The New Year's Wish (5 page)

SIX

G
ARRETT PAUSED
AS A
knock sounded at the front door.
That's strange. Who could that be?
“Go ahead and turn on the channel for the parade. I'll be right in.”

Gracie scampered off into the living room and Garrett opened the door.

“Happy Thanksgiving.” Olivia gave a small wave.

“Olivia? Hi. Happy Thanksgiving.”

She stood on the stoop, wringing her hands.

“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“I . . . um . . . uh . . .”

“Come on in.” He stepped back and placed a hand on her lower back as he ushered her through the door.

“Livvie.” Gracie ran into the foyer and threw her arms around Olivia's legs.

Olivia smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes this time as it usually did while playing with Gracie. “Happy Thanksgiving, Gracie.”

“Happy Thanksgiving. Are you staying for dinner?”

“Okay, okay, that's enough.” Garrett disentangled his daughter from his assistant and set her back. He laughed. “Let her walk, Gracie.”

Gracie took Olivia's hand and guided her into the kitchen.

“Mmmm . . . it smells so good in here.”

Garrett tried to guide Gracie toward the living room. “Why don't you go see if the parade's started yet, Gracie?”

Gracie ducked away from his grip, hopped up onto a stool at the breakfast bar, and began to swivel back and forth. “It doesn't start for another hour.”

“Well . . .” He paused, unsure what errand he could send her on while not wanting to hurt her feelings by chasing her away.

“It's okay, Garrett. I um . . . I just needed to tell you something.” Olivia looked at her hands.

The thought that she might quit flickered through his mind, and he was surprised to realize how much the idea upset him. He held his breath and waited.

“I forgot to drop your shirt off at the cleaners.” She winced. “And then I tried to wash it, and it got ruined.” She held up the crumpled wad of material as evidence, looking at him with huge, mournful eyes. “I'm so sorry. I found a store open. I figured if you come with me, I'll buy you a new shirt. I know you were planning to wear it today.” She stopped, seeming deflated, still holding the shirt out. “I feel so bad. I'm sorry.”

Garrett stared at her. He studied her as she bit furiously on her bottom lip.

Gracie laughed. It started as a small chuckle, as if she were unsure of what the crisis was, but then escalated into a full-on belly laugh. Garrett couldn't help it. Relief poured through him, and a laugh erupted out of nowhere before he could stifle it. Gracie clutched her stomach. Garrett laughed harder. Olivia lifted her eyes and gaped at the two of them as if they were crazy.

“Olivia.” He gasped, struggling valiantly to get himself under control. “I'm sorry.” He held his palms up toward her and heaved in a deep breath.

Gracie had control for a brief moment but then burst into another fit of giggles.

“Olivia, I have other shirts. It's okay. I liked that one and wanted to wear it today, but it's really not that big a deal.” He tried to ignore the intense range of feelings the thought of her quitting had provoked, shoving them stubbornly aside to examine at some other time. Or, more likely, not at all.

“It seemed like a big deal to you yesterday.” Her eyebrows plunged into a scowl.

“I apologize. Everything was a big deal to me yesterday. I was having a hard time getting through the files, and I had . . . a lot on my mind.” He didn't want to get into particulars: he'd misplaced an important file, had an argument with a client, and was under pressure from the Harrises for answers to every ridiculous question they dreamed up five minutes before they thought of it. The last thing he needed today was to relive that kind of stress.

A small smile played at the corners of her mouth, ruining the effect of the scowl she held firmly in place. “You mean I got up at three in the morning to try and do something with that shirt so you wouldn't have to go to Thanksgiving dinner half naked, and it doesn't even matter?”

He grinned and shrugged, gracefully changing the subject. “So . . . what are your plans for today?”

She held his gaze a moment longer, but then let it go with a laugh. “Well, I was planning to take you to Davenport's to replace your shirt. It's only a block over from the Macy's Parade route, and I thought Gracie might like to come with us and watch the parade.”

A squeal pierced Garrett's brain. “Oh, can we Daddy? Can we? Please?” Gracie jumped from the stool and flung herself into his arms. She kept her arms tightly around his neck as she turned to look over her shoulder at Olivia. “I watch the parade on TV every year, but I've never seen it in real life.” Gracie turned her attention back to Garrett. She looked him squarely in the eyes. “You know what, Dad?”

He sighed, already knowing he was going to give in. “What, Gracie?”

“If you ruin something of someone's, you really should fix it or get them a new one.”

“Oh, you should, should you? And who told you that?” He looked over Gracie's shoulder at Olivia and winked.

She peered at him from beneath her lashes and smiled back, and his gut clenched. He forced his attention back to Gracie.

“Miss Carmichael said so. When Jenny broke John's project on purpose, she said Jenny really should fix it or make him a new one. She said that's good character.” She nodded for emphasis, her expression serious.

Garrett hugged her tight, holding her close for an extra few seconds, inhaling the scent of baby shampoo and contemplating the fact his daughter was growing up so fast. She squirmed out of his arms too soon, and he reluctantly released her.

“Well, I guess we wouldn't want to do anything to hurt Olivia's good character, would we?”

Gracie clasped her hands together beneath her chin, her eyes wide with hope, as she shook her head and waited.

“Go get your coat.”

“Yay!” She ran from the room.

Garrett glanced at his watch. “Will we be able to make it in time?”

Olivia laughed, her eyes now filled with the delight he'd come to enjoy when she played with his daughter. “We will if we go to the end of the parade route and don't stop at Davenport's until after. Have you been to the parade before?”

