24. Not A Cold Fish

24

NOT A COLD FISH

“ I t’s so nice to meet you,” Regan said to Chloe, shaking her hand the following weekend.

There was part of her that was glad she was meeting Zander’s friends and the other part that felt bad she didn’t have any friends to introduce him to.

Would he think she was some kind of loser? Or maybe a cold fish that couldn’t connect with people on an emotional level? Though she did connect with him easily enough.

She just had to get it out of her head that people thought that of her for years.

She was doing so well being this confident doctor to her clients that behind that fa?ade of her career she wasn’t anything like that person. In her personal life, maybe she was the one that needed help and she should listen to her own advice rather than always dish it out.

“Not as nice as it is to meet you,” Chloe said. “Zander told us all about everything.”

“Everything?” she asked, turning to look at Zander.

“I told you how Royce and Chloe were set up. They know how we met and it was on our own and not with the help of the Fierces. Even last week I confused them.”

He’d told her what he’d said to the Fierce women and she’d told him that could have been taken as he wanted their help.

“Chloe came home laughing on Tuesday,” Royce said. “And nice to meet you too.”

Regan shook hands with the big man. Just a little taller than Zander and maybe more muscle. Could be from his job, but Zander had a fine body on him in her eyes.

“Why was she laughing?” she asked.

“Because Grant and Garrett came to my office and tried to find out what Zander meant by his comment,” Chloe said. “They didn’t come out and say exactly but hinted around the bush that maybe Zander wanted help finding someone. They were trying to find out if Zander was onto them too. All sorts of things that most of us see right through now.”

“You’d think they’d be more excited over their new grandson,” Royce said.

“I heard,” Zander said. “A little boy? Micah?”

“Yes,” Chloe said. “They were telling most at the party last week.”

“Mamamamamama,” Regan heard coming from another room.

“Someone wants me,” Chloe said. “Sorry for stopping you at the door and chatting. Let me take your jacket.”

She took her jacket off and handed it over, Zander doing the same. There was more childish jabbering in the back of the house and it was getting louder as they walked there.

She saw Royce’s daughter, Willow, in a playpen standing up and bouncing on her legs at the sight of them.

“She’s adorable,” Regan said. She loved kids and hoped to have them someday. She knew she’d be a better parent than hers had been.

But didn’t everyone think or want that?

See, not a cold fish since she loved kids and wanted them.

“Hey there, Willow,” Zander said, walking over and picking up the little girl from the playpen. Willow wrapped her arms around Zander’s neck and hugged him, then wiggled to get down.

The minute the little girl got on the floor she crawled over quickly and lifted her arms for Regan to pick her up.

She bent over and lifted her. “Hi,” she said. “Aren’t you just a cutie? You look a lot like your father and just a tad bit like your mother.”

“Shhhh,” Zander said.

She looked at Chloe and saw the frown and then the big grin on Royce’s face. “Everyone says it and Chloe gets jealous.”

“I carried her for nine months. She should look more like me.”

“If it makes you feel any better, most times it seems babies change their appearance as they grow older. I looked like my father in my baby pictures, but now I look more like my mother.”

“Phew,” Chloe said. “I have a cuter nose than him.”

“You have a cuter everything than me,” Royce said.

She found Royce and Chloe adorable together.

There was a banter that went back and forth. A relaxed one. A connection they seemed to have without any effort.

For the next hour, there was conversation, open and honest, there was no over-the-top affection that felt forced, and as parents, they helped each other without being asked.

And when Regan realized those things were popping into her head, she made herself turn off her clinical mind.

“Would you like another glass of wine?” Chloe asked. “I’m going to have another now that Willow is down for the night.”

The little girl had eaten and was in her pajamas when they arrived at six and had just been put to bed as Royce was getting the steaks off the grill.

She’d offered to bring dessert but was told no. Zander grabbed beer and wine and she had to just accept that was good enough.

“I’d love another glass, but then that will be it. Let me help you set the table please.”

“I’ll let you,” Chloe said. “Zander and Royce can have men talk over the grill. You and I can have girl talk over wine.”

“I very rarely have girl talk,” she said quietly.

“I’m sorry for that. I’ve gotten a lot of it in the past few years, but not much prior to that. I’ve got some close friends now and then Elise is like a sister to me. My brother’s girlfriend, Sloane, is awesome. Growing up, I don’t think I had a lot of friends that I could confide in a ton. Or felt I could. I kind of did my own thing and liked my ‘me’ time. But now that I’m older and settled down, the me time is great, but friendship is often better.”

“I’ve always been reserved,” she said. “I’m not sure how much you know about me.”

“Not a lot,” Chloe said. “I know what you do for a living and where your office is. I also know the Fierces think you and Zander would work and it appears you are.”

