Tessa sniffled. “Happy tears, baby. I love you so much.”
“Love you too.” And in the next breath, she said, “I’m hungry. Want mac-roni and cheese?”
Tessa laughed and wiped at her tears. “I think we used the last of our mac and cheese last night. How ’bout peanut butter and jelly?”
“And apple juice?”
“Of course.”
She lifted Sophia off her lap as the condo’s front door closed.
“Who’s watching Frozen without me?” Abby’s bubbly voice drifted through the condo. “I go to the grocery, and this is what happens?”
Sophia giggled and cut a conspiratorial smile at Tessa. “Uh-oh.”
How this little creature could infuse Tessa’s heart with so much love she thought it would burst constantly mystified her.
“Sorry,” Tessa said, pushing to her feet and sharing Sophia’s grin. “It was me.”
Abby appeared at the door, hands on hips, head tilted, a dramatic look of exasperation on her pretty face. She had her hair up in a ponytail and lifted one hand to waggle her finger at Tessa. “You know better, young lady.”
Sophia burst out giggling. “It wasn’t Mommy.”
Abby feigned suspicion, wrinkles maring the perfectly smooth skin of her forehead. “It couldn’t have been you. Because you know what happens to little girls who watch Disney without their nannies…” Abby bent, hands outstretched in tickling posture, and chased Sophia around the lanai and back into the condo.
Sophia’s giggles echoed in the air and made Tessa laugh. Made her heart surge with joy.
She turned to look out at the mountains, her mind drifting back to her conversation with Sharon. How could she fight for Sophia if Zach wouldn’t cooperate?
“Hey.” Abby stood in the doorway and lowered her voice when she asked, “What did Sharon say?”
“That if he wants to be involved in her life, he could make things very difficult.”
“Did you tell her about the other night?”
Tessa returned her gaze to the lush mountains, but she didn’t even see the beauty; she was suffering too much anguish. “No,” she admitted. “I can’t help but think that sleeping with a stranger instead of spending the night home with Sophia could be considered…I don’t know…negligent or something.”
“If it was, thousands of parents would be guilty,” Abby said. “And considering his lifestyle, he’s not exactly the kind who should throw stones.”
True. But working in a male-dominated profession in a town where power was wielded mostly by men, Tessa knew firsthand how alive and well that old double standard remained. “Maybe.”
“You should do some research,” Abby suggested. “You know, find something you could threaten to expose to use as leverage.”
That had crossed her mind, but only for a millisecond. “That is exactly what I want to avoid—the nastiness, the drama, the fight.”
“That was when you thought he didn’t want her.”
Tessa had planned on approaching Zach with cool, no-nonsense, competent control. Instead, she’d slept with him within two hours of meeting him. As Abby had so boldly pointed out the day after, there was no cool, competent control when the opponent had seen your O face.
Her cell buzzed, and her heart jumped. She turned it over with hopes of seeing a number she didn’t know, raising the chances of having it be Zach. But Gordon’s name stared up at her. She exhaled and connected, shaking her head at Abby’s expectant expression. “It’s just Gordon.”
Abby frowned and turned into the condo with a roll of her eyes.
“Hey there,” she said to Gordon.
“Just Gordon?” he said, his voice playfully miffed. “Seriously? Do you know how hard I’m working at keeping shit together around here? I’m breaking my back for you over here.”
Tessa smiled. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t meant the way it sounded.”