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“Do you want something else?” Liam asked. Grace shook her head again and crossed her small arms over her tiny chest. Liam took a deep breath to steady himself.
“Just have a little sip of milk and a bite of banana. Okay?”
Grace shook her head. Liam wanted to bang his own head on the table. How was it that he could run a multi-billion-dollar company with ease, yet he couldn’t get a two-year-old to eat a single bite of dinner?
He couldn’t get Grace to do anything at all, really. After meeting her in the park, he’d taken her back to the office with him. Liam knew he needed to at least pick up some work to take home and do in the evening — it had been a packed day already and had been completely derailed by the unexpected arrival of the child. He’d set her down on the big armchair in his office, then started gathering his laptop and a few documents. Grace had immediately slithered onto the floor, crawled under his desk, and grabbed on to the leg of his chair. Liam had spent the next twenty minutes trying to coax her out.
He’d gotten more than a few funny looks escorting little Grace out of the office, but he hadn’t stopped to talk to anyone. On the way home, Grace walked for about a minute, then bent down to examine a dandelion poking up through a crack in the pavement and refused to move until Liam had gently taken her hand.
Then the little girl had burst into tears. Liam, shocked and worried about how it would look for him to cart a screaming toddler down the street, had put her back down and let Grace stare at the flower for a full five minutes before trying again.
Now that they were home, he felt equally clueless. Liam didn’t have any toddler clothes or toys; nor did he have any food that the child would eat. But he couldn’t just let her go hungry, either.
“How about a bite of the mac and cheese?” Liam asked. He leaned over with a spoon and took a bite. “Yummy, yummy!” His voice sounded fake and overly cheerful even to his own ears. As expected, Grace shook her head.
Liam had no way of knowing when she’d last eaten. What if skipping this meal would have some dire consequences? She was so small. She needed to eat.
Two-year-olds did eat regular food, didn’t they? Maybe he should have picked up a few jars of baby food or something. Or formula?
Then, with a stroke of inspiration, Liam remembered the woman from the ice cream store. Amelia. Her nephew, Jamie, had been just a little bigger than Grace, and he’d been happily eating ice cream. It wasn’t the healthiest option, that was for sure, but it seemed better to get Grace fed than to worry about how healthy the food was.
“How about some ice cream?” Liam suggested. He tried to make his tone light and excited without showing any of the worry he was feeling.
For the first time, Grace sat up a little straighter. She lifted her intense blue eyes to Liam inquisitively, as if checking to see whether he was serious about the ice cream offer. She still didn’t say anything, but Liam could tell that she was interested.
“Okay. Come on. Let’s get your shoes back on.”
Grace slid obediently out of her chair, which Liam had padded with a large pillow so that she could reach the table. She landed easily and started for the door. Liam saw that her walk was less the toddle of a baby and more the confident stride of a young child. If only he knew more about what Grace should be able to do at her age of… he calculated in his mind… two years and six months.
Grace sat down on the floor of the entryway and held up one of her feet. Clearly, she needed some help getting her shoe on. Liam knelt down, feeling his inflexibility as he tried to bend, and helped her slide her tiny pink loafer onto her even smaller foot. Once he had his own shoes on, he led the way into the fresh air outside.
There was an ice cream store just a block or two away. Liam had never eaten there — he didn’t care for ice cream in his stomach much more than he did ice cream on his suit. But he was grateful that he’d noticed the store was there so that he was ready for today.
At the store, Liam looked down at Grace, who had lifted her small hands to press against the glass case of the display.
“What flavor would you like?” Liam asked. Then he realized the futility of the question. Grace hadn’t spoken yet. She probably wasn’t going to now.
Sure enough, the little girl didn’t speak. She just lifted one hand to point.
“Strawberry?”
Grace nodded.
Liam got her a cone of strawberry ice cream and led them both to a bench outside. It overlooked a small urban park, where businesspeople were walking dogs after work, and families were enjoying strolls. Grace clambered onto the bench, almost losing control of her ice cream, and finally, wonderfully, began to eat. Liam felt a sigh of relief escape him.
Ten minutes later, the relief was still there, but it was more than a little subdued. Little Grace had managed to smear strawberry ice cream all over her hands, her face, her dress, and Liam’s shirt. For the second time that day, he was covered in pink ice cream.
Despite himself, Liam couldn’t help chuckling. Earlier today, he’d judged Amelia for letting her nephew get ice cream on his suit, while she’d been expertly juggling five kids. Now, the exact same thing had happened under Liam’s own watch, with only one kid in the picture. He really owed Amelia an apology for what he’d said.
Perhaps he should call her. He could apologize and, maybe, Amelia could offer some tips on what two-year-olds were supposed to eat and do. Maybe she could even recommend a good nanny.
Liam reached for the piece of paper on which Amelia had written her contact information. It was still in his pocket. But before he could get it out, Grace slid off the bench and hurried off in the direction of a small play area. Liam rushed after her, all thoughts of Amelia momentarily replaced with making sure the little girl was safe and, preferably, not covered in ice cream and dirt.
CHAPTER 5
LIAM
The next morning, Liam set his alarm for five a.m. It had been a few years since he’d forced himself to get up this early, but when he was just starting out, waking up before everyone else and getting a chunk of work done before the workday even started had been his routine. Liam’s ability to grind hard, running on coffee and ambition, was something he was exceptionally proud of and which had helped him immensely to get where he was today.
