Page 168 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

She tugged her mother’s hand and led her down the hall. “I know I should show you your room first, but this one is important too.”

Emma opened the door, revealing a spacious bedroom with high hermetically sealed windows and no balcony. A second child’s bed dominated the room. This one had an elaborate headboard shaped like a circus tent complete with pastel-striped curtains that stretched over the top half of the bed.

“Holy shit!” her mother exclaimed. “Your honey bunny doesn’t do anything halfway.”

“No, he doesn’t. Also, for the love of God, please never call him that again.”

Her mother laughed. “Yeah, it sounded bad to me too.”

“We didn’t think you’d mind if we carved a space for her here straight off the bat,” Emma began when Mariana walked around the bed, touching the bedspread almost reverently.

“We want Stella to know she has the option to come and be with you whenever she wants.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Mariana turned with tears in her eyes. “I know, I shouldn’t have tried to be her mother, but thank you for not taking her away from me completely.”

Emma walked over to bed and sat down on it, gesturing for Mariana to do the same.

“Stellaneededyou to be her mother. I wasn’t capable of it when she was born. Hell, I’m not entirely sure I am capable of it now. I’m still going to need your help. And not just with Stella. With life. Butnow you’ll hopefully have a chance to find the one you want for yourself too. Whatever that looks like, Garrett and I want you to have it.”

Mariana rose, reaching to run her hand over the satiny surface of the dresser. “It’s like winning the lottery. I don’t know that I deserve all of this.”

Emma snorted. “I know the feeling. But Garrett deserves to have the wife he loves. And Stella deserves her dad. So, the two of us are going to have to find a way to accept our good fortune without beating ourselves up about it.”

Mariana bent to pick up the stuffed unicorn Elias must have brought down, hugging it to her chest like a shield. “I guess we do.”

“I think Garrett was right.”

“About what?”

“We all need therapy.”

Mariana wrinkled her nose. “Therapy? Really?”

Emma wound her arm around her mother’s. “It can’t hurt.”

“I don’t want to,” her mother admitted. “But if you think it will help Stella…”

“I do.” Emma tugged her to her feet. “Why don’t we go see your room now?”

Mariana grinned, the anxiety in her expression melting away. “I’m excited.”

She didn’t have to tell Emma it had been a long while since she had felt that way.

She stood and put her arm around her mother’s waist, leading them across the hall.

“That’s probably the right reaction,” she said before pushing the master bedroom door open.

Chapter Sixty-Five

GARRETT

Meowmus Maximus had found a new human. The moment the little shit met Stella, he ditched both Garrett and Emma in favor of their cuter hybrid counterpart.

Not that Garrett minded. Less time in close contact with the beast meant fewer allergy pills. Truth be told, he was rather smug about the whole thing because it proved his point about cats.

Dogswere clearly superior in the loyalty stakes, while cats could and would switch allegiances on a dime.

He said as much to Rainer one gray weekend afternoon when Emma was out furniture shopping with her mother. He and Stella had spent a lazy day watching Saturday morning cartoons. Then they went next door to Rainer and George’s for brunch.

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