Page 16 of Seeking Happily Ever After

As soon as they were far enough away, Nick whispered, “What are you doing?”

“I told you I’d help you however I could.” She kept a smile on her face, but Nick didn’t miss the flash of doubt in her eyes. “You mentioned how hard it is for a single dad to get custody. The opportunity presented itself, so I’m helping.”

“I didn’t…” He stopped himself at the look of intense concern written all over her face. She had no way of knowing that he already had things figured out. Her motives were good. She really was trying to help. Besides, it wasn’t the time to go into the details of it all. “Okay. But you know you’re committed now.”

She hesitated but nodded. “Anything you need, we got this.”

Together, they gathered up a little jug of cream and a selection of sugars before they turned to head back to the table. Char stopped him before they moved. “I’m supposed to meet Stephanie Starz here for a meeting. Should I call her and—”

“No.” He shook his head quickly. “This shouldn’t take too long.” He sure hoped it wouldn’t, because if Susan asked any questions that they didn’t have answers for—which would be all of them—they were going to be in big trouble. “Follow my lead here, okay? If she asks any questions about…well, anything.”

“Got it.” Char nodded. “I know I probably should have thought it out first…but I’m here to help, Nick. I’m sorry if I—”

“Don’t worry about that right now, okay?” He reached out and lifted her chin gently so she was looking at him. It was a tender touch and if it had been under any other circumstances, he might have followed it up with…no. He couldn’t even let himself think of Charlotte in any other way. Especially now.

Nick waited until Char’s eyes cleared. She nodded and offered him a small smile. “Great,” he said, releasing her and immediately missing the feel of her skin under his touch. “Let’s go dazzle.”

They probably didn’t dazzle, but to Nick’s pleasant surprise, they did make Susan laugh a few times. Nick did his best to keep the conversation light and focused primarily on Amelia.

“Okay,” Susan finally said as she set her now-empty coffee cup down and reached for her notebook. “Let’s talk next steps.”

“Next steps?” Nick nodded knowingly despite the fact that he didn’t know anything. “What does that look like?”

“Well, it’s my understanding that you’ve requested an expedited process.” She looked up to meet his eyes. He nodded sharply and she refocused on the notebook, scribbling something down on the pages. “So, the next thing is we’ll have a home visit, where I can assess you all in your home together and—”

“That could be difficult,” Nick interrupted. Realizing how it sounded, he amended quickly, “It’s just that I’m temporarily living in the guest suite of a friend’s place. I’m having—we’re having—” He shot a smile at Charlotte, who’d grabbed his hand under the table. If he hadn’t been so distracted by the panic coursing through him at the idea of Susan visitingtheirhome when it wasn’t actuallytheirsat all, he might have been able to appropriately respond to the feel of her skin on his. As it was, it was probably a good thing that he was distracted because having any actual feelings for Charlotte was definitely not part of what was turning out to be a whole lot more complicated of a plan than he’d originally thought. “We’re having a house in town renovated,” Nick continued. “Our guest suite is pretty tight and we’re—”

“That’s fine.” Susan grinned. “I’ve made a note that it’s only temporary. I’m sure that with your financial means, your permanent residence will be more than adequate as well. But that’s not what this visit is all about.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” Susan spoke while she scribbled notes that Nick desperately wanted to see in her notebook. “It’s more about getting a feel for the family and their dynamic. Just to assess the vibe of the family and the general fit.”

The vibe?

Nick just swallowed and nodded. “Of course. Makes sense.”

He squeezed Charlotte’s hand under the table, which had the unexpected effect of calming him. That had never happened with a woman before. Even if it was completely unplanned, it was nice to know that she was there for him and no doubt would help him do whatever it took. Including a home visit. “Why don’t we schedule that for next week sometime?” Nick suggested as he looked over to Charlotte. “Does that work for—”

“Oh no,” Susan interrupted. “We don’t schedule these visits.”

“What?” It was Charlotte who asked. “What does that mean?”

The older woman smiled as if she enjoyed keeping people on their toes, which she probably did. It was part of her job, after all. “The idea is to make sure you’re natural and not overly prepared, so we can get a real idea of what things are like in your home. So, we’ll give you a window of…” She scratched a few more things down. “No later than three to five weeks.”

“Three to five weeks?” Nick couldn’t help the outburst. “I thought you were expediting things?”

“I assure you, Mr. Newton. Thatisexpedited. And you never know, I could pop in anytime.”

Nick was about to complain, but fortunately for him, Stephanie chose that moment to walk into the bakery for her meeting with Charlotte.

“Normally in situations like these—is that…”

Nick knew without turning around who had just walked in and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Stephanie Starz?”

“It is,” Nick said as Stephanie spotted them and raised her eyebrows in question. No doubt wondering why Charlotte was sitting next to him when he’d decided that there were no options but the truth.

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