“Don’t do that.” Hannah picked up the phone and scrolled back up to the photo of the blankets. “All of these things—even the furniture—have good reviews, overwhelmingly. Some of the negative ones might just be outliers. Or user error. We can’t discount that.”
“I won’t take the risk on our child,” Kyril said firmly. “Maybe I should call someone in. Hire professionals to handle the nursery after all.”
“What?” Hannah heaved herself up on one elbow. “That’s—no. We can’t do that.”
“And why not?”
“Because—” Exasperated, she ran a hand through her hair. “Because everyone’s life comes with risks. There’s no way to ensure that this baby never scrapes a knee or breaks an arm. You must see that.”
“I see that safety is my highest priority. Is it yours?”
She glared at him. “The people who designed these nurseries are the professionals. You brought magazines full of high-end, five-star safety rated furniture, Kyril. The Internet is full of people who want to make trouble and leave bad reviews.” She huffed away from him, frowning. “And I can’t believe you said that.”
Hannah shook her head a little, and with a pang he realized it was about more than the furniture. Hannah’s life had come with risks and hardships he couldn’t imagine. Losing her parents? It must be awful, especially now, as she was about to become a parent herself.
“I’m sorry.” He put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently. “You’ll have the final say.”
Hannah’s shoulders slumped. “What does that mean?”
“I’ll have professionals put together some good options. To cover all the bases. You can choose from those.”
She leaned her head back against the pillow and tossed the magazine on her lap onto the side table. “Fine.”
“I have to finish a conversation with Rami—it should only take a few minutes. Do you want to wait by the pool?”
“No,” Hannah said flatly. “I’m tired.”
She was angry, but as Kyril left the bedroom, he was more satisfied than sorry. He’d given her choices that worked for him. It was his right.
15
The boxes just kept coming.
And coming.
And coming.
Hannah put a smile on and tried to bury her guilt so deep she couldn’t feel it, but it was hard. All those years she’d raised Helen on the tightest budget imaginable. Even a few dollars extra each paycheck would have let the knot at the back of her shoulders loosen. It would have been life changing. She’d have given anything to have boxes of the finest clothes delivered to their tiny apartment.
She was living her dream, but it didn’t feel very dreamlike.
After Kyril had come back to the bedroom, they’d forged a truce. Hannah had chosen from the best-rated items, and Kyril had the final say. It was amazing how many white cribs came with five-star ratings, but he was meticulous. It warmed her heart to see him fussing over it.
In a way.
It would have been easier if she’d been able to choose what she liked, and try as she might to dissolve it, that resentment still boiled at the pit of her gut. It was a low-level boil, like water that wasn’t quite ready for noodles, but it was there nonetheless. He’d taken control of all her plans in Venice. He’d planned their wedding ceremony without any of her input. He’d ordered food for her, more than once.
Forget it, she told herself sternly as the last of the boxes was placed in a neat row at the back of the nursery. There were more than she’d anticipated.
Alone with her boxes, Hannah ran her hands over the smooth cardboard of each one. She’d brought a pair of scissors to cut them open, and she felt a sweet anticipation for all of it. Kyril’s money, she reminded herself, would give her a new kind of freedom—even if it didn’t feel like that. This time, raising a child wouldn’t come with any financial cares. She could have anything she needed. It wouldn’t be like the childhood she’d given her sister. Though, come to think of it, that had been a nice childhood, too.
Halfway through opening the boxes and cooing over all the baby items inside, she found it.
“There you are,” Hannah said to the box, then looked over her shoulder. Hameen, the head of her detail, must be down the hall.
She opened the package.
It was an empty mobile, with strings for attaching your own decorations.