Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(50)

And then laughed.

Giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

Apparently, her question was amusing, since Lilliana giggled again.

A sticky baby hand was on her nose and all she could do was smile. “You defile your mother’s shirt, and now you’re making fun of my nose. I’m not sure I can trust you.”

Lilliana thought the comment was worth another round of laughter.

Sasha moved her to her hip and walked toward the sink. There she ran the water and started to clean off the sticky. “You’re kinda a mess, kid.”

More giggles.

It was hard not to smile.

Lilliana wasn’t as cooperative as Sasha had assumed she would be when it came to water and soap. She pushed her hands away and moved her face from side to side to avoid being cleaned. Still, Sasha managed. “I’m always going to win this . . . you might as well get used to it.”

Now that the sponge bath was done, she grinned and went back to playing with Sasha’s nose.

“Oh my God . . . that’s a baby.”

Claire stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her mouth open.

“Are you sure you’ve earned your diploma at Richter?” Sasha asked, teasing.

Claire walked closer, her eyes glued to Lilliana. “You know Richter. No one brings babies around.”

How sad that Sasha knew exactly what Claire was going through. Babies were not a part of their lives as orphans. At least not once they moved to Richter. No nieces or nephews, brothers or sisters. No. They had no barometers for children unless they were in the primary education dorms at the school.

But holding a kid?

Had she ever held one?

Sasha found herself holding Lilliana tighter. As if she couldn’t gauge if she held her hard enough to avoid dropping her.

“You’re up . . . good.” Trina walked back into the room, a new shirt and pair of jeans covered her legs. “What do you want for breakfast?”

Sasha turned to Trina to give her the baby, only to find her sister-in-law moving to the refrigerator.

“Eggs? Bacon. This is a working farm, we have plenty of breakfast food.”

Claire moved to the kitchen window. “A real farm?”

“Cattle ranch. But Wade insisted on chickens and a garden. Not that I pretend to take care of any of that. But the eggs are good.” Trina moved around the kitchen, pulling a pan from a cabinet and eggs from a basket.

“I thought you said Wade was a country singer,” Claire said.

“He is. But the first part of that is country. And Wade is all that and more before he’s a singer.”

While Trina and Claire carried on, Sasha and Lilliana regarded each other in silence.

Something told Sasha that the silence wouldn’t last for long.

“If he’s so famous, why are you cooking?” Claire asked.

The question captured Sasha’s attention.

Trina moved around the kitchen. “Well, when Neil called and said you were coming, we gave some of our help the week off. Probably better that they don’t see who is here until we clear up any legal details.” Trina glanced at Sasha, then back to Claire. Sasha had brought Claire up to speed on the investigation into AJ’s sister’s death on the flight over. The news didn’t appear to impact her as much as seeing a baby. “Besides, I don’t mind cooking. Once my mother-in-law finally moved out, I had an opportunity to cook a little more.”

“Your mother-in-law lived here?”

“For a short time.” Trina glanced at Sasha. Kept her answers short to Claire.

They both knew Trina’s mother-in-law took a little work to move on after the marriage.

“I can’t imagine living in a house with a mother-in-law.”

Trina opened her mouth, only to have Claire cut her off. “Or even a mother.”

“Oh.” Trina stood dumbfounded. “I can’t imagine.”

Claire shrugged. “It’s okay. Right, Sasha? We turned out okay.”

“Yup.”

Claire smiled at the baby to have that grin returned. “Can I hold her?”

“Sure,” Trina said. “If she starts to squirm, just sit down on the floor with her. She’s scooting around pretty well these days.”

Claire reached her hands out to take her, and Sasha found herself reluctant to let go. “Don’t drop her, even if she pukes on you.”

Trina laughed.

“I won’t. C’mere, cutie.”

Once Sasha’s arms were free, she picked up her coffee again. It’d been strangely satisfying to hold her, if even for a few minutes.

Trina cracked eggs into a bowl. “Did you want some, Sasha?”

“That would be nice.”

Claire made faces and laughed when Lilliana tried to mimic her. It wasn’t long before both of them were on the floor next to a pile of toys.

Bacon started to pop on the stove, dragging Sasha out of her baby trance. “Let me help you.”

“I didn’t know you cooked,” Trina said.

“I don’t. But I can manage bacon.”

“My talents are limited, too.” She lowered her voice. “Wade’s cook is teaching me. And Wade is the master of a grill, so we won’t starve.”

Together they managed eggs, bacon, and biscuits. The biscuits were courtesy of the hired chef that wasn’t there.