Everly smiled. “That’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
She followed Hix down the stairs, enjoying the view. His ass was as muscular as his shoulders. God, she loved working with men.
“Señor Hix, the food is ready.” Lucia, the cook, was standing at the base of the stairs. She was somewhere in her early sixties, very pleasant and soft-spoken.
“Thank you,” Hix said. “Everly will be joining us.”
The woman smiled broadly. “Ah, very good, very good. Welcome.”
Hix put Mirabella on her feet, and the little girl danced through the kitchen and dining room and right onto the patio. With no walls, there were no boundaries. The concept was fresh and beautiful.
Everly stopped at the threshold and looked down at the metal tracks for the floor-to-ceiling glass doors, wondering how the security system worked on doors like this. She glanced around the door’s borders but didn’t see any sign of accessory devices. Which meant the wiring must be directly in the tracks.
“I can’t get over this construction,” she said, wandering out onto the stone patio. “It’s so innovative.”
“We love it here.” Hix surprised Everly by pulling out a chair for her. He gestured toward the ocean and the sun hanging low in the sky as it headed toward sunset. “The best seat in the house.”
She murmured a thank-you and took her seat. Hix sat across from her. Mirabella skipped and danced around the patio, looking inside planters, feeling the leaves, smelling the flowers, talking to the statues.
Lucia came out with glasses and chilled white wine. Once their wineglasses were filled, Hix said, “Tell me how you think you can help Bella.”
Everly was distracted by the way Mirabella was crossing the pool’s infinity edge like a balance beam. “I assume she’s a good swimmer?”
He glanced over his shoulder but returned his gaze to Everly immediately. “The first thing I did when I moved here was teach her to swim. I’d still never leave her alone near water, but I know she can hold her own under normal circumstances.”
Everly nodded. She sipped her wine and looked out over the ocean, trying to find a way to phrase what she wanted to say. “I don’t want to overstep. You were pretty annoyed when I suggested Mirabella might be a little
behind.”
“I was, and I apologize. I want the world for her, and sometimes my defenses go up. But I’ll try not to be so reactive. Anything I can do now to make her life easier in the long run, I want to know about.”
She nodded and took another sip of wine. “This is very good.”
“It’s a Pinot Grigio. A friend of mine brought it from Italy.”
Everly rolled the stem of her wineglass between her fingers, taking another moment to consider everything Sam told her and how she could portray that information to her advantage.
“Does she take naps?” Everly asked.
“No. Never has.”
“Does she go right to sleep at night?”
He shook his head. “She always needs ‘Just one more story, Daddy.’”
Everly smiled and nodded. Sam had nailed it. That man was truly a genius. “Has Bella’s doctor ever mentioned that she might have ADHD?”
As expected, he frowned and sat back. “No. What makes you think that? She’s awfully young for that kind of label.”
“Not a label. A condition. One that can be diagnosed as early as four years old. She never sits still for more than a minute or two, not even to play her favorite game. She can’t focus on anything for any length of time. And she talks.” Everly laughed. “A lot.”
The first hint of a smile teased his lips. “That she does.”
“ADHD is manageable if you understand what’s happening. Catching it early means you could give her skills to deal with it young, so she’ll have time to integrate them into her behavior by the time she goes to school. If she’s truly ADHD, she won’t grow out of it, but she’ll learn how to manage it. Maybe even use it to her advantage. Behavioral therapy is very effective and can limit the drawbacks of the condition on her development as she learns and grows.”
“And if she’s not ADHD, just an active kid?”
“Then she’ll be ahead of the curve. These are skills that help children—and adults—at any age.”