Wyatt’s teeth clenched. He hated having to subject Belle to all that. This situation definitely hooked into his emotional baggage and his fear of his fame smothering Belle. Or worse, isolating her.
“I’ll introduce you to our security team,” Kelsey said. “They’re top-notch, all retired military or police, but they’re good at being virtually invisible. We don’t want the kids to feel like they’re in prison. And our school counselor is the child of celebrity parents, so she understands what these kids go through in a way only one of their own could.”
The door opened, and Wyatt and Kelsey both looked that direction. The woman who entered looked directly at Wyatt, and her smile widened. “A little bird told me you might be in here.”
Wyatt laughed and turned to face Paisley Jessip. “Paisley. Aaron and I were just talking about you.”
She headed toward Wyatt, greeting Kelsey before she wrapped Wyatt in a hug. “It’s been too long.”
“I’ll give you two time to talk.” Kelsey moved toward the door, glancing at Wyatt before leaving the room. “I’ll be in the office when you’re finished.”
Wyatt pulled away from Paisley, still grinning. “You’ve got a kid here?”
Paisley glanced through the window. “My son. I’m in between tour stops, and I wanted to surprise him. I always take him out to lunch as soon as I get home. What about you? Last time I heard, you were still a bachelor at large.”
“Yeah well, I’m taking care of my niece.” He looked through the glass and found Belle laughing at something the boy was telling her. “The dark-haired little one in purple.”
“Then, it looks like you and I need to set up a play date.”
Wyatt’s brows shot up. “A what?”
“You really are new to this.” She lifted her chin toward the glass. “Your niece is chatting up my son.”
Smiling, Wyatt glanced at the kids again. “Maybe your son is chatting up my niece.”
Paisley laughed. “How long are you in town? We should get together and work on that duet if you have time.”
The thoughts of returning to work he knew and loved brought Wyatt an absurd amount of excitement. Any escape from this alien world of parenting and children. “I’d really like that. Any day this week when the kids are in school works for me.”
“Done. I’ll text you a day and time.”
A bell rang, and all the kids clambered for the line of backpacks hung on the wall.
“That’s my cue,” Paisley said. She gave his arm a squeeze. “Good to see you.”
“You too.” After Paisley left, Wyatt scanned the room and spotted Belle fluttering around like a butterfly with nowhere to land. He exited the observation room and was instantly surrounded by a flurry of children moving from space to space. Shrieks and laughter and voices filled the air.
“Belle,” he called.
She spun, spotted him, and smiled as she ran toward him. Dropping into a crouch and opening his arms for her felt as natural as breathing. She gave him a quick hug and immediately started chattering about everything she’d done that morning.
When she took a moment to breathe, Wyatt slipped in “Do you want to stay for the afternoon?”
“Yeah, they’re doing collage.” He hadn’t seen her this happy since her birthday party, and he was surprised at the relief that brought.
“Well, I guess you’ll need lunch, then. How does Taco Bell sound?”
“Yay!”
The short drive to Taco Bell was peppered with mini explosions of chatter from Belle about her morning. They ordered and found a booth in the corner. While Belle dug into her tacos as if she hadn’t eaten for a week, Wyatt’s stomach knotted, and his appetite vanished.
He took a deep breath and opened the conversation he’d been dreading for over a week. “Monkey, I need to talk to you about your mom.”
Her face opened with excitement. “Is she home? I can’t wait to tell her about school.”
A hot stab of pain cut at his throat. “Uh, no, she’s not. That’s what I want to talk to about.” He stared at the Formica tabletop and scraped his lower lip between his teeth. “Has your mom ever told you about where she’s from?”
Belle rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she finished off the shell of her taco. “Somewhere in Africa?”