Bedroom Diplomacy(22)

“So you’ve been planning this for days?”

“It never hurts to be prepared.”

“I do have to get the payroll information sent out today by five, or come next Friday I’m going to have some very unhappy employees. Technically, since you don’t work here, I shouldn’t let you, but I doubt Matt’s mother would mind.” Hell, one look at him holding Matt and she would probably melt.

He gave the baby a stiff sideways glance, as if he feared the slightest movement might jostle Matt awake. “What should I do? Just stand here?”

She certainly didn’t want him hovering there looking over her shoulder while she worked. Even while cuddling an infant, he radiated too much pure testosterone, was too much man for the small office. “Why don’t you try sitting in the rocker in the infants’ room and see how that goes?”

“I’ll give it a shot,” he said, easing his way out the door.

She listened for several minutes, but could only hear the sounds of the other children waking up from their naps and preparing for the afternoon snack. No infant screams or fussing.

She finished her paperwork, and after emailing everything to the payroll company, she made her way into the playroom. It had been a while, so she wouldn’t have been surprised to find that Colin had grown bored and had probably passed Matt off to one of the girls, but as she walked into the infant room, there he was in the rocker, Matt limp against his chest. If that wasn’t adorable enough, Dylan sat on his lap, cuddling close to both Colin and the baby. In Colin’s hand was a beat-up copy of The Velveteen Rabbit that one of the parents had donated, and he was reading it in a low and steady voice.

It was such a touching scene, and so exactly what Dylan needed, that for a full two or three minutes she just stood there watching with a pinch in her heart so intense it was difficult to breathe. For all the love she had given Dylan and the attention she’d lavished on him, it could never make up for the hole his father had left in his life.

“It melts your heart, doesn’t it?” Tricia whispered from behind her.

Without taking her eyes off them, Rowena nodded.

“Dylan has really taken to Colin, and Colin is so good with him. They’re like best buds.”

Rowena turned to her. “Don’t do that.”

“What?” Tricia said, shrugging innocently, when she knew damn well what Rowena meant.

“He’s not the settling-down type.”

“Statistically speaking, he will settle down at some point. It could be with you.”

“I don’t want that right now. And even if I did, it would be a logistical nightmare. With Colin’s home in England, and all of Dylan’s doctors and therapists here in California, it would never work.”

“What are you girls whispering about?” Colin said, grinning at the two of them.

“Work stuff,” Tricia lied, but Colin’s look said he was skeptical.

“Mommy!” Dylan said in a loud whisper. “Cowin wead to me.”

“I see that,” Rowena said softly, stepping into the room.

“I haven’t read this since I was a child,” Colin said. “It used to be one of my favorites.”

“You look as if you have your hands full. Why don’t I take Matt? He’s due for a bottle soon.”

As Colin handed him over, Matt startled awake and started to cry. She carried him into the kitchen to grab a bottle, but when she sat down and tried to feed him, he kept spitting the nipple out. She changed his diaper, but it was barely wet. She put him over her shoulder to pat his back—careful to use a burp cloth this time—and he cried even harder, until he was nearly hysterical. She finally gave up and carried him back into the infant room, where Colin and Dylan still sat.

“Baby Matt cwyin’,” Dylan said.

“Yes, sweetheart. He is one unhappy little boy.”

“Not having any luck?” Colin said.

“Could you try holding him again?”

He nodded. “I’ll give it a go.”

She handed him back, and the instant Matt settled on Colin’s shoulder, the crying miraculously stopped.

Rowena laughed and shook her head. This was clearly no fluke.

“His mom should be picking him up around six. Are you okay holding him for another forty minutes or so?”

“If you could grab us a couple more books.”

It was the least she could do. She went into the other room to the bookcase and picked out a few of Dylan’s favorites.

“Thanks,” he said when she handed them to him.

“Wead to me, Cowin!” Dylan pleaded, squirming restlessly in Colin’s lap. “Pweeze!”

“Hold on a second, bud.” He looked up at Rowena and said, “Did you know that the senator left for Northern California this afternoon?”