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.”
Andrew stared down at me for a long moment, his palm cupping my cheek. “So are you,” he said, and it should have been cheesy, but somehow it wasn't.
He kissed me, and I felt my heart swell with happiness. I wished that things could stay like this, forever. Just us, our family, there on the yacht, watching fireworks in the warm evening twilight. I was pretty sure that I'd never been so happy before in my life, and I wanted to hang on to it.
Andrew pulled back, breaking the kiss, but he continued to hold me close as we returned to watching the fireworks and our daughter's delighted antics.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Andrew
I couldn't help whistling as I headed out to my car that evening. We were on track to pull in record profits that quarter at Orinoco, and I'd had a couple afternoon meetings that day which had gone exceedingly well. Couple that with a few great days off the previous weekend, where Lexi and I had taken Emma camping for the first time, and I was really starting to realize how great my life was.
That was, until I got close to my car, one of the last ones in the parking lot that evening because I did have to work late some nights, and saw someone lurking there waiting for me.
I immediately pulled out my phone, planning to call security. It could just be one of my coworkers wanting to discuss one last detail before we headed home for the day, but I doubted it. It could also be someone having trouble with their car and needing help getting home for the night. But I doubted they'd be waiting here for me if that were the case. They'd be more likely to wait by the exit to the building.
Whoever it was, they were there waiting for me specifically. And I feared it meant they might try to mug me, or even kidnap me and ransom me.
Or worse, that they've kidnapped Emma and Lexi and are looking for you to pay to find out where they were, I thought.