“I will. Who’s at the door?”
“A friend of mine, sweetie,” Tessa told her. “Someone I want you to meet.”
“Why?”
Tessa rolled her eyes before she closed them, took a second to collect herself and headed to the door. With her hand on the knob, she paused and took a breath, but that didn’t loosen the knot in her stomach.
She opened the door to Zach and he turned from looking down the hallway. He wore a surf-company T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. And he was holding two gifts.
Tessa’s heart constricted a little. “I thought you were going to text.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Zach said. He wasn’t smiling, and his body language was tight. “I, um, I forgot. Is this still a good time? I had a couple of things to do after filming—”
Sophia squeezed past Tessa and peered up at Zach. “You’re mommy’s friend. Zach.”
Tessa put her hand on Sophia’s head. “That’s right.”
“Wow,” he breathed the word, looking uncertain. “Good memory.” His gaze was fixed on Sophia, his face had lost its color, and he was fidgeting like he wanted to come out of his skin.
Tessa stepped back from the door, but Sophia moved toward Zach, eyeing the presents.
“Are those for me?” she asked.
“Sophia,” Tessa said. “That’s not polite.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Sorry,” then looked at Zach again. “But are they?”
Zach cracked a smile. A small one. “They are.”
“Oh, goody.”
Before Sophia could reach for them, Tessa put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her backward. “Zach is a guest, Sophia. How do we treat guests?”
Sophia pulled from Tessa’s grasp and moved toward Zach again. He stepped back, looking at his daughter like she might bite him.
But Sophia had no fear and didn’t notice anyone else’s. She tried to wrap Zach’s hand in hers, but it was way too big. Still she pulled him toward the condo by one finger. “Come in, come in. Come see the house I builded for Frankie. It’s all Legos and really cool.”
When his gaze lifted to Tessa’s, she saw a plea for help. Tessa pulled her lips between her teeth against a smile, but it still bubbled in her chest. And, dammit, she didn’t want to be happy about any part of this.
By the time she closed the door, Sophia was going on and on about her Lego house, then started running around looking for Frankie, calling the stuffed turtle’s name.
“Zach,” Tessa said, gesturing to Abby. “This is Abby. Abby is Tessa’s nanny.”
With the presents tucked under his arm, he offered the other hand to Abby. “Hi.”
But Abby’s arms were crossed, her hip was cocked, and that British ire of hers creased her face into a condemning expression. By now, Sophia was yelling for Frankie in the bedroom. And Abby took the opportunity to set the ground rules.
“Tessa’s a better person than me,” she told Zach, ignoring his hand to the point he had to retract it. “So she probably won’t tell you how much she’s sacrificed for the benefit of this family and Sophia’s happiness—”
“Abby,” Tessa warned.
“But it’s more than most parents would even consider sacrificing. So don’t think you’re just going to walk in and tear down what it took years to build. Sophia is the happiest child I’ve ever met. And if I have anything to say about it, she’ll stay that way no matter what—”
“Abby,” Tessa said again, louder and more forcefully. When her dark eyes cut to Tessa, she said, “Don’t keep your friends waiting.”
Abby fumed a second, then gave Zach another glare before she passed him and kissed Tessa’s cheek. “I won’t be late, love.”
“Have fun,” she told her, closing the door once Abby had started down the stairs.