She felt herself blush. Sheneverblushed. “It’s not like I can take him with me to the mediation.”
“Non,” Didier agreed, deceptively casual.
She eyed him. “Okay, say what you’re thinking.”
The Frenchman shrugged. “You are different since you are with him.”
“Sometimes a different focus can help you identify what you really want, and what you don’t want,” Jamie added.
She nodded. “I know I don’t want to vomit on Monday.”
Jamie chuckled. “You’ve always known that. But what do you know now that you’re in love?”
She gaped at Jamie. She sputtered for a moment before she managed to say, “No one said anything about love.”
He and Didier exchanged a look.
“You guys are as subtle as a ton of bricks.” She gripped the edge of the couch. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Have you ever considered that your problem isn’t with your father?” Jamie asked gently.
“Are you going to say my problem is all in my mind?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No, I was going to say that when you decide to focus your attention on what you really want, that you’ll get past this.”
Didier nodded. “The problem isn’t your father. Your father never gave you anything. Why should you care about him?”
“Maybe because he didn’t give me anything,” she said stiffly.
Didier shook his head. “Non. I do not believe that you would take anything he offered you. You are too wise.”
She sat back against the couch. “So everything we’ve been doing?”
“To show you that life offers more than what you have in front of you,” Didier said. “That there is pleasure in sharing unexpected small things, like ice cream on a winter’s day. That the connections in life that matter are the ones that are mutual.”
“I’m not good at connections like that,” she said in a low voice.
Didier smiled. “I disagree. I imagine that Osei disagrees too.”
Jamie stood up. “I promised that you’d achieve what you wanted. I know you thought that you wanted to beat your father, but maybe take the weekend to think about whether that’s what you really want.”
Frowning, she stood up. “What do you think I want?”
Smiling, Jamie shrugged. “What we all want. Love.”
She shook her head as she grabbed her things. “Love hasn’t figured high on my list of priorities.”
“Maybe you hadn’t met the right person yet,” Jamie said.
Didier snorted. “It is hard to believe Osei is the right person for anything.”
Jamie ignored the Frenchman, focusing on her. “Don’t tell me that it hasn’t occurred to you that at the most intense time of your life, with the biggest case you’ve had in your estimation, that it’s no small thing that you started dating Danny. You’re a focused person. You wouldn’t allow distraction from your goal. So for you to make time for Danny is a big deal.”
She couldn’t deny it. But saying she was in love with him was going beyond.
“Call on Monday and we’ll give you a pep talk,” Jamie said, putting his arm around her. “But I don’t think you’ll need it.”
“You are close,” Didier said, also standing up. He came and kissed her cheeks three times. “If you are honest, you will have what you want.”