dragged her gaze from the photo to the tree and sighed. “I’ll get it for you.”
Nick took a seat in one of the wing chairs across from Tate and me.
“I wanted to talk in person, get a feel for your expectations, schedules, things like that.” Nick leaned forward.
“Clearly, I want to be involved in my son’s life as much as possible.” My pulse quickened. “Brielle mentioned you bought a place.”
“We did, and there’s a small airport there in town that we can fly into.”
Oh, right. Private.
“Our lives aren’t very predictable, and we do a lot of traveling. It has slowed down some, but I expect things to pick back up.”
“Tate is always welcome to stay with me.”
Nick nodded. “I got that impression from Brielle. I’m not a fool. I know there’s going to be some rough patches and misunderstandings, but I truly believe there is nothing better for Tate than having you in his life as much as possible.”
“I appreciate that. I imagine it could have taken a different turn.”
Nick shook his head. “I grew up with a distant father, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”
“I propose that Tate will fly in on the first of every month and will be picked up on the fifteenth to come back to Chicago.” He glanced at Brielle, who was coming over to sit.
She looked at me. “It’s less back and forth that way.”
“If you, for any reason, need to be in Chicago for Tate, we will send the plane.”
I smiled. “Very kind of you, but the drive isn’t that bad.”
“If that sounds acceptable, I can have my lawyers draw up some documents that you can have reviewed, and we can go from there.”
Tate started to stir as if he could sense my panic about their impending departure.
“That sounds like a fantastic plan.” I looked at Brielle. “When can I expect to see Tate again?”
“We thought we’d fly into Buttercup Lake a little over a week from now so we can check out the new place. I already hired a designer, so furniture should be arriving shortly.”
“Wow. Okay.” The thought of being without Tate for that long was rough, but it had to be done. “That’s great. I know his grandparents will be thrilled to meet him.”
Brielle’s expression softened. “He’s going to have a very interesting upbringing.”
I sat him on my knee, and I swore he smiled, which made Amy laugh since we both knew what that meant.
