“You look like someone who fixes things,” Chloe added, pointing to Emily’s sketchbook and the pastry display. “You draw houses and make cookies that make people feel better. So you’re coming with us to bring him dinner.”
The idea sounded ridiculous.
Yet as Emily looked at the hopeful faces in front of her, she felt something she hadn’t felt in years: purpose.
Twenty minutes later, she was driving toward the river with a picnic basket prepared by Mrs. Margaret and two energetic twins chatting in the back seat.
When they arrived, bright construction lights illuminated the steel skeleton of a massive riverside building. Even unfinished, it stirred Emily’s long-buried architectural passion.
“There he is,” Lily whispered.
A tall man stood nearby studying blueprints, exhaustion written in his posture. Beside him stood an elegant woman in a sharp suit speaking impatiently while tapping on a tablet.
“That’s Victoria,” Chloe whispered with obvious dislike. “She wants to marry Dad. But she’s mean. She says kids should be seen and not heard.”
Before Emily could respond, the girls ran across the site.
“Daddy!”
Michael turned around immediately, panic flashing across his face as he saw his daughters running through the construction area. He knelt just in time to catch them.
“Lily! Chloe! What are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“We brought your date,” Lily announced proudly, pointing toward Emily.
Michael looked up.
Their eyes met.
For a moment the noise of machinery seemed to fade away.
“I’m so sorry,” Emily said shyly as she approached. “They came to the café and insisted you needed dinner.”
Victoria let out a sharp laugh.
“So now your daughters are bringing strangers to the construction site? Michael, this is ridiculous. We have structural problems in the west wing and you’re having a picnic with… a bakery employee.”
Emily’s cheeks burned.
“I’m sorry. I’ll just leave the food and go.”
“No,” Michael said firmly.
“You’re not leaving. This woman kindly brought me dinner and looked after my daughters. That’s more consideration than I’ve received all evening.”
Then he looked back at Emily, and for the first time his smile reached his eyes.
“And honestly, I’m starving. Those cookies smell amazing. Would you join us?”
The strangest “date” of Emily’s life followed.
They sat on wooden crates under construction lights, sharing sandwiches and soup while the twins drew pictures nearby.