The Presence of Grace (Love and Loss #2)(14)
We stepped out of the gate and walked around to find Grace leaning against the fence surrounding the ride. She was looking down at her phone and I used the moment to take her in. My eyes started at the bottom and worked their way up. Her shapely legs were toned and mostly visible, as she’d worn white shorts. They weren’t indecently short, but they definitely weren’t made to be modest. She wore a dark blue shirt made of some material I imagined was as soft as it was billowy. It was sheer and through it I could see a white tank top with tiny straps. Her dark, shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She had on sunglasses, but before she’d put them on I’d noticed she wasn’t wearing much makeup. Maybe just mascara. She looked fresh and clean.
The whole package was sexy as hell.
She didn’t notice us until we were right in front of her. She gave me another smile and then held her phone up. On the screen was a photo of Jax and me smiling at each other, his horse up higher than mine, him looking down at me. We both looked happy. It occurred to me in that moment that since Olivia passed, there hadn’t been many pictures taken of me with my kids. There was no one around to take them.
“Do you think you could text that to me?” I wanted a copy. I didn’t know what I’d do with it, but I wanted it nevertheless.
“Um, sure,” she said, seeming nervous for some reason, then turned the phone back around to look at the screen. I watched her thumbs moving quickly, then she handed it to me. “Just put your phone number in there.”
Ah-ha. I tried not to smile as I punched in my phone number. “There you go.”
She hit Send and I knew in a few moments I’d feel my phone buzz in my pocket. “Thanks.”
“Dad, look!” I glanced down at Jaxy, who was pointing further into the park. “Pluto!” Sure enough, Pluto was traipsing through the park, only making it a few feet before stopping to hug children and take pictures with tourists. “Can we go meet him? Please?”
“Of course.” I laughed. “That’s why we’re here.” He grabbed my hand and practically dragged me through crowds of people until Pluto was standing right in front of us.
“Pluto!” Jaxy cried as he gave the tall dog one of his running hugs.
I smiled and then noticed Ruby standing next to me, indecision painted across her face. I gave her a nudge. “Go on.” She looked up at me, rolled her eyes, and then slowly walked to join her brother, pretending to be irritated the whole time. When she approached Pluto he took his time with her, used his giant pronounced snout to sniff her out, pressing his nose into the side of her neck, making her laugh, then he pulled her into a hug. I let out a breath when she eagerly wrapped her arms around him in return.
“She’s what? Eleven? You’ve got your work cut out for you,” Grace said to me, taking in the scene with Ruby and Pluto.
“Don’t I know it,” I said with a chuckle. “I think she knows she got the short end of the stick, and she makes sure everyone else knows her life is hard.” I let out a sigh. “I’m hoping it’s a phase. If I’m lucky, by the time she gets to high school she’ll realize that the hardships in life make us stronger, which means we can tackle more, not less.” I looked down at Grace and was struck by her warm eyes. She’d pushed her sunglasses up to rest on top of her head, and her blue eyes were strikingly emotive.
“That’s a really powerful stance to take. Is it how you really feel?” she asked, as quietly as she could and still be heard in Disney World. Her words were soft and hopeful, as if my answer were important to her.
“It has to be,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “After everything we’ve been through, nothing could be that hard again. It should make everything easier, right?” I watched as she considered my words, took them in, pondered them.
“I hope so,” she said with a faint smile, bringing her sunglasses back down to her eyes.
It occurred to me as I watched her try to push back whatever was running through her mind, that perhaps I wasn’t the only one who’d lived through something terrible.
The next few hours were spent following the children through the park. Ruby decided she didn’t hate it there and actually started having a good time. She so rarely let her guard down that it was incredible to watch her laugh and smile unreservedly. My heart lurched at one point when I saw Ruby and Evie holding hands as they walked in front of us. Evelyn had always looked so similar to Olivia, especially from behind. But I was immediately drawn away from the image when Jaxy tugged me toward a food stand.
“I’m hungry, Daddy.”
My watch indicated it was well past lunchtime, so I ruffled his hair and agreed it was time to eat. I called out to Ruby, Evie, and Nate, and we decided to find a table and then divide and conquer the food stands.
Nate offered to hold the table we eventually found and Jax wanted to stay with him. Ruby wanted to go with Evie, so that left Grace and me to bring back lunch for us and Jax.
“You have to let me buy you lunch. It’s bad enough I made you buy your own ticket when you weren’t even going to ride anything,” I said, looking over at Grace, only to see her smiling.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m having a good time.”
“Still…,” I said, unsure of how else to convince her. “Jax wants a hot dog. If you’d like something else, just speak up and we’ll find another place to grab you some lunch.”