Page 40 of One Month's Notice

With that settled, Nat turned to the nursery. Louis was sitting up in his crib, playing happily among a sea of toys. The glow from his nightlight cast shadows that danced across the room.

“Hey, little man.” She reached down to stroke his cheek with the back of her finger. Louis looked up with his wide green eyes—a mirror of her own. The possibility of having her own child seemed so far in the future, it was almost unimaginable. Although the relationship with Joe had lasted almost five years, marriage and children never came up in conversation. Which, in the end, was a blessing in disguise.

“Time for bed now.” Nat lifted him up into her arms and he clung to her with chubby hands. His small body radiated warmth, mingled with the smell of lavender baby shampoo. She hummed a lullaby passed down from her grandmother, the melody settling Louis until his tiny chest began to rise and fall with a gentle rhythm.

“Sweet dreams.” She laid him down, tucking the edges of a soft blanket around him. His tiny hand gripped the corner of the fabric as his eyes grew heavy and began to close.

Nat crept downstairs, trying not to disturb Louis at the critical point when he was just nodding off. Simon was in the lounge, stretched out on a brown leather sofa with his feet resting on the coffee table, a glass of wine in hand, another poured and waiting for her.

“I thought you might need this.” He offered her the glass.

“Thanks.” She accepted the gesture with a nod and settled into the curve of the sofa next to her brother. She closed her eyes and took a sip of the chilled white wine, feeling the light and refreshing liquid glide down her throat. Hints of green apple, lemon, and spring blossoms danced across her tongue.

As she enjoyed the wine, Simon scrolled through his phone to select some music. He settled on a playlist of modern piano music, and the room filled with the sound of relaxing melodies.

“Why don’t you show me what you’ve been working on?”

Nat gave Simon an uncertain look.

“Lucy told me you’ve been pulling together a portfolio for a potential design contract.”

“Oh, I see.” Nat was briefly irritated that Lucy had told Simon when she had explicitly asked her not to. But she couldn’t be angry for long, as she knew Lucy only ever had good intentions.

“I really would like to see it.” His tone held genuine interest and, despite her hesitance, a flutter of excitement passed through her at the thought of impressing her brother.

“Sure.” Nat placed her glass on the coaster and crept back upstairs.

She retrieved her work and returned to the couch, unfolding the binder and placing it in front of Simon.

“This is one of the luxury suites.” Nat pointed to one of the drawings. “It’s one of their most expensive rooms, and so everything in it has to make the guest feel like it’s worth every penny.”

Simon leaned in, his eyebrows furrowed as he studied her work. Nat guided him through each page, explaining how each choice was a piece of a larger puzzle and how they all come together to create a narrative throughout the hotel.

“These are… incredible.” He looked up at Nat, a wide smile on his face. “You should be so proud of yourself.”

“Do you really think so?” Nat couldn’t quite believe his reaction. This was a rare and unexpected complement from her high-achieving brother.

“Honestly, it’s great. I really had no idea you were this good.”

“Thank you.” Nat tried to tame her broad grin by taking a sip of wine.

“Maybe I should get you to make some suggestions for this house.” Simon continued flicking through the pages. “It’s about time we freshened this place up.”

“I’d love to!” Nat leaned back into the sofa, enjoying the unfamiliar sensation of pride as it swelled within her.

With Simon in a good mood and relaxed after a glass of wine, Nat decided now might be the only chance she would get to talk to him about what she had discovered by accident.

“Er, actually there’s something I need to talk to you about.” The gravity of her tone pulled Simon’s attention away from the designs. “I overheard your conversation the other night. When you were talking about Spinigma and taking them to court.”

His posture stiffened. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough to know it’s serious.” She paused, fiddling with the stem of her wine glass. “I’m worried about what the impact might be on Michael’s company.”

“What do you mean?”

“HealthLink is at a crossroads with two potential investors.” Nat lowered her voice to barely a whisper, as if the walls might be eavesdropping.

“Go on.”

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