everything.”
Olivia flopped down onto her bed with a grin. “Don’t worry, Mama. You’ll be okay.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Aren’t mothers the ones who are supposed to console their daughters, not the other way around?”
“Tell that to my mom,” Veronica said. “She cried for a whole hour.” She looked pointedly at Olivia. “You’re lucky you’re getting away with just a hug or two.”
For a moment, Olivia looked like she wouldn’t actually mind if I burst into tears. But then she tipped her long nose up in that steadfast de Vries manner.
I hugged her again.
“I’ll be here on Friday to take you back to the Sterlings’ house with Anna and Christoph,” I murmured into her hair. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and I’ll have found a house before then.”
“I like Brandon and Skylar’s house,” Olivia said. “I wouldn’t mind staying there more.”
“They do have a lot of children,” I agreed.
“Oh, it’s not that.”
I released her and looked down. “Then what is it? Skylar’s not a particularly good cook.”
She shrugged in a way that was strangely and distinctly European. “It feels like a home,” she said. And then, perhaps as an afterthought, “And maybe Matthew will come back.”
I opened my mouth, unsure of what to say. On the one hand, I loved that my daughter and Matthew seemed to have made such a genuine connection in such a short period of time. But on the other…
“Don’t worry, Mama. If Daddy asks, I won’t tell him about Matthew.”
My jaw dropped. “I’m sorry?”
“He wouldn’t like it.” Olivia’s eyes darted toward her roommate, then back to me. “Because of the trial, you know.”
My heart fell. My poor, poor girl, having to negotiate these power dynamics.
“So, you know?”
“That he’s one of the lawyers going after Daddy?” She nodded sadly. “Yeah, I overhead him mention it to Brandon. Plus, Daddy really didn’t seem to like him at Grandmamá’s house.”
“You don’t seem to be bothered much by it,” I observed.
Olivia was quiet for a minute. “Well…I don’t want anything bad to happen to Daddy. But…”
“But what?” I prompted.
Her little brow furrowed. “Sometimes I think it would be okay if we didn’t see him at all.”
I didn’t push her further. No children should be asked to condemn their parents, even if they don’t know they aren’t really their parents.
“Do you and your father talk a lot?” I wondered.
She shrugged. “Oh, no. He never calls me here. But I just thought you’d want to know I still wouldn’t say anything. Just in case.”
A pang of guilt knotted in my stomach. At the idea that Olivia felt as though she had to choose sides, but also at the fact that she didn’t know the truth. It wasn’t the first time I’d wondered what she would say if she knew who her real father was. But it was the first I’d really wanted to tell her for her own sake.
Instead, I gathered her close for one last hug. “I love you.” I kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Bye, Mama. I…I love you too.”
Matthew was waiting in front of the car when I returned, leaning against the door. Despite being on vacation, today he was dressed for business in a sand-colored linen suit, straw fedora tipped to one side while he read something on his phone. “Just in case,” he said, though what case that might be, I didn’t know.
When I approached, he hastily stowed his phone in his pocket.
“Hey, doll,” he said as he removed his hat. “Everything go all right?”
I sighed. “Yes.”
He didn’t look convinced.
I pressed my lips together, suddenly trying not to cry. “It’s always difficult to say goodbye. I miss her when she’s gone.”
“Why not have her come home, then? There are good schools in New York too.”
“You know who my husband is, Matthew,” I said quietly, though the truth was, he really didn’t. Not like I did.
But he knew enough to nod his head in sympathy. “Ah. Well, maybe when you’re more settled at Wellesley, huh?”
I swallowed. “Let’s get going. I have a lot to do today.”
He slipped into the passenger side after I unlocked the door, and for a moment, I had to steady myself as his musk swept over me. Oh, God. Was I really spending the day with Matthew, unattended?
“Don’t worry,” he said as if he was reading my mind. “I won’t try anything, if that’s what you’re thinking?”
“What? Why not?”
He chuckled. “A little desperate for some action, are we, duchess?”
“Stop.”
“To answer your question,” he said lightly. “Because while I haven’t seen any tails,