“Um . . . no. We moved here after Thanksgiving last year, and before that I'd never been to New York.” He pulled out a stool and gestured for her to sit, then moved to sit across the table from her.

“How did you end up in New York?”

A painful memory tugged at him, but he ignored it. Stephanie was no longer important enough in his life to hurt him, but that didn't change the fact that her betrayal had hurt. He blew out a breath. “I was the head of a large investment firm in Florida. There were some . . . problems with one of our employees stealing. By the time we figured out what was going on, a lot of money had been embezzled. The members of the board decided I should have been more on top of things, and they let me go.” He shrugged. “I moved around for a couple of years, but it was hard to find decent work and still take care of Gracie, especially before she started school. Then, last year, I met Mr. Harris at a party. We talked for a while, and he offered me a position at Harris and Harris. So, here I am.”

“Florida, huh?” Olivia smiled.

“Yup.”

“So . . . that's where you got that southern accent.” She grinned.

He couldn't help but laugh.

“Ready, guys.” Gracie tore back into the room.

Garrett checked the turkey, glanced at the clock, and went to grab his jacket. “Okay. Let's go. I can leave the turkey cooking, but I have to get back in time to make the rest of the dinner.” Olivia took Gracie's hand, and they followed him out as he locked the front door. “What are you doing for dinner, Olivia?”

She shrugged. “My parents had a political event to attend, and I'm supposed to meet them for dinner there, but I was thinking of skipping out on it.”

Garrett sensed her unease but didn't press it. “Well, you're welcome to come for dinner if you don't mind my parents, five siblings, and all of their children.”

Olivia's laugh seeped through him, warming him against the chill in the air. “That sounds far more appealing than my father's formal dinner.” She looked over Gracie's head at him and smiled. “I'd love to come.”

His heart stuttered. He quickly pulled his gaze away. There had been something about her from the day he met her, something he couldn't quite put his finger on that attracted him. At the time, he figured it was her looks. She was so delicate, with that mop of streaked blond and brown hair that he desperately wanted to slide his fingers into and those big blue eyes he got lost in every time he looked at her.

It was so much more than that, though. It was the suggestive way she waggled her eyebrows at him when she was playing around, the smile she always held firmly in place, and the tender way she interacted with Gracie. There was so much about her to love.
Love? Where did that come from?
He shook off the thoughts and tuned back into the happy conversation between Olivia and Gracie.

“And Dad's taking me to Times Square to see the ball drop this year. He couldn't take me last year, but this year he promised.”

Olivia looked at him, her brows drawn together in confusion. He discreetly shook his head, praying she wouldn't say anything to Gracie just yet. He knew he was going to have to tell her he had to go to the Harrises' New Year's Eve party, but he didn't want her Thanksgiving to be ruined. He'd tell her soon.

Olivia's eyes filled with sympathy before she turned her attention back to Gracie's babbling.

He studied Olivia, her cheeks flushed with the cold, her eyes wide with excitement. His feelings for her were getting stronger, there was no denying it.
Too bad I'll never be able to act on them.

“DID YOU HAVE A
good time today?” Garrett took the dish Gracie held out to him.

She took another from the dishwasher and handed it to him. “I had the best time ever. It was awesome.”

He smiled at her. She looked exhausted, but she fought going to bed. She said she wanted to stay awake and share some special time with him. “Why don't I finish up here, and you can go get the pillows and blankets and put them on the couch. When you're done, come back and we'll make the popcorn together.” He didn't even know how she was still standing upright.

“Sure, Daddy, but I get to pick the movie tonight.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “You bet, sugar.”

She skipped from the room. She'd be asleep two minutes after she settled in for the movie.

They'd found a fairly quiet spot to watch the parade, but still hadn't been able to see much through the crowd. Gracie had bounced up and down on his shoulders, though, thrilled beyond belief to see the giant balloons and hear the music.

He put the last of the dishes away.

Olivia had gotten along so well with his family. Kids seemed drawn to her, and it was quite obvious she loved being with them.

“Okay. Everything's ready, Daddy.”

“I'll be done here in one more minute.” Gracie stood beside him, and he lifted her onto the counter. She sat with her feet dangling over the side, while he got their snacks and drinks.

“Dad?”

He paused with the refrigerator door open and looked over his shoulder. “Yes?”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Uh . . . oh.

“Is Livvie your girlfriend?”

He blew out a breath and let the door fall closed. “No. She's a friend from work. You know that, Grace.”

“Oh.” Her disappointment beat at him.

He poured them each a glass of milk and returned the carton to the fridge.

“I like her.”

“I like her, too, Gracie.”

“So why isn't she your girlfriend?”

Frustration started to creep in, and he worked to keep it from his tone. “She's just not. We're friends.”

“Don't you want to have a girlfriend?” She looked at him hopefully.

“Gracie, I don't have time for a girlfriend.” Not to mention the fact he didn't trust anyone anymore. Stephanie's involvement with the man who'd been embezzling from the company in Florida had seen to that. Had it not been her father's company, she'd have had a lot more explaining to do, and he probably wouldn't have been fired. He pushed the thoughts aside. It didn't matter anymore. He was happy now and so was Gracie, and that was all that mattered.

“—come for Christmas, too?”

“What?” His thoughts had strayed too far and he'd lost track of the conversation.

“I said, is Livvie coming for Christmas, too?” She blew her bangs off her forehead in a far too mature gesture of frustration.