“Ah, Zoe,” Colin said.
“Yes?”
“What’s your favorite color? Mine is—”
“Blue.”
“Red,” Colin said, the word dripping from his mouth with disappointment.
Did he actually think he could bond with Zoe over color preferences? He didn’t even have the decency to let her answer first. He’d have had a better chance talking about her stuffed dog, but he didn’t seem very observant.
“How did you know my mom?” Zoe dropped the crayon from her hand and angled her head, awaiting his answer.
Colin let out a measured sigh, so expertly that Amanda barely noticed. “It was a long time ago,” he began. “We used to work together.”
“You live here?”
“Well, not anymore. I live in California, where the movie stars do. There’s the ocean and palm trees and…” Colin prattled on, infusing his tourist brochure bullet points with enthusiasm, but it petered out as he continued to speak. Probably because Zoe didn’t appear impressed. Hard to say if she was even listening. She’d picked up her crayon again and had resumed drawing. “You’d like it there,” he added, and Amanda shot him a glare.
“She likes it here too,” she pushed out.
Deb fussed with the lay of her shirt.
“You thinking of moving here?” Amanda asked, even though she knew the answer to that already.
“My work is in Cali, so no.” His gaze drifted to Zoe, who was focused on some creation.
As far as first meetings went, Amanda had to surmise this one was going horribly. Score that in her favor column. Hopefully. But would a judge care when it could be proven he was Zoe’s biological father?
“I do have a huge house, though, and I’ll have a live-in nanny to help care for—” He stopped abruptly under Amanda’s glare and cleared his throat. “Arrangements are in place.”
“Your fiancée must be excited,” Amanda said.
His composure slipped at that question. His shoulders lowered incrementally, and he tapped a hand to his brow as if dabbing away sweat, but it appeared dry. “She’s coming around to the idea.”
“Coming around?” Amanda just wanted to swoop Zoe up and leave this room. They’d never look back. There was no way she could allow this man to take her away. None.
“It will all be fine by the time everything goes through.” His voice was tight, but his demeanor was arrogant. He glanced at Deb and smiled. It wasn’t returned.
“Well, if there’s nothing more you’d like to say to Zoe…” Amanda slapped her hands on her knees. Zoe got up from the table, grabbed Lucky, what was left of her snack, the picture she’d drawn, and walked over to Amanda. The poor girl was just waiting for a reason to leave. Atta girl!
“It was nice meeting you,” Colin said lamely.
Zoe waved at him and gave him a half-hearted smile.
Deb followed them into the hall. “I’ll call you later.” She tapped a hand on Amanda’s shoulder.
Amanda and Zoe left the building and got into her Civic.
“This is for you.” Zoe held up her drawing.
Amanda took the picture, impressed by how fast she’d whipped it up, but it was what it portrayed that had her smiling. Five stick figures: a girl with a dog; two women holding hands; and two women holding a yellow circle—one with blond hair and one with red. She knew from previous pictures the yellow circle was a police badge. Amanda would guess that was her and Becky, and the others were Zoe, Libby, and her girlfriend, Penny. The characters were standing in front of a house, and there was lettering that arched across the top of the page. My Familyxoxo
Tears pricked Amanda’s eyes, but she smiled to suppress the urge to cry. “Yes, we are, sweetheart.” She leaned across the console and pulled the girl in for a tight hug and tapped a kiss on the top of her head.
As Amanda drove them home, she thought about the picture and what it revealed. Zoe had an inkling what today’s meeting with Colin was about, and she was taking her stand. She wanted to stay with Amanda.