Breathing heavily, I brought out my phone to check out the listing. I was curious. Within a year or so, Grace would need her own room, and I couldn’t give up my study completely. I brought enough work home with me to require a home office, and my kitchen was useless. There was no space for a desk in the living room either.
We were approximately fifteen minutes away from the marina, so the houses here should be significantly cheaper.
“Dada, go Unka?” Grace twisted in her seat and peered up at me.
“Soon, love.” I raised my brows as I read the asking price. What the fresh fuck? It was less than what I’d paid for my house six years ago. I knew the proximity to the marina mattered a lot, but Jesus Christ.
This house had four bedrooms and a much bigger backyard, not to mention the kitchen that had a separate dining area.
Did I truly care about being so close to the marina?
I’d put in a lot of work on my own home, and if this was the price range for a house on the outskirts, I was going to make a substantial profit if I moved.
“You know what Daddy likes, Grace?” I wiped some sweat off my forehead and stowed away my phone again. “Making a profit.”
She nodded. “Poff?”
“Yeah, poff.” I smirked and picked up the pace again, and it was decided. I was going to start checking the listings. I also needed to find out what my house was worth these days.
“You go, go, go, Dada!” Grace laughed. “Wheeee!”
I grinned and snorted. She was too fucking precious.
Fuck, suddenly a whole world of possibilities was opening up. Several times a week, I checked my savings and my stock portfolio with discomfort twisting my stomach. I was doing fairly well for a man with my income, and I estimated I could afford to fuck off and live off what I had for maybe four months. But then I’d have to start over from the beginning, and I had no desire to do so. It already worried me that I wasn’t able to set aside more than a hundred bucks a month for Grace. But now, I had the prospect of making tens of thousands of dollars extra just by moving…?
If I’d thought it would be great to see Pipsqueak again, it had nothing on witnessing her reunion with Grace.
I stood there in the hallway of the Quinn residence as Grace sat on my hip and went through a wide range of emotions, starting with shyness and confusion.
“You know Elise, baby.” I touched her cheek as she watched Pipsqueak with a wary expression.
I hadn’t even given Pipsqueak a hug yet, and I was fucking dying to, but we had her parents and Ethan and Lias watching in the background. Watching Grace, watching Elise.
“It’s weird seeing me when I’m not on a screen, huh?” Elise walked closer and stroked a finger along Grace’s arm.
I soaked up the sight of Pipsqueak. Something had changed, and I couldn’t put a finger on it. She’d cut her hair; it didn’t reach her shoulders anymore, but other than that… It was her posture, wasn’t it? How she carried herself. Her beautiful green eyes glistened with tears, and she smiled carefully at Grace, who was thawing slowly.
“You remember her, don’t you?” I murmured.
Mary stepped forward and handed Elise the penguin from our visit to the aquarium last year.
What happened next made even me emotional. With a whispered “boop,” Elise touched the penguin to Grace’s cheek, and my girl started crying and reached for Pipsqueak. She did remember. As soon as she’d left my arms for Elise’s, I had a feeling I wouldn’t see much of Grace for a while.
The confusion in Grace lingered, and I felt bad for her. She was really bawling her eyes out, but it was sweet as hell to see her hugging Elise so tightly.
Elise closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks.
I cleared my throat in my fist and figured they should have some privacy. But first, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Elise’s forehead. “Welcome home, Pipsqueak.”
She smiled but didn’t open her eyes. Then she gave my hand a quick squeeze, and I told her quietly that we’d catch up soon. She nodded and sniffled.
Fucking hell, it felt good to see her again. But yeah, she’d changed. I wanted to stare at her for hours and figure her out all over again. Her face had slimmed slightly. She stood straighter. Her dress looked exactly like the famous one Marilyn Monroe had worn, except Pipsqueak’s was black. I’d always thought there was something incredibly graceful about Elise, and now she was taking it to new heights.
Beautiful didn’t come close to describing her.
I forced myself to leave them behind in the hallway, and Mary shuffled her boys toward the patio where drinks were being served.