Page 16 of The Billionaire's Instant Triplets

“Sure.” Tristan wiped the cloth across the plate. “Is this the last one?”

“Yeah, we’re all done.” Ria dried her hands and stepped back from the sink. Her hands went to her hips as she surveyed the counter. “Everything looks all right.”

“It does.”

“Well, I’ll head up to bed.” She pivoted on her toes with the same grace she’d used while dancing around the kitchen. Halfway to the door, she paused and turned back. Tristan half-expected another deep comment, but she just smiled slightly. “If you change your mind about the cookies, they’re in a plastic container on top of the fridge.”

And then she was gone, leaving Tristan alone in the kitchen. He sighed, put the plate away, and opened the fridge. He still needed to eat dinner, and he still had work that needed to be done. Yet now, he felt distracted again. He was caught up in thoughts of Ria and what she’d said about showing up.

How could Tristan ever be a father to the triplets, though, when it would mean erasing their mother? How could he ever be agoodfather when he didn’t understand what made young kids tick? How could he run a company and raise kids without letting the ball drop somewhere?

Tristan shook his head and pulled a container of quinoa and beans out of the fridge. Before he headed down the hallway to his office, he sent one glance at the container of cookies on top of the fridge. Then he shook his head and left the kitchen. At his desk, he sat and worked, eating bites of his dinner between emails, until it was after midnight and his eyelids were too heavy to stay open.

CHAPTER9

RIA

Ria handed a strawberry to Jacob, who popped it in his mouth with a delighted smile. The kids were sitting outside on the back lawn to enjoy the surprisingly warm March afternoon. Jamie was on patrol around the fence with a large stick in search of squirrels to befriend. Exactly how the stick was supposed to help in the friendship, Ria wasn’t sure, and Jamie couldn’t explain. Jacob was coloring on an enormous piece of paper, longer than he was tall, that Ria had found for him. He looked deeply satisfied. Jasmine was climbing up and sliding down a toddler-sized plastic slide Ria had found in the playroom and moved outdoors. One of her small hands clutched a plastic toy horse.

Ria, for her part, was simply enjoying the sunshine and the sound of the children playing. That morning, Tristan had been gone before she’d come downstairs, but her conversation with him the night before kept replaying in her head. She shouldn’t have said that the real magic of parenthood was showing up. A comment like that would have gotten her fired from any of her last half dozen nannying jobs.

Yet Tristan hadn’t seemed upset with her. He’d just seemed… thoughtful. As though Ria’s words had struck him. Whether any changes would come of it remained to be seen.

“Wia?” Jasmine came dashing over from the slide, her horse still in her hand. “Juice?”

“Sure, honey. Let’s get some.” It was time for a snack anyway. Ria gathered the triplets, got them inside, and settled them on the living room floor with a few toys. She left the door to the kitchen open so she could keep an eye on them while she looked for juice and snacks. Tristan only kept organic, cold-pressed orange juice (and something muddy-looking and green in a juice bottle that Ria wasn’t touching). She poured a little of the orange juice into three sippy cups then carried them back to the kids along with some crackers and halved grapes.

“Wike gwapes,” Jasmine said with a grin. “Mommy wike gwapes.”

Ria blinked. None of the triplets had mentioned anything about a mother before, and she’d assumed Tristan was a single father.

“Mommy?” Ria asked.

“Mommy wike gwapes,” Jasmine said again. She reached for another grape half with enthusiasm.

“And skuls,” Jamie added. His eyes gleamed at the thought of his favorite animal.

“Squirrels,” Ria corrected automatically. Her mind was racing. Did these children have a mother who was out of town? Was Tristan married? She tried to remember if she’d seen a ring on his hand but couldn’t. It was one thing for him not to give all the details about the children’s daily routine or possible school, but it was another for him to have left out their mother.

“Yeah. Skuls.” Jamie nodded.

“Where is your mommy?” Ria asked. The triplets looked at each other.

“Pawk,” Jasmine said finally. She broke a cracker with her hand and popped the largest piece into her mouth.

“Your mommy is in the park?” Ria repeated. The triplets all nodded, but Ria wasn’t any the wiser. She knew kids this age often had trouble imagining where people were, but usually that meant they thought their teachers lived at school or their grandparents lived in a specific restaurant. She’d never heard any kid say that their mother lived in the park.

“Pawk haz skuls,” Jasmine continued. Her tiny green eyes began to tear up, and Ria saw that they were heading into dangerous waters. Of course, kids their age would dearly miss their mother if she were away, even if it was only for a few hours. And given that Ria had been here for more than two days now with no sign of a mother, she must be gone for longer than that.

“That’s lovely. What should we do after our snack?” Ria asked in hopes of changing the subject.

“Skul?” Jamie asked hopefully.

“Cwayon?” Jacob suggested.

“Pawk wif Mommy,” Jasmine said forlornly. Her grapes and cracker shards were forgotten.

“How about we go swimming?” Ria suggested. She’d seen signs for an indoor pool not far from here. That would definitely distract the triplets from missing their mother.

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