Claire sat down and watched as Eva's face lit up at her grandmother's sweet baby voice and kisses. She was really blossoming with all this attention. Perhaps not putting her in day care where she could be around a lot of different people was a bad idea. She was alone with Daisy all day, but Eva really seemed to like people. Perhaps she was more Moretti than Douglas.
"Claire, since everyone is gone at the moment, I wanted to talk to you about something. Being alone is a luxury in my family, so I've learned to take full advantage of it when it comes."
Claire bit her bottom lip to hide her frown. That sounded ominous. Was this the part where she threatened Claire not to hurt her son or keep his daughter from him? Told her to call off her lawyer? "Sure."
"I'm not sure what it is you and Luca have going. I know that whatever it is, it's early, so it's hard to say whether or not what you two have will turn into something serious, but I hope it does. I have never seen Luca as happy as he is here with you and Eva. Not even with Jessica was he like this. With her, he always seemed to be waiting for the other shoe to fall, and of course in the end he was right."
Claire wanted to push Antonia for more information, but she held her tongue, deciding not to interrupt.
"It broke my heart to see him like that. Finding out he had a child was such a startling revelation, but then he really warmed up to the idea. He was excited and nervous, but as he always does, Luca held back. We never expected to find out that the baby wasn't his."
Claire tried to hide her surprise at this revelation about Luca. He'd never once mentioned this other child or its mother. Even if it wasn't his in the end, that was an important event in his life he'd kept from her. She closed her eyes as all the pieces started to fall into place. That explained why he was so adamant about claiming Eva as his own. This time, he was certain the baby was his and he wasn't going to miss his chance to be a father, no matter what the circumstances.
"But this child," Antonia continued with a smile, "is the miracle that will bring him back to life. Whether or not he thought it would happen, he finally has a family."
"He has a daughter, yes," Claire clarified. She wasn't quite ready to commit to more than that. "And I'm going to make sure he has Eva in his life as much as he wants her to be."
Antonia's golden hazel eyes, so much like Luca's that it made her a little uneasy, fixed on Claire. "Dear, you and I both know that he's got a little more than just a daughter out of this situation."
Claire bit at her bottom lip as she considered her answer. "I don't really know. Sometimes things are going well, and I think maybe something is happening between us. Then he pulls away. Knowing about the other child explains a lot, but not everything. I still feel like he's keeping things from me, and that's a deal breaker for me. I'm not going to let myself get invested in a man I can't trust."
"Luca is as good a man as they come. He's just afraid to let himself fall for a good woman. Personally, I think you two are meant to be together. I don't believe in accidents or coincidences. Fate stepped in and scrambled those numbers on the labels so two strangers could share a child, and eventually, a life together."
That was a nice thought, but Claire wasn't quite so superstitious. Accidents happened. That didn't mean it was fate. It was just rotten luck. Or even good luck. It might not be what she planned, but at least Eva had a father and a family now. But as for him and her? She doubted this little vacation romance would last all the way back to Manhattan if he continued keeping secrets.
Luca's mother thought he was a peach, of course, but mothers loved their children blindly. He had given Claire his body, but he was holding back everything else. Unless that changed, she couldn't trust him with her heart. She'd already made the mistake of giving that away too freely in the past.
Something would go wrong. The dull ache in her gut was evidence of that. The only question was how badly it would hurt her when it happened.
Nine
"It's too quiet around here," Claire said as she washed up the last of the dinner dishes.
Luca looked up from his spot on the living-room floor. He and Eva were having fun with some fabric blocks with little tags on the edges. Frankly, he couldn't understand the appeal. He cut the tags off every piece of clothing he owned, but babies seemed completely enamored with them.
"I know what you mean," he said. His family had left a few days earlier. After three solid days of big Italian family chaos, the house almost seemed to echo with emptiness. "It always takes me a while to adjust to being alone again after we have get-togethers. Does that mean you like my family?"
Luca wasn't quite sure how his quiet, reserved Claire would handle Mia, much less the whole crew at once, but she'd done amazingly well. She fit in better than he'd ever expected. Whether or not she enjoyed her time with them was still a mystery to him, however.
Claire pulled the drain plug in the sink and strolled back into the living room while she dried her hands with a dish towel. "I love your family, Luca. They're amazing. I didn't even know a family could be like that. It's mind-boggling, really. I mean, they'd just met me and they treated me like family. Jeff's family was always kind to me, but I never felt like I was one of their daughters, even when legally I was."
Luca smiled at her. "They really liked you. I'm pretty certain they aren't like that with everyone. Even Carla liked you, and she's pretty hard to win over. And Mama. Well, you could do no wrong in her eyes. If you spoke Italian, you'd be perfect. Maybe we can work on that," he added with a grin.
"Very funny," Claire said as she sat down on the couch.
He turned back to Eva in time to see her let out a big yawn. "Uh-oh. I think she is ready for bed."
"Like me, I think she's still recovering from all the overstimulation."
Claire moved to get up, but Luca raised his hand. "You relax. I'll put her to bed. Why don't you pour us some wine, if my sisters didn't drink it all."
Luca stood and lifted Eva into his arms. Her little eyes kept slowly closing, then startling open as she tried to keep herself awake. "Don't fight it, bella."
It only took a few minutes to change the baby, put her into her pajamas and settle her into her crib. He turned on the mobile overhead and ran his hand over her soft baby curls. "Buona notte, cara mia."
Eva cooed at him for a moment, then her eyes fluttered closed. That was quick. Slipping out quietly, he closed the bedroom door behind him. "You know," he said, "it's almost time to go back to New York and we haven't done the one thing we said we came here to do."
Claire glanced up at him from her spot on the sofa with a curious look. "What's that?"
"Discuss the custody arrangement we want to submit to the judge."
An odd expression flickered in her eyes. Luca couldn't tell if it was disappointment, fear, anxiety or a combination of all three. "Okay. Let's discuss it, then."
Luca crossed the living-room floor and settled on the couch beside her. "Have you had a chance to review the proposal that Edmund sent up here with me?"
"Yes, I looked it over. There wasn't a lot that concerned me. I was surprised, honestly. It seemed pretty standard to me, and after the time we've spent here, I think most of my worries about your abilities as a father have been addressed. I only had one question. The child support seemed a little high to me."
Luca's brow went up. "High? I'm sure that's the first time anyone's ever heard that." He wondered, sometimes, if Claire underestimated just how much he was worth. Any other woman would've done her research and milked him for every penny.
Claire shrugged off his comment. "Even if I put her in one of the best schools in Manhattan and dressed her in designer clothes, I wouldn't need that much each month. We have a nice home, a caregiver. It makes me worry a little."
"About what?"
"That you're wanting more from me than the plan outlines. Is there an expectation that I should sell my brownstone and move to Manhattan? The expense of an Upper East Side apartment near you is the only thing I could imagine would justify the money."
The thought had crossed his mind a time or two, but he had learned early on that trying to push Claire would get him nowhere. He had to use his best negotiating skills to get what he wanted. "That wasn't my intention, no. But would it be so bad if I wanted that? You'd be closer to the museum. Closer to the schools we discussed. It would be easier on Eva to move back and forth between us, or for one of us to step in if the other needed them."