“Sure.” He held out his arms, and Ellie scrambled into his lap. As she snuggled into his embrace, Nick began to read the story of a little girl who gets a baby brother. Ellie watched the illustrations on each page, enthralled. When he finished, Nick said, “We have some news for you.”
Ellie looked up expectantly into her father’s face. “Am I getting a baby brother?”
Nick chuckled. “Actually, you’re getting two baby brothers or sisters. We just don’t know if they’re boys or girls yet.”
“Really and truly?” Ellie asked, seeming close to tears again.
“Really and truly,” Nick said solemnly.
She threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Daddy!”
Harper sighed happily as she watched them. Ellie was having a pretty good day, between the babies, Frank and the pink cupcakes, and there was something so very satisfying about being part of the team that made a little girl so happy.
When Ellie released her father, she looked over at Harper and said, “Can I keep it?”
“Of course you can, honey, it’s yours.” Harper settled back against the sofa and laced her fingers over her stomach. Maybe she was starting to get the hang of this stepparenting thing.
Ellie picked up the book from Nick’s lap and put it on her own outstretched legs, stroking her hands over the shiny cover. “I love new books.”
“I do, too,” Nick said. “Harper bought me a new book, too.”
Still playing with the cover, she turned curious eyes to him. “What’s yours about?”
“It’s about a policeman who looks for clues,” Nick said.
Ellie nodded as if that was just the right plot for one of her daddy’s books. “Does the policeman get a new baby at the end, too?”
“No, at the end of mine, the policeman solves the case then gets a new job.”
Harper’s breath caught. He knew the ending? She’d bought both books yesterday, and Nick had only started his when they went to bed last night. The book wasn’t short. If he’d finished the entire thing, he must not have slept a wink...
Nausea that had nothing to do with the pregnancy rolled through her stomach. He’d agreed to sleep with her at night, but it appeared no actual sleeping was happening for him. She thought back—she was always the first to fall asleep, and he was already awake when she woke in the mornings.
He’d been lying to her.
They were in the middle of a crazy situation, a marriage of convenience to achieve several goals—but at the core, she’d thought at least they could depend on each other. That they were open and honest with each other.
Their marriage might be a practical arrangement, but that only made it worse—you don’t go into business with someone you know you can’t trust.
“Daddy?” Ellie said as she jumped up. “Can I give Frank my teddy?”
“I’m sure he’d like that, sweetheart. Which one will you give him?”
“Can Harper help me choose?”
Harper glanced over. This overture from Ellie was exactly what she’d been hoping for—Nick’s daughter had accepted her enough to want her help with something special. And yet, she couldn’t feel the joy the way she’d hoped. Not when she was starting to question everything.
Ignoring the confusion buzzing through her brain, she found a smile for the little girl. All she could do was compartmentalize the thoughts about her marriage, focus on Ellie and talk to Nick once they were alone.
So she helped Ellie choose a teddy for Frank from the collection in the room she had at Nick’s house—“A brown one like him, so he will know it is his”—and then walked back out to the living room with the little girl.
Nick had cleared away the plates and assorted clutter from the tea party and was back on the blanket, sitting beside his dog.
Ellie carefully sat beside Frank and placed the teddy on his front paws. “This is for you,” she said.
Frank sniffed it over, nudged it a little with his snout, then laid his head on it. Harper suspected he wanted to lay his head on his paws anyway and the teddy just happened to be there, but, either way, Ellie was thrilled.
“He likes it!” she said. “Good boy, Frank.”