She smiled. “I’m not sure how I feel about that whole thing. I thought it was funny when Zander told me what they did with you and others.”

“It is funny until it happens to you,” Chloe said, holding her glass of wine up and taking a sip before she set it down to get the plates.

“Yeah. I told Zander I could probably do a better job as I’m more qualified.”

“Don’t say that to them,” Chloe said, laughing. “They will start to come to you for advice.”

“I’m busy enough,” she said.

“I decided to take matters into my own hands once I knew what they were doing,” Chloe said. “Royce was clueless.” Chloe leaned in close. “I told Royce I just wanted to see him naked. I was attracted to him. That was how it started for us.”

She burst out laughing. “That’s funny. But it all worked out.”

“A baby in the belly will do that,” Chloe said, winking.

Regan knew it was a joke. She had to admit Royce and Chloe were truly in love with each other. You can’t fake those things.

“A very adorable baby at that,” she said.

She grabbed the plates and brought them to the dining room table while Chloe got the silverware.

Then they brought in a salad, mac and cheese right out of the oven, and roasted vegetables that had been on the grill that Royce had brought in while they were setting the table.

“Zander is a great guy,” Chloe said. “I met him when I needed him to find my birth mother for me.”

“Oh,” she said. “I hadn’t known you were adopted.”

“It’s not a secret. The funny part is, I had her name. I knew who she was, but what I wanted was information on her. My brother and I are both adopted and my parents who raised me were very open about it.”

“Which is wonderful and doesn’t always happen.”

“No,” Chloe said. “I met my birth mother before Willow was born after Zander got some information. I’ve got a half sister and brother. They were at my wedding and met with my parents.”

“That’s a wonderful story,” she said.

“It was. They couldn’t make it to Willow’s birthday and that is fine. I’m on the fence about how much to bring them into my life and they are sitting back too. We are getting there, but I’ve told my parents that I’m not replacing them. I never could. I consider my birth mother and her family as new friends. And why am I telling you this?”

She smiled “I tend to bring that out of people. It’s a curse at times.”

“Because some friends and guys might worry that you’re judging them?” Chloe asked.

“I never judge.”

“She assesses,” Zander said, coming in with a platter like Royce. There were a lot of steaks on it.

“Are you feeding the neighborhood?”

“We are men,” Royce said. “Everyone loves a good steak.”

She lifted an eyebrow at that laughter between the two men. “If you say so,” Chloe said. “So let’s eat and then we can talk about what your next step with the Fierces is.”

“They are going to find out at some point,” Zander said. “I don’t want to tell them. It’s not my way.”

“I think the best thing to do is let Betsy and Miles catch us,” Regan said, filling her plate.

“Definitely,” Zander said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Whose office are we doing this in?”

“Is yours even clean?” Royce asked, forking a steak and dropping it on his plate, then passing the plate to her. No way she could eat a whole one.

“I’ll split one with you,” Chloe said. “My husband thinks women and men eat the same for some reason.”

“Thanks,” she said, grabbing one to put on her plate and giving the platter to Zander.

She cut her steak in half and moved her plate to Chloe to get it.

“We can figure out what to do with Miles and Betsy,” Zander said. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to let my mother know. She’ll want to meet you though.”

“We said it wasn’t a secret if there were people we trusted to keep quiet about it,” she said.

“My parents will.”

“Are you going to tell your parents what the Fierces are up to?” Royce asked. “Your father will laugh and hold his hands up and say he wants no part of it. Your mother...I’m not sure what she’ll say.”

Zander had told her he’d told Carolyn and Diane his father would have that reaction. She found it nice that Royce knew Zander’s family so well to know that.

“Why do you say that about Zander’s mother?”

“She wants him settled down so she might not be against giving him a nudge. But I also know that Marjorie is very pro about people making their own decisions and choices in life.”

“And that they pay the price for those choices if they aren’t right,” Zander said.

“I feel the same way,” she said.

“You and my mother will get along well,” he said. “She’ll love you.”

“As much as you love her?” Chloe asked.

Regan turned and saw Chloe and Royce laughing. She hadn’t said she was in love with Zander and didn’t know if Zander was the type to say that either.

“Is it that easy to see?” she asked.

“No,” Chloe said. “What I see is what Royce and I had. One of those things was attraction is the first driving force, but then you start doing things for each other without asking. Or finishing each other sentences. The looks you have between each other. It’s pretty obvious, and once your employees see you both together in the same spot, you’re not going to be able to hide it long.”

“And this is why I wanted to come here,” Zander said. “I’m thinking our time is limited. I wanted to see if people close to us could notice what we might be blind to.”

She was used to being in control but accepted that she might not have it now.