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Yet today, he just felt exhausted.
After the ice cream dinner, he’d taken Grace home, gotten her cleaned up, and dressed her in one of his T-shirts, which had been comically oversized. The social worker had assured him that a suitcase of Grace’s clothes and toys would arrive soon, but for now, Liam had absolutely no clothes in her size.
Once she was clean and fed, Liam had tucked Grace into the bed in his guestroom. She’d looked impossibly tiny in the queen-size bed, with the pillows almost as large as she was. Liam had tucked her in, wished her goodnight, and turned off the lights.
That’s when Grace had started to cry, inconsolably. Liam’s heart had broken for the child, but he’d felt completely out of his league trying to comfort her. Finally, he’d found a very soft washcloth, wrapped it around a second cloth, and drawn a smiley face on the front. It looked more than a little strange, but Grace had hugged it close and finally drifted off to sleep.
Now, after only a few hours of sleep, Liam was back up, trying to take advantage of the time Grace was sleeping to get some work done. And by work he meant trying to sort out her care. After less than twenty-four hours as a father, it was already abundantly clear to Liam that he was going to need help. A lot of help. In the short term, he needed a full-time live-in nanny — yesterday.
Liam browsed the website he’d found with profiles of nannies looking for work. They ranged in age from college students to grandmothers and looked universally sweet and confident and helpful. Yet none of them jumped out to Liam. He couldn’t be the best parent to Grace, but he could at least hire the best. And none of these nannies felt like the best.
Liam clicked on one promising-looking profile. Just as he was starting to read, though, his phone began to buzz. He was surprised — it was still quite early in the morning for anyone to be calling him.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Liam.” It was Ryan, his assistant. “Is this a good time?”
Liam glanced at his watch. It was barely six thirty.
“Sure. Go for it.”
“Well, I wanted you to know first that some rumors were flying around the office yesterday afternoon, after you showed up with a young girl who looked a lot like you.” Ryan hesitated, and Liam could tell that this was going to be another awkward conversation that neither of them wanted to have. “There were a few questions being asked about where she came from — and perhaps some implications that she might be, um, a ‘secret child.’”
Liam sighed. “I appreciate you telling me, but I’m not too concerned with office gossip at the moment. This will all blow over in a few days when something more interesting happens.”
“I hope so.” Ryan hesitated again.
“You can tell me.”
“Well, your CFO reached out to ask if he should handle the meeting with Stanley Jefferson next week, in light of the rumors. He’s worried that if you don’t paint a picture of a happy, conventional family, it might scare Stanley off.”
Liam rubbed his temples. He’d been away from the office for only part of an afternoon, and already rumors were flying. But worse than that, Liam’s CFO, a generally balanced and intelligent guy, probably had a point when it came to Stanley Jefferson.
Because of the structure of Lilypad Learning, the company relied on a small number of loyal investors and venture capitalists. And because Lilypad Learning catered to children, many of those investors were particularly family- and children-oriented. Stanley Jefferson was both one of Liam’s major investors and an old-school family man with children of his own. At their last meeting a few months ago, Stanley had pointed out how strange it was that the CEO of an edtech company didn’t have children of his own. But if Stanley found out that Liam had a young child he hadn’t even known about… it might signal the end of Stanley’s cooperation with Lilypad Learning.
“I appreciate you mentioning this, Ryan. What did you tell him?”
“Just that I’d speak with you and get back to him.”
“Please let him know that I’ll handle the meeting myself. I’ll figure out how to present my… new situation… beforehand. Goodbye, Ryan.”
Liam hung up and rested his forehead against the cool wood of his desk. He’d been so caught up in how suddenly being a father affected him that he hadn’t even considered the impact on his business. Liam wasn’t sure what to do. Sure, he could just not mention Grace and hope Stanley wouldn’t find out, but the events of the last day had shown that rumors were quick to start in the tight-knit circles of San Francisco’s investment community. Chances were high that Stanley would find out, one way or another. And chances were even higher that he’d pull his funding if he did. If Stanley pulled out, other investors would follow, and the company Liam had poured most of the last decade of his life into would go under.
Liam pounded his head lightly against the desk. He needed a plan, and fast. The first thought that popped into his head was to hide Grace, but he immediately dismissed it with a wave of guilt. The little girl had already been through so much. Liam couldn’t send her away or try to hide her. He needed to give her every opportunity he could.
So, what should he do instead? He could present himself as a single father by choice, but his more conservative investors, like Stanley, might not go for that. Plus, there was still the issue of why no one had ever seen Grace before.
What Liam needed was a wife. The realization came to him as clearly and suddenly as a bolt of lightning. Liam needed a woman who would complete the picture of a happy, well-adjusted family. With a wife by his side, the rumors would pass — and the issue of Grace’s care would be resolved.
Of course, going out dating wasn’t going to yield the results Liam needed fast enough. Plus, he had no real interest in being married. Liam’s first priority was his job and it always would be, which wouldn’t be fair to any woman in his life. On top of that, he had just never felt that spark of romantic love for anyone — and he probably never would.
No, what he needed was a wife by contract. If he could hire a woman to marry him, even just for a year or two, it would solve all his problems. In time, they could stage a divorce. Stanley might not love the idea of a divorced father, either, but at least this plan would kick the problem a few years down the road. By then, Liam could figure out a more permanent solution.
Just where was he supposed to find a fake wife, though? His mind raced for a few long moments, before a sudden bolt of clarity struck him. Liam sat up straighter, feeling optimistic for the first time this morning. The woman by the ice cream shop. Amelia.
It was absurd to plan on marrying someone from one brief meeting, but Liam didn’t exactly have time to weigh out his choices. And Amelia had been caring, firm, and engaging with her nieces and nephews, which was exactly what Liam wanted for Grace. An image of Amelia hugging Jamie after he’d spilled his ice cream flashed through Liam’s mind. Her expression had been so full of love, and the little boy had been so quickly comforted. Yes, that was what Grace needed.
Liam wasn’t sure that Amelia would agree to marry him — in fact, it would be very strange if she did. Yet there was a chance. Amelia clearly cared for children, and Liam was ready to offer her almost any amount to get her help on this. Money wasn’t a factor.
