“Don't worry, I'll eat these ones,” he promised.

I laughed and stood up, stretching and moving over to his side to inspect the damage. They weren't too burnt, but there would be a definite charred taste to them. “Give them to Emma,” I suggested. “She'll need hers cut up anyway and doused in ketchup, so we'll just cut off the burnt parts and she'll never know the difference. She usually doesn't end up eating much of her burger anyway. She likes the bun and the chips the best. And Janice's pasta salad.”

“Good idea,” Andrew said, already starting to fix a plate for Emma.

“Emma!” I called, waving an arm as she looked back at me. She flounced back over to us, followed by Janice.

“Did you see any dolphins?” Andrew asked.

“No,” Emma said, her face falling for a second. “But I seed the water monster!”

“The water monster?” Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow at Janice, who just smiled at him.

A little while later, we were all fed, and it was starting to get dark. Andrew joined me on my lounge chair and curled into my side as we watched Emma coloring pictures and singing cute, tuneless songs about how much she loved boats and being on the water.

“This is great,” I said to Andrew.

He stirred and blinked, as though his mind had been a million miles away. “It is great,” he agreed, squeezing his arms around me briefly. “And the fireworks are about to go off.”

I hummed in agreement. “I can't remember the last time I came down to see the fireworks,” I admitted. “I didn't want to bring Emma down when she was too young because she used to be really jumpy when it came to loud noises.”

“Emma mentioned that she hadn't seen fireworks before,” Andrew said with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

I frowned at him. “What did you do?”

He laughed, holding up both his hands. “You're getting to know me too well,” he said. “I paid for the fireworks show tonight.”

“You what?” I asked.

“I just wanted to make sure that Emma got the chance to see the very best fireworks show ever. To make this night really special. So, I donated a substantial amount of money to the city council, with the stipulation that it all went into tonight's celebration. And when they weren't sure if they could do that, I added a little extra money and said that they could keep the extra money if the money that I had originally agreed to donate went to the fireworks show tonight.”

I laughed. “Emma has a pretty generous dad, doesn't she?” I commented.

I leaned in to kiss him, appreciating the gesture. It was another of those things that I wouldn't have expected from him. I was pleased to hear that he wanted only the best for our daughter.

I sighed and settled in his arms, watching the evening grow darker. “It's funny how things work out for the best, isn't it?” I asked, thinking of where I'd been a year ago on the fourth of July.

I'd had a seasonal sales job at a local shop that got a lot of tourists in during the summer. I'd hardly had time to spend with Emma, and I'd been exhausted whenever I did have an hour or two of time for her. We hadn't gone to the fireworks because I'd been working late on the fourth. Misty had been watching her.

And now here we were, just a year later, sitting on the yacht of one of the preeminent businessmen in the city and waiting to watch the fireworks

from one of the best seats possible.

“Things always work out for the best, even if you didn't realize this was the way that things were going to work out,” Andrew agreed, watching Emma. He turned back to me. “I'm really glad you're here, in my life.”

“I am too,” I told him softly.

It was on the tip of my tongue to spill that revelation that I'd had earlier, about loving him, rather than merely liking him, but just then, the fireworks began to go off. It was probably for the best anyway. I wasn't sure that either of us were ready for those declarations just yet.

Emma jumped up and squealed as she watched the bright explosions of blue and green and gold as they sparkled across the sky.

“Boom boom!” she yelled, continuing to jump up and down.

Watching her as I sat there in the arms of this wonderful man, I couldn't picture my life getting any better than it already was. In fact, I was happy enough that I could feel tears in my eyes. Tears of joy. I might not have a job, and I might still be dependent on Andrew for everything from food to a place to live, but it felt like we were cobbling together a family, and I'd wanted that more than I had allowed myself to realize.

“Hey,” Andrew said softly, his long fingers coming up to brush away one of my tears as it traced a slow line down my face. “Are you okay?”

“Perfect,” I choked out, laughing. “The fireworks are beautiful.”

Tags: Claire Adams Romance
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