“He already does,” Annie said with a smile. “And what about you, Kim? How are you finding motherhood these days?”

“Oh, where’s Lily? Is she here?” Colette chimed in, looking around.

“Aw, you just missed her and Gabriel, but you’ll see them later, I’m sure.”

“Do you have any pictures? I’d love to see them.”

Kim flipped the cover open on her phone case and entered her passcode. She flicked her finger upward in rapid succession as she looked for the most recent photos she had of her daughter.

The further down the list she went, the worse she began to feel. She really was her mother’s daughter.

There were tons of pictures of the villa project, some professional shots for social media, and other stuff she’d been sent for approval from the marketing department.

Finally, she found a few from a weekend trip earlier in the year. Gabriel had insisted she take a break from the seemingly endless villa preparations, and the three of them had headed to the Hamptons for a few days.

Kim still had to work most of the time but there were a few occasions when she took an hour or two away to focus on him and Lily.

“We went boating,” she commented, as she handed the phone to Colette, feeling a little on edge as she watched her pass the phone in turn to Annie, who seemed even more curious.

“You all take such perfect pictures,” she sighed as she handed the phone back, but Kim thought she noticed an edge to her tone. “Lily looks sooo like her dad. No offense, Kim, but I can’t really see you in her except for the color of her hair.”

“That’s probably for the best,” she chuckled ruefully. The fact that her daughter looked more like Gabe and called for him when she was frightened or couldn’t sleep didn’t really bother her. Kim had work to do and she did it. He had more time.

“Kim?” Colette’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Sorry, what?”

“I was just saying that it might be nice to head over to Positano for dinner for old times’ sake later, if you can spare an evening. A good excuse for the three of us to catch up before everything gets too busy for you. What do you think?”

“Ah, for goodness’ sake, Charlie!” Annie yelled then, as her son dive-bombed into the pool, sending a huge spray of water in their direction. Kim jumped back just in time for it to miss her but Colette and Annie, who were both sitting poolside, got soaked. “What the hell were you playing at?” she scolded.

Colette laughed it off. “Ah, don’t worry, Annie. He was just doing exactly that—playing. It’s what kids do.”

“Thanks for the advice, Colette, but maybe save it for your own child,” she snapped, brushing water off her clothes.