“What?” I followed her in the kitchen where she took a chicken out of the oven. “What did you say?”
“I told her she needed to talk to you about that.” She glanced over her shoulder. “That’s not for me to talk to her about.”
I wasn’t sure if she was being snarky or not.
“Is Veronica telling her that?”
Tessa started cutting the chicken. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think she overheard something.”
“Does … does she want to go?” I didn’t want to hear the answer, but I had to know.
Tessa stopped what she was doing and looked at me. It was the first time since our fight that her expression showed something other than wariness.
“No, she doesn’t. She likes visiting, but she doesn’t want to move there.”
I scraped my hands over my face. “Did she seem nervous?”
Tessa’s face returned to wary. “Dylan, you were clear that the custody issue was one I needed to stay out of, so I stayed out of it. You should talk to her if you have questions.”
“Are you going to be mad at me forever?” I had no right to be pissed at her attitude, but I suppose because she was there, she was the one who was going to get my surly mood.
She stopped and slowly turned. “What do you want, Dylan? I’m doing my best to give you want you asked; a fake wife to make you look good, without all the emotional entanglements. I’m staying out of your business and babysitting your daughter … and you’re still upset.”
“You’re not a baby—”
“Yes, I am.” She put the chicken on plates, and then pulled another pan out of the oven with roasted potatoes. “You want what you had before except you want people to think we’re a family now. That’s what I’m doing.” She put potatoes on each plate.
“Are you unhappy?” For some reason that bothered me. I hated that I was making her miserable after all she was doing for us.
“Look Daddy!” Maisie came into the kitchen. “It’s a dragon.”
Maisie held up a plaster pink and purple dragon with glitter.
“I painted it. Do you like it?”
I squatted down and studied the figure. “It’s beautiful. You did that?”
She grinned. “Yep. Tessa said we can go back and I can make another one for Mommy’s house, because this one might break if I put it in my suitcase.”
I kept the smile on my face. “That’s a good idea.”
“Maisie, can you put your dragon away? It’s time to eat,” Tessa said.
“Can it eat with us?”
I stood. “He might get in the way.”
“He won’t. He’ll be good.” Maisie clutched the dragon to her, and little bits of glitter sparkled on her shirt.
“Tessa asked you to put him back. He’ll be there when we read stories tonight. I bet he’ll like that.”
Maisie seemed to think on that and then rushed off to put her dragon away. Tessa passed me to put the plates on the table.
When she came back to the kitchen, I reached out and took her arm. “Hey. I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
“And Maisie,” she said, looking at my hand on her arm and then up to my face.
I realized then that in her mind, all this was for Maisie, not for me. I was okay with that. Despite how she felt about me, at least she felt I was the better parent for Maisie.