she knew moms. They did not leave their babies with just anyone. They didn’t make guardianship decisions lightly. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the mood to hear that, so she didn’t reply.
Still, looking at him, reclining on the floor, watching the baby under his desk, waiting for his chance to learn how to change a diaper, she frowned. Very few people probably saw him this relaxed, but his ex-wife would have. She would have been with him in all kinds of situations and would have known him better than anybody ever had.
Ginny had to have seen something in him that nobody else saw.
And if she did see Matt as a man capable of loving a little girl enough to raise her, what would it take to bring out whatever Ginny had seen in him?
She didn’t know. But the part of her that loved Bella knew she had to figure that out. She had the rest of the week. Plenty of time to push him a bit. But later. When he’d be a bit more receptive. There were lots of other, less threatening, less personal things they could discuss now to relax him. Get him to trust her. Before she began probing for whatever it was Ginny had seen in him.
“Speaking of big fancy houses not being what babies need, you might want to make a few kid-friendly places for Bella.”
He glanced over. “Kid-friendly?”
“I think you’ll need a playroom for her. You’ll probably want a big family room…somewhere the two of you can play board games or video games and watch TV.”
“Maybe foosball? Or ping pong.”
“Sure. Whatever you want. Your best conversations with her will happen while you’re doing something else.”
“Makes sense.”
The room got quiet. Bella happily sucked on her rattle. Claire once again searched her brain for something Bella-related to discuss, and realized he’d never made firm plans about his trip the following week. If he would be taking Bella to Texas, then teaching him how to travel with a baby ranked almost as high as demonstrating how to change a diaper.
“So what about the reunion in Texas? You said you might not go.”
He sighed. “I have to go. I promised my sisters, Ellie, Charlotte and Alex.”
“Ah.” So he would need help.
“Don’t make too much of that.”
“That’s okay. I’m not interested in your family as much as I am in helping you plan for the trip. You’re probably going to need a baby carrier and lots more clothes.”
He shrugged. “The temporary nanny should be able to help me with that, though, right?”
Her cheeks heated. Why did she keep forgetting he’d be replacing her? Was it because she wanted to see him raise Bella on his own—or because she couldn’t stand the thought of being replaced?
She glanced at sweet Bella and her heart melted. But when she moved her gaze to Matt, her stomach tumbled. He saw himself as such a terrible person, yet here he lay, on the floor, just to be with Bella. To give her time to get accustomed to him.
How was a woman supposed to resist a guy like that?
“Yes. The nanny will take care of most of that.” Fumbling for something to say to get her mind off how irresistible he became every time he was good to Bella, she inadvertently took them back to family again. “I think it will be good for Bella to get out among your family.”
“Family is the group who taught me that it’s best to never show your soft side.”
“Really? I’d love to have a sister or brother.” She smiled wistfully. “A sister to confide in. A brother to defend me…or for me to look up to.”
“You can have my sister Alex. She’s a chatterbox. And I hear I have a half brother Holt. You can have him, too. He’s supposedly somebody everybody looks up to.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t know if your own brother is somebody everybody looks up to?”
“I don’t want to know!”
His shouted words echoed around the room. Embarrassment flooded Claire’s entire body. He might be sweet and sexy when he was caring for Bella, but this was the real Matt Patterson.
What had he called himself? Iceman?
No matter what Ginny had seen in him, he was an iceman.
She rose. “You know, suddenly I am hungry. I think I’ll just go to the kitchen and see if I can scout out something for breakfast.”
He blew his breath out on a sigh. “Can you take the baby with you? I have some overseas calls to make.”
She smiled politely and said, “Sure,” but his request that she take the baby with her was another reminder that he wasn’t a sweet guy, grappling with caring for a baby. He was a rich man, accustomed to people doing his bidding. He didn’t like her. He might be attracted to her, but he saw her as an employee, a servant. He might also want to be a good dad for Bella, but he had a business to run and that was his priority.
She left the room, Bella on her arm. Matt hoisted himself from the floor and plopped down into the tall-backed chair. When Ellie had first told him about this family reunion, he wasn’t interested, but when Alex and then Charlotte also started to pester him about it, he agreed to go. Especially for Charlotte. Because he liked her. Because she could persuade him to do things he didn’t really want to do. Even when the ramifications of what he’d agreed to do had settled in, he’d decided he could go, be his cool, aloof self and then just come home and forget all about Texas and his real dad and the four half siblings he didn’t need.
But now he had Bella. A baby. Because Ginny, the ex-wife who’d become a real friend to him after their divorce, had died. Grief rumbled in his chest, squeezing his heart. It came with a heaviness he couldn’t even define or describe. He felt more for the wife who had dumped him than the pack of family he had but really didn’t know. It didn’t seem right to be off meeting them, as if nothing had happened, when Ginny was dead.
He was sorry he’d yelled at Claire. But she didn’t get it. Not having a family, she didn’t realize that real families weren’t warm and fuzzy. Siblings were competitive. Parents could hold grudges. Hurts could run deep. And getting a baby to raise wasn’t a gift from the heavens. It was a responsibility.
He leaned back in his chair, but bounced forward again. The best way to forget about his personal life was to work. He picked up the phone receiver, dialed a number and got his mind where it needed to be. On business.
He talked with two banks and four prospective investors for his latest venture. Twenty minutes later, the office door opened and Claire haltingly stepped inside. “My boss called. I have to go to work. Just for an hour or so to debrief her on some cases she’ll need to handle for me tomorrow. But I’ll be back.”
The fact that she would still stay after he’d yelled at her humbled him. It was no wonder she thought there were good people in the world. She was one of them.
“Okay. Thanks.”
She motioned toward the ceiling. “Bella’s upstairs in her crib…asleep.”
