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“Thank you. I really appreciate that.”
“Hey, I appreciate you letting me be a part of Grace’s life. She really is special.”
“She is, isn’t she?” They both watched Grace watch the penguins for a long moment. “And so are you.”
“Hmm?” The compliment caught Amelia off guard.
“You’re special. Not everyone can be as patient and as creative as you. I’m certainly not.”
“You have other strengths. I’d be lost doing what you do. I can’t imagine how you can be in charge of running a company without becoming overwhelmed.”
“Business is easy.” Liam shrugged. “There are rules. Getting a lower price is good. Selling something for a higher price is good. Reaching a new demographic is good. It’s easy to know when you’re doing the right thing or the wrong thing. It’s not so easy with kids.”
“It’ll come to you.” Amelia nudged Liam again, just to feel the warmth of his skin. “I’m sure you weren’t this good at business when you first started. Or were you?”
Liam chuckled. “I wouldn’t say so. My first job was a paper route. I figured out that I could almost double my income by taking two paper routes and hiring another kid to do the second route at a lower fee. But the second kid figured out that he’d get paid more by going straight to the paper company, and I ended up trying to manage both routes myself — which I couldn’t do well. It was a mess.”
“Your first job was a paper route?” Amelia chuckled. “How old are you?”
“Hey! I’m thirty-two. But the town I grew up in, Forest Grove, Illinois, still delivers a printed paper almost every day, as far as I know.”
“You grew up in Illinois?”
“Yes.” Liam got that shifty look again that showed he didn’t want to go into details.
“It’s hard to imagine you as a small-town boy.”
“It wasn’t a good fit.”
More pieces of the Liam puzzle were starting to click together. It seemed he’d grown up without a lot of money, based on his paper-route story and the fact that he’d chosen his college based on the scholarships. Perhaps that was why Liam was so obsessed with his business. Amelia could understand that.
She still couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been involved with his daughter until now, but she wasn’t about to bring that up.
Just then, Grace came running back towards them. Her blue eyes were lit with joy.
“Pengin jump!” she explained excitedly. “Pengin swim. Sooo fast.” She took Amelia’s hand and tugged her towards the penguin exhibit. Amelia gave Liam an apologetic shrug and let herself be pulled. Her heart warmed, though, when Grace reached for Liam’s hand as well and tugged him to the glass enclosure.
“Pengin!” Grace announced happily. Amelia and Liam caught each other’s eyes and grinned.
The rest of the day went more smoothly, at least for the most part. They walked around the zoo, Grace often holding both their hands, spotting animals. Grace got to see her beloved elephants at last and stood for nearly ten minutes in perfect stillness, just staring as a baby elephant romped around the enclosure.
After that, they enjoyed lunch at the zoo’s restaurant. Amelia and Liam each got a sandwich, while Grace was over the moon about her special lunch of chicken fingers and French fries. Then they burned off a little energy at a large animal-habitat-themed playground.
“Offer to push her on the swings,” Amelia suggested when Liam hung back. Thus followed a fun several minutes of Grace whooshing back and forth on a baby swing, Liam pushing her in the front, Amelia in the back. Grace’s sweet baby laughter rang out across the playground. Amelia tried not to think about how similar this scene was to her dream.
After the playground, they walked around more. Amelia soaked in every moment of the day, from Grace’s excitement at seeing her storybook animals come to life to Liam’s growing confidence. As evening came on, though, Grace began to drag her feet and yawn hugely.
“It’s about time to go home,” Amelia said, nodding to the tired child. Just then, Grace walked to Liam and held up her arms.
“Up.”
Liam looked at Amelia, as if needing confirmation of what to do. Amelia nodded encouragingly and Liam reached down and picked up his daughter. Grace nestled into his shoulder, and her eyes drifted shut. By the time they walked out of the zoo, Grace was sound asleep.
Amelia’s heart almost melted at the sight of Grace’s blond head tucked into the crook of Liam’s shoulder. And her heart almost melted again when Liam caught her eye.
“Is she sleeping?” he asked in a whisper.
“Yes, she is.”
