She swiped through a few more profiles. But apparently this was how people did it now. And there was one advantage to Tinder that the real world lacked. She could cull guys without having to administer a real-life spelling test.
But no! That was not the point! It didn’t matter if a one-night stand could spell!
“Hey.”
“Oh!” She jumped about a foot as the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor of Kat’s building to reveal Dax standing in the corridor. She fumbled the Tinder app closed on her phone in the midst of right swiping a very cute guy. He’d had green eyes like Dax.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t hear Kat tell you her actual unit number when she buzzed you up, so I thought I’d wait for you here.”
“Right. Thanks.”
He held the elevator door for her and gestured down the hallway. “Actually, that’s only partially true. I had an ulterior motive for wanting to get you alone before we go in.”
Amy’s heart did a little jig.
“I needed to warn you about my mother.”
Oh.
“She can be very…intense. She gets fixated on things. And right now, you’re the object of her fixation.”
“Me?” Amy was genuinely shocked.
“Yeah. She’s spun this whole narrative where you’re the angel from heaven who saved Kat and her baby.”
Amy grinned. “Well, if the shoe fits…”
He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m just out here doing my duty. Consider yourself warned.”
Dax pushed open the door to Kat’s condo, and a small Asian woman came hurtling toward them and… Oh my God, Dax’s mother was actually crying.
“You must be Amy!”
“Mrs. Harris, so lovely to meet you.” Amy held out her hand to shake, but the woman bypassed it and somehow managed to insert herself between Amy’s arms so she had no choice but to hug her.
“No Mrs. Harris! I’m Yee-Lin, but everyone just calls me Lin.” She grabbed Amy’s upper arms with a strength that was astonishing considering her size, and pulled back to look into her eyes. “Unless you want to call me Mom, like these two. Because from now on, you are officially a member of the family.”
Then, as quickly as she’d flown at Amy, she dropped her arms, giving a big, fortifying sniff before introducing her to Dax’s father, Alistair.
If Lin was a miniature hurricane, Alistair was the eye of the storm, silent and brooding, letting everything unfold around him as if he were watching a play on stage. He nodded at her, shook her hand formally, and then disappeared into the small kitchen.
“My husband cooks beef stroganoff for dinner every Sunday,” Lin said. “Usually at our house, but of course this is a special day.”
“Is that Amy?” Kat called from somewhere deeper in the condo.
“It is,” Dax answered, ushering Amy into the living room, where Kat was lying on the couch looking like she was recovering from a car accident.
“Hi!” she said, her chipper voice in marked contrast with her disheveled appearance. Then she made an exaggerated pointing motion with her thumb to the bassinet next to the couch. Amy walked over and peeped in.
“Oh!” she whispered, inexplicably overcome with emotion at the sight of Kat’s sleeping daughter. “She’s beautiful.” She hadn’t really gotten a good look when she was delivering the baby because she’d been so caught up in the fear and adrenaline of the situation. The tiny girl had her mother’s dark hair, and she was sleeping with her little fists clenched next to her cheeks.
“Isn’t she?” Dax said, coming to stand next to Amy. “We’ve pretty much spent the day staring at her.”
As if she could feel the attention, Gloria started grunting and squirming. Then she opened her eyes—green like her uncle’s, instead of the usual baby blue—locked them on Amy, and gave a shriek that could have peeled the paint off the walls.
“Ha!” Kat said, twisting to pick up the girl. “You ought to be more polite to your namesake.”
“About that,” Amy said. “I’m totally flattered, of course, but you didn’t have to do that.”
“Already done,” Kat said, jiggling the baby and making funny faces at her. “She’s named after you and Gloria Steinem. Two strong, badass women.”
She hiked up her shirt and before Amy could reply, Dax interrupted. “Hey, hey! Give me some warning before you do that!”
“You’ve seen boobs, brother.”
“Yes, but not yours, and I intend to keep it that way.” He turned to Amy. “Come with me to help fix drinks?”