Page 128 of Punishing His Runaway Bride
"We're meeting her at the park."
"Then let's go, let's go!" She grabbed my hand and pulled, nearly tripping over the chair leg.
"Slow down."
"I don't wanna slow down! I wanna see Vivi now!"
She dragged me through the hallway, out the door, toward the car waiting outside. Carmen followed with the rabbit backpack, wearing a helpless smile.
As we drove out of the Upper East Side, Juliet pressed her face against the window, watching the streets fly past, talking nonstop. "Are we there yet? How much longer? Daddy, look, that cloud looks like a rabbit!"
I watched her in the rearview mirror, remembering this time last year. She'd stared at a crying child in a restaurant being comforted by her mother, and when she noticed me looking, she'd turned and smiled at me like she hadn't just been the one feeling envious.
"Daddy!" Juliet's voice pulled me back. "Are we there?"
"Almost."
The park entrance was crowded. I paid for tickets and led Juliet inside. She stood on tiptoes, looking everywhere, the ribbons in her braids fluttering in the wind.
Then she let go of my hand and ran.
"Vivi!"
She crashed into someone's arms.
Olivia stood under a tree by the ticket booth, wearing a white cotton shirt and light blue jeans, hair in a low ponytail with loose strands blowing across her face. She crouched down and caught Juliet, holding her tight.
"Vivi! You came!" Juliet's voice was high and bright, like a freshlyshaken soda ready to fizz over.
"I promised you. Happy birthday, sweetheart." Olivia pulled satin dance shoes from her bag, glittering in the sunlight. "This is for you. I hope you like it."
Juliet took them and threw her arms around Olivia's neck, planting a big kiss on her cheek. "I love it, love it! Love it so much! Thank you, Miss Vivi!"
Olivia smiled with relief, stroking Juliet's head tenderly. She looked up and saw me standing a few steps away. Her expression shifted—brief, like a door opening a crack then slamming shut.
"Morning," I said.
"Morning," she said.
Then neither of us spoke.
Juliet stood between us, grabbing my hand with her left, Olivia's with her right, pulling hard.
"Come on, come on! I wanna ride the carousel!"
When the carousel music started, Juliet sat on a pink horse, gripping the pole, grinning so wide the gap between her front teeth showed. Olivia stood beside her, one hand on Juliet's waist, the other on the candy-colored railing.
I stood outside the fence, watching them.
Sunlight filtered through the tree branches, landing on Olivia's hair—golden, mixing with the loose strands at the end of her ponytail until I couldn't tell where the light ended and she began.
She turned to say something to Juliet. Juliet giggled, and she smiled too—a small upturn of her lips, brief, like something accidentally revealed then quickly hidden.
I stood there watching that smile, feeling something crack inside my chest. Quiet, splitting down the middle, and through that crack poured every late night of the past five years, every sleepless hour, every sweater I'd pulled from the drawer then put back.
"Daddy!" Juliet waved from the carousel. "Look at me!"
I raised my phone and took a picture. In the frame, behind Juliet, was Olivia's profile.
