My stomach grumbles, and Amelia gets restless in Levi’s arms. The kid is probably hungry. “Do you want to grab lunch soon?” I ask.
“Can we go to Disney?” Amelia asks as she squirms in his grip.
“For lunch? No.” Levi chuckles. “But as a full-day adventure, maybe in a couple of days.”
“How long is this trip?” I ask. Levi never did specify how long we’d be staying in Paris. I didn’t even expect that I’d still be the nanny after the first week.
“As long as it takes to sign over the hotel to Luxenberg Enterprises.”
I let out a heavy sigh. Days? Weeks? Months? He’s not being incredibly specific.
“Why? Is there somewhere you have to be when we return home?”
“No,” I say. It isn’t like that.
“Good.” He’s short, curt, like he’s making it clear the schedule is on his terms. No kidding, this isn’t a honeymoon. We’re here for business.
“But you do have Amelia’s school to contend with,” I say. “We can’t keep her out forever.”
“We should be back to New York over the weekend. She can work on her assignments this afternoon before dinner or in the evening.”
I’m surprised he isn’t making her do her schoolwork before going out for the day, but it’s not my place to tell him how to raise his daughter. He’s obviously done well for himself. Maybe he’s on to something that I don’t know.
“Don’t fight,” Amelia whines, and wiggles down from his arms. She latches onto my hand.
Levi’s brow pinches like he just realized his daughter picked sides, even if it was inadvertently.
“We’re not fighting, I promise,” I say, picking Amelia up. “We’re just discussing your schooling.”
Her nose wrinkles at the mention of school.
“You’re not excited to start a new school?” Levi asks, pausing as we walk, his undivided attention on his daughter.
“I don’t have any friends there.”
“You’ll make friends,” I say. I don’t want to ask her how many friends she left behind and cause her stress, but now I can’t help but wonder what her life was like before everything happened. Did she have a lot of friends at school? How many kids came to her last birthday party?
We head out of the museum and walk down the block, searching for a café to eat lunch. We land on a quaint restaurant in the middle of the bustling city. The seats are outside, the sun hidden behind the canopy, offering the perfect amount of shade to keep it from being too warm.
The waiter brings us menus in English when he realizes we don’t speak French, and three glasses of water.
Levi sips Amelia’s water, making sure that she won’t spill it all over her clothes since it’s filled to the brim.
“Daddy,” Amelia says as she reaches for her water glass, pushing his face away. “That’s mine.”
“I know, baby girl. I was just making sure that it’s not too full.”
“I’m not a baby,” Amelia says, although the slight whine in her voice from annoyance begs to differ.
“Of course not. I just don’t want you to spill your drink all over your clothes,” Levi says.
Amelia sits on her knees and leans forward, sipping the water glass before using two hands to lift it once it’s low enough past the rim. “See, I’m a big girl,” Amelia says proudly.
“Yes, you are,” I chime in. “Amelia was a big help today, pointing out all the beautiful scenery on the way to the train station. I’ve never been in a city quite so old and well-maintained. It’s rather enchanting, the city. There’s still so much that I’d love to explore.”
I sip my water and feel a woman glaring at us as she heads in the direction of the café. Perhaps the sun is in her eyes, and I’m over exaggerating the nasty stare.
“Levi, is that you?” the woman says, coming in through the main entrance and up to our table, ignoring the fact that she might not be welcome or invited.