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Amelia took Jamie’s hand, which was still sticky despite two hand washings with soap, and resettled Jade on her hip. They were approaching Amelia’s sister Katie’s house. Amelia had already dropped off Ben and the twins with their respective parents, so this was her last stop of the day. After seeing Katie, Amelia planned to relax with a nice long bath and try to forget that she might have an enormous dry-cleaning bill coming her way.
Katie opened the door with a big smile. She was still dressed in her usual office wardrobe of slacks and a blouse, which made Amelia feel a little out of place in her more relaxed jeans and T-shirt. She missed those days of professional clothes and office lunches, as much as she was happy to have more free time now.
“Amelia!” Katie held out her arms for Jade, who was yawning and clearly ready for a rest. Amelia handed her over. “And there’s my Jamie. Want to come in for a bit?”
“Sure. Unemployed people don’t have a lot of plans.” Amelia winked to show she was joking, but Katie shook her head.
“Hey. You’re not unemployed. You’re taking a well-deserved break. And as soon as you’re ready to get back in the game, you let me know.” Katie had mentioned having professional contacts who could help Amelia get back to work, but Amelia couldn’t bring herself to follow up yet.
“I know, I know. Anyway, I’d love to come in.”
She helped her sister get Jamie and Jade’s shoes off. Katie disappeared into another room to put little Jade down for an afternoon nap, set Jamie up with a plastic race-car track, then joined Amelia in the living room with a glass of lemonade each. Seeing her sister with her kids gave Amelia another maternal pang. Too bad she was no closer to kids of her own than to another job.
“How were the little rascals today?” Katie asked, taking a sip of her lemonade.
“They were great. Although little Jamie here managed to get himself into a bit of a scrape.”
“Oh?”
“We were leaving the store, and Jamie accidentally smeared ice cream all over this guy’s suit. Of course, Jamie was immediately near tears, and the guy, a total businessman type, was more than a little annoyed by his new fashion statement.”
Katie burst into laughter. “That sounds like our Jamie. He can never watch where he’s going. Was the businessman cute?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Amelia felt abnormally flustered by the question.
“Nothing, nothing.” Katie waved her hand. “Just, you know, if this were a rom-com, that would totally be a meet-cute.”
Amelia burst into laughter. “It was no meet-cute, that’s for sure. The guy was cute, and I met him, but he was also very unimpressed with my child-management skills. I can’t blame him for that, since he was wearing half a cone of strawberry ice cream at the time.”
“But he was cute?”
Amelia thought back to Liam. He had been cute, as she’d noticed at the time. No, cute wasn’t the right word. Cute was a word for babies and animals and sweet guys. Liam was much more than cute.
“Yes. I suppose. But he also knew he was attractive. He’s definitely one of those guys who can get any girl he wants. Plus, even if he were interested in me, I wouldn’t be interested in him. I have way too much on my plate for romance.”
“I’m not so sure.” Katie looked thoughtful. “You’ve put friendship and love and a social life on hold for years to pursue your career. Maybe you should take advantage of this break in your career to pursue some of your other goals.”
“It’s not a bad idea.” Amelia sighed. “But to be honest, I don’t think this break is going to last much longer. I hate burning through my savings like this. I think it’s time for me to start looking for a steady source of income again.”
“Just be careful,” Katie warned. “I saw how much Shondyn took over your life. The kids and I barely saw you for almost a decade. Don’t accept another job that will take over your whole heart.”
“I don’t think there’s another job in existence that will take over my whole heart.” Amelia shook her head decisively. “I learned my lesson. I’ll keep my professional and personal lives separate from here on out.”
“Cheers to that.” Katie raised her glass. “Whatever you want to do, career or family, just know that I’ll support you one hundred percent. As long as you’re smart about it.”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “I’m twenty-nine. As much as I appreciate the big-sister wisdom, I think I can handle my own life.”
“Sure.” But Katie didn’t look entirely convinced. Amelia took another sip of her lemonade and grinned. She would show her siblings that she could have a work-life balance. She was fairly sure that it was true.
Whether or not she was about to get a multiple-hundred-dollar dry-cleaning bill that would send her running to the nearest company with an HR vacancy was a separate question entirely.
CHAPTER 4
LIAM
“Grace.” Liam tried to give a friendly smile to the little girl across the table. “Don’t you want to eat anything?”
Grace shook her head. Her blue eyes, so like his own, were filled with tears. In front of her sat a plate of all the kid-friendly items Liam had been able to scrounge up from his kitchen: mac and cheese from a box, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, some crackers, a glass of milk, and half a banana. So far, Grace hadn’t touched her dinner at all.
