With a muted noise of distress, Poppy closed her arms protectively around Lily and looked to the door.
Rico glanced at her with concern then scowled at his brother. “Now you’ve gone and hurt my wife’s feelings.”
Cesar frowned at her. His gaze dropped to Lily and his frown eased.
“Whose feelings?” Sorcha came up behind her husband. She was blond and effortlessly beautiful in a summer dress with a forget-me-not print. Daywear diamonds sparkled in her ears.
“Poppy.” Her surprise warmed into a welcoming smile that sent the first trickles of relief through Poppy’s defensively stiff limbs. “And here’s Lily.” Sorcha came right up to them and gave Lily’s elbow a tickle. She tilted her head to meet the gaze Lily shyly kept tucked into Poppy’s neck.
“Will you come see me? Let me introduce you to your cousins?” Sorcha held out her hands. “They’ll share their lunch with you. Are you hungry?”
Lily went to her. Who could resist the promise of food and the warm lilt of an Irish accent?
“Thank you, darling. That’s quite a compliment.” Sorcha cuddled her close, then glanced at Rico. Her tone dropped to permafrost. “You can wait in the car.”
“I deserve that,” Rico said with tense sincerity. “I regret the hurt I caused you. I wouldn’t interrupt your weekend, but Poppy needs you, Sorcha. Will you help her? If not for me, then for her sake and Lily’s? Please? I know how you feel about family.”
“That’s below the belt!” Sorcha tucked her chin, looked as though she wanted to punish him further, then gave a little sigh. “Since you’ve brought me this very precious gift—” She snuggled Lily more securely onto her hip. “I will forgive you. This one time.” She smiled at Poppy without reserve. “And of course I’ll help you any way I can. I would have called you later this week.” Another dark look toward Rico. “I didn’t want to wait until our gala next month. I’m so glad you’re here. Come join us.”
“What did you do?” Poppy hissed at Rico as he fell into step beside her.
“Said something that doesn’t bear repeating.” To her surprise, he took her hand and wove their fingers together, giving her a little squeeze. “But Sorcha knows what you’re up against. Let her be your guide.”
It struck her that this had been hard for him. She doubted it was in his nature to ask for help any more than it was in hers. He and Cesar were obviously on rocky ground, but he had invaded their family time for her sake.
“Please tell Chef we’re four adults and three children for lunch now,” Sorcha said easily to the hovering butler.
“Champagne,” Cesar added, holding Sorcha’s chair as she lowered with Lily and kept her in her lap. “Boys, this is your cousin, Lily. Can you say hello and welcome her and Auntie Poppy to the family?”
Enrique began to giggle. He pointed his fork at Cesar. “That’s Papi.”
Poppy smiled. “Maybe you’ll have to call this one Tío Mama now.” She thumbed toward Rico as he helped her with her own chair.
Enrique nearly tumbled out of his, laughing at the absurdity as he repeated, “Tío Mama.”
Poppy bit her lip with remorse, suspecting she’d released a genie that wouldn’t go easily back into its bottle. She called on one of Gramps’s favorite tricks for getting through to a child who had a case of the sillies. She leaned over and spoke very softly so Enrique would have to quiet to hear her.
“My grandfather used to tell me it was okay to tease your family with a funny name when you were alone, but you have to remember to be respectful when you’re with others. Will you be able to do that?”
Enrique nodded and clamped his smile over his fork, eyes full of mischief as he looked at Rico.
“Sorry,” Poppy mouthed as she caught Sorcha’s amused glance. “You have a very beautiful home,” she added, glancing at the placid pool and the profusion of spring blooms surrounding it.
“Thank you. We’re extremely happy here.” Sorcha looked to her husband for confirmation, but her smile reflected more than happiness. Even two years ago it had been obvious to Poppy these two were deeply in love.
/> While Rico wore his customarily circumspect expression.
“I want one of those,” Cesar informed Sorcha with smoky warning, nodding at Lily where she sat contentedly in Sorcha’s lap, fist clenched around a spear of juicy peach.
“Let’s keep this one.” Sorcha pressed her smile to the top of Lily’s head. “She’s exactly what we’ve been thinking of.”
“We should probably try making our own before we resort to stealing.”
“Picky, picky. But if you insist, I’ll have my people talk to your people. Schedule a one-on-one for further discussion.”
“Really?” Rico drawled of the flirty banter. “In front of the children?”
“They’ve walked in on worse,” Cesar muttered, rising as the butler arrived with the champagne. “Learn to lock doors,” he advised while Sorcha looked to the sky.