“Just Renée,” I said, shrugging as nonchalantly as I could. We'd already had one difficult conversation over lunch. I wasn't prepared to have another.
Fortunately, Katherine seemed to read my mood, and she didn't press it. Instead, she reached out and put her hand on my arm again. “Hey, by the way, I forgot to say this before,” she said. “Congratulations on being a dad.”
I couldn't help but smile at that.
Chapter Seventeen
Lexi
I frowned dubiously at the directions, wondering if this was really a suitable game for a three-year-old like the box said.
“Trust me,” Janice said. “I've used it with young kids before, and they all loved it. I'm sure Emma will as well.”
“If you say so,” I said, shaking my head. I unfolded myself from the carpet, where Janice and I had been laying out the game and getting it all set up. I found Emma in the bedroom, standing up in her newly-assembled crib. She reached towards me with grabby hands, still looking sleepy.
I smiled at her and hoisted her into my arms. “Hello, sweetie,” I said, smoothing down her hair. “Did you have a nice nap?”
“Nuh uh,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I don't like naps.”
“I know you don't, but naps are good for you,” I said. “They'll make you grow up big and strong.”
“You don't have to take naps,” she said, frowning at me.
I laughed. “If I got any bigger than I am, I'd be taller than Daddy!” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted saying them, but Emma latched onto them faster than I could backpedal.
Her whole face scrunched up in confusion as she thought that through. “Who's Daddy?” she asked.
I frantically cast around for some way to deflect that. “I am not your Daddy,” I finally settled on. “And neither is Janice. But you know what? Janice brought a really fun game with her today, and we were hoping that you would play it with us.”
“A game, a game!” Emma cheered, wriggling so that I would put her down. Then she raced into the living room where Janice was patiently waiting for her. I followed more sedately after her and listened as Janice explained the rules.
We had eaten dinner and played more than a few rounds of the game when Andrew arrived home from work. I could hear him stomping around in the front hall for a couple minutes, and then he came into the living room, leaning against the wall and watching us play.
“I'm winning!” Emma announced proudly when she saw his eyes on us. “I'm the best at games.”
I shook my head fondly at her and rolled the dice.
“Can I play?” Andrew asked, coming hesitantly closer to us and crouching down next to Emma.
“Of course, you can,” Janice said quickly. “Why don't you take my spot, and I'll go start cleaning the dishes from dinner? There's a whole mess going in the kitchen at the moment, and I'd like to get it sorted out before I go home for the night, rather than leaving it for the morning.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Andrew said. “But I'm afraid you're going to have to teach me how to play, Emma.”
“First, you roll the dices, like this. And then...”
I listened to her rattle off rules to her father, and I couldn't help smiling as I watched the two of them. But I couldn't stop wondering what Andrew's ploy was. Did he think he could sweeten me up and then dump more horrible news on me?
The worst thing that I could think of was that he was trying to get Emma to trust him so that he could then take me to court and win sole custody of the girl. I knew that was ridiculous. From everything that Andrew had said so far, he didn't want to have responsibility for the girl, let alone have sole responsibility for her. But I couldn't help thinking about what he'd said that first night that we'd spent together, about how his father had groomed him from a young age to take over the family business.
Maybe Andrew, after a long business trip, was starting to think about the future of Orinoco. And maybe he envisioned Emma as the future of that company.
I swallowed hard, trying to get myself to relax a little as we continued to play.
“I am horrible at this game,” Andrew commented a little while later.
“Yes,” Emma agreed solemnly, nodding her head and causing both of us adults to laugh.
“Your mother seems to have all the luck,” Andrew continued, smiling stiffly over at me. “She's winning!”