Amelia squinted, a smile still peeking just below the surface. “Too hot to walk that far.”
He agreed. “Look, the truth is—I’m sorry the frame freaked you out, but there’s no pressure or obligation with it.” He held up both hands in surrender. “It’s just a frame.”
She sobered. “Felt like more.”
“Put a photo of a rock in it, for all I care. Throw it away. Whatever you want.”
“Really? I can do that?” She quirked an eyebrow, surprised.
“Better than running away every time something stresses you out.” Linc shrugged. “We both gotta be able to say what we think. If you don’t want the frame, say so. Let’s be honest with each other.”
She opened her mouth, and he quickly interjected. “Don’t worry. I’m working on trying to be honest in a nicer way.”
Her mouth snapped shut and she tilted her head. “I can do that. I think.”
“We’re not going to get all of this right—especially me. But just know there’s a bunch of people in that diner who barely know you and already care about you. ” He hesitated. “Including me.”
There. It was out there. She could believe him or not.
Amelia studied him, assessing. He stood still, fighting the urge to cross his arms. He tried to look open. Unintimidating. Unafraid—despite his heart about to pound out of his chest. How could Amelianotknow how much she mattered? And yet he couldn’t tell her the lengths he and Zoey had already gone to for her.
Guess they were just going to have to live it out until she did—together. That part brought comfort, at least. He wasn’t in this alone, and neither was Amelia.
If she’d just believe it.
“So?” He couldn’t bear the silence anymore. “What’s it going to take for you to give me a real chance?”
Amelia tilted her head, hope rising in her expression. She took a tiny step forward, out of the shadows. Her brow arched. “There is maybe one thing you can do…”
Uh-oh. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on the heels of his loafers, working to keep his expression relaxed.
Casual.
Not panicked. “Name it.” He was going to regret this, wasn’t he?
“Help me get my stuff out of the old apartment?”
Oh. He frowned, mind racing with the logistics. They had probably already cleared the space, maybe thrown everything away? There was no telling when the lease technically ended or where the belongings had gone. “Amelia, I don’t know if that’s poss?—”
The disappointment immediately clouding the hope in her eyes snapped his mouth shut. He drew a deep breath, stared down at his shoes. Swallowed against the tight collar of his shirt. This was a problem dads would figure out, wasn’t it? And he was a dad now.
So he’d do it. He’d figure it out.
He looked back at her. “Sure. Of course.”
Relief flooded her young face, and a bit of the hope in her expression wormed its way into his heart. For her, he’d make a way.
He’d figureallof this out.
twelve
The diner lights were turned low, the chairs all flipped up on the tables. From the kitchen behind the counter, a cabinet door slammed as Elisa’s head chef, Lucius, cleaned up in the back for the night.
The party was over. After Linc and Amelia had returned from Amelia’s dramatic exit, everyone left for home, offering one last round of well wishes on their hustle out the door. The cracked frame had subtly been boxed up with everything else, and Zoey had yet to be alone with Linc to hear how the conversation between him and Amelia went.
Now, she contemplated snagging another cupcake from the bakery box Elisa was packing up, but her ceremony dress was decidedly tighter than it had been when she’d gotten ready earlier that afternoon. Probably shouldn’t.
Then again, it wasn’t like she needed to fit into any of the silky unmentionables she’d unwrapped an hour ago.
