“I’m doing okay. It’s only been four days, Matt.”
“I know, but a lot can happen in a short amount of time.”
“True. Well, I’ve packed up a lot of the apartment. I’m going to lease it furnished so I don’t have to take so much over. Besides, none of it will fit with the décor I’ve chosen for the new place.”
“I was over there this morning to have a look. I like what you’ve got happening there.”
She sat back on her couch, the phone tucked under her ear. “Thanks. The building lends itself to a shabby chic style and Atticus told me I could do whatever I wanted with it.”
“When are you coming back, Mia?”
“Soon, I hope. I want to be there when Ryan moves into his new house so I can help him unpack. I don’t want him overdoing anything.”
“I’m sure he’d say the same thing to you. Do you want me to pencil in a room for you here?”
She held her breath. Should she stay with Matt again or would that be asking for trouble? “Sure. Why not?”
Chapter 21
Every visit Mia took to the island, the weaker her resolve got. Matt went out of his way to charm her and be nice. She couldn’t fault his manner or his intentions. He was turning out to be the best friend a girl could want—considerate, kind and funny when the moment called for it. And just close enough that she got to hold him occasionally, but not in a romantic way as she would have liked.
On her last visit, he’d taken her to April’s to meet her baby son, Oscar. It’d been a bittersweet moment seeing the baby, but Matt had been there, holding her hand and rubbing circles on her back when she thought her emotions would be too much to handle. Even when she’d held the sleeping infant, her heart had swollen with love for the little guy. Matt had been there for her in case she’d had a meltdown. He’d been more in tune with her emotions than she was most of the time.
Without saying anything, he’d proven to be just what she needed to get through the emotional hit of seeing a newborn knowing she wasn’t going to have one of her own. Once the initial meet and greet was dealt with and Mia relaxed, he’d stepped back and let her have time alone with April. They were fast becoming good friends, something else that had been missing in Mia’s busy work life.
“You’re a lucky woman, April. Oscar is just the most perfect little man.”
“He is. Thank goodness I can now put my child-bearing days behind me. I’m done.”
Who wouldn’t want a repeat of the adorable bundle in her arms? “Really? You don’t want more children?”
April shook her head. “No. Drew wasn’t worried about having any to be honest—said it was my decision. He was happy with Tilly and Leo, but I wanted him to have the experience of our own child together. Ever since we first dated, I dreamed of having Drew’s baby. I’m glad we went through with it.”
Mia frowned as she tried to get her head around the way the conversation had turned. Matt stood outside on the front deck with Drew, chatting over a beer. She couldn’t imagine a man not wanting his own flesh-and-blood child. “But I’d have thought most men wanted their own children to carry on their name.”
“That’s such an old-fashioned thought. These days, most people only care if the child is healthy. The family name will go on regardless of what we do. Girls are keeping their name when they marry and some husbands are even dropping their own last name to keep their bride’s. The world is changing, Mia.”
“I guess so.”
“Think about it for a moment. We know now that the male is responsible for the baby’s sex so that whole ‘must have a male child’ thing has lost its power, in my opinion anyway. I don’t think it’s so important anymore with the rise of equal rights and women doing everything as well as men.”
Mia laughed, startling the baby. “Some might argue with you there, but I get your meaning.”
April soothed him and then spoke. “Look at you, girl. How many men have managed to achieve what you have? I mean, the management side of the company you started in your parents’ basement just sold for millions of dollars. And here you are, starting up a new venture with multiple network offers on the table. I rest my case.”
Mia blushed, feeling extraordinarily proud of her achievements. “I guess.”
“And with the blended families, the same sex couples and the advances with IVF, family dynamics have changed.”
Mia chewed on her lip, wondering how much Matt had told her.
“So tell me why, then, would having a son be such a big deal?” April lifted Oscar and rested him over her shoulder. “And who says he has to be of a certain bloodline anyway? Look how much Drew dotes on my kids. Anyone would think they were his too if they didn’t know the truth.”
If that wasn’t a clear hint, nothing was. “Is this you giving me not so subtle hint, April?”
April smiled. “Maybe. All I’m saying is don’t let that one hurdle ruin what you guys could have.”
“Matt adores children. I can’t deny him one of his own.”
“There’s more than one way to make that man a daddy. Being the clever woman you are, you can figure that out, surely?”
* * *
Drew leaned on the back of the chair and watched his wife nursing their son. “You and Mia. What’re you going to do about her?”
“Biding my time.” Matt lifted the chilled bottle to his lips and drank.
“Because?”
“Because I don’t want to bulldozer her. Mia needs to make up her own mind about what she wants in the future without me trying to push her my way. She knows how I feel.”
“And what if someone else persuades
