Page 11 of Wanting a Family Man

Which was costing Em. There was tension across her cheeks. Concern pulled her brow.

Reid’s mouth was flat and pensive. “I agree she’s entitled to reasonable access, but what does that look like? Where the hell did Logan go?” He looked impatiently toward the powder room. “Every time we need a family discussion, he vanishes.”

“I scared him off, asking about Sophie.” Emma peeked upward. “What is goingonwith them?”

“Tune in next week,” Trystan said in his best voice-over. “When Logan fucks up his love life in a fresh and unexpected way.”

“Sophie won’t put up with that.” Emma shook her head.

“Neither will I,” Trystan assured her.

“Would you two focus?” Reid said with exasperation. “New rule. Gossip happens when we’re off the clock. I’ve already lost half my day to our run across the water. Now this?” He waved toward the stairs to the basement, where he’d left Cloe.

“I’m not on the clock. It’s my day off,” Trystan pointed out in the ultra-reasonable tone that he knew would get under Reid’s skin. It was puerile, more Logan’s MO than his own, but he was feeling prickly. All his pent-up tension wanted to scrap, even if it was only verbally.

“Fine.” Reid tried to stare him down. “You two sit here and paint each other’s nails. I have a company to run, a sale to midwife through government bureaucracy, and a wife who needs immigration papers. Plus, an adoption application to file.”

“And your mom,” Emma noted with a crinkle of her nose. “She called this morning as soon as you left. I didn’t say anything about the sale, don’t worry.” She held up a hand. “We had a nice chat, actually. She was asking if you’re planning to visit soon. She’d like to see both of us. I said I’d have you call her back tonight.”

“Yeah, she’s used to seeing me over the long weekend in August.” Reid ran his hand down his face, then asked her, “Would you like to come?”

“I would. I think she’d be hurt if I didn’t, but…” She looked at Storm.

Miriam was still coming to terms with her son raising her ex-husband’s baby. She was taking to Emma, but she would need more time before she welcomed Storm to any family dinners.

“Logan and I can figure something out,” Trystan said. “Book whatever works.”

“Great. Can you and Logan also work out what to do with…” Reid waved toward the stairs again. “I don’t have the bandwidth.”

“Sure.”

“She can’t stay here,” Reid added, sending a look to Emma that was both protective and defensive. “I know that sounds petty, but we don’t know her or what she’s capable of.”

“I get it.”

“It’s not fair to ask Sophie to take her. They’ve just lost Art,” Emma said, brow wrinkled in concern.

Logan and Sophie were also banging like newlyweds. Trystan wouldn’t subject anyone to that.

“I’ll figure it out,” Trystan promised.

“How?” Reid asked him.

“Are you serious?” Trystan understood why Reid hated for anything to be less than predictable. His mother had been a lot when he’d been a child. He’d been way too young to be tasked with handling her mood swings, but this was their childhood dynamic in a nutshell. Reid would tell him or Logan to do something, then jump right on the task himself, worried they would do it wrong.

“You don’t have the bandwidth,” Trystan reminded him. “I’ll figure it out.”

Reid gave him a scowl of frustration at having his own words thrown back at him. “Maybe she’ll leave by Wednesday. If she needs money for the ferry—”

“Yeah. I know.”Jesus Christ.

The subtle hum of water running through pipes shut off, indicating Cloe was finishing her shower.Don’t think about it. But Trystan’s lizard brain couldn’t resist conjuring an image of her compact figure with sparkling water droplets trailing down her dark gold skin.

“I should get back to work.” Reid frowned with concern at Emma.

She might be doing what she thought was right, but there were shadows in her eyes. She needed a breather.

“Storm will need her nap soon,” Trystan noted, still rassling the little seabass. She was squiggling and flopping, tiny fingers clutching into his shirt as she tried to climb every direction. “I’ll take Cloe to theStorm Ridgeuntil dinner, feel her out on her plans.”

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