Page 40

“I think you are going to like it too, Ember,” she said, jumping up and down as she waited for me to open the box.

I lifted the lid, and there in the box was a carved wooden frame, and inside the frame was the picture of Ember and I embracing on the morning of the pancake fight. I looked down at the photo, looking at the two of us together. It had been one of the best mornings I’d had lately. I remembered when Sophie had asked me to have those pictures printed, claiming that she and Ember were going to work on a scrapbook and she needed some pictures. I heard Ember clear her throat, and when I looked over at her, she had tears in her eyes. She smiled at me and then quickly got up from the picnic table and mentioned something about going to the washroom, leaving us before I could say anything.

“I don’t think Ember liked it.” Sophie said, her chin quivering.

“No, Soph. I don’t think that it at all.”

“It isn’t?”

“No.”

She stood there thinking for a minute, “Do you like it, Daddy?”

“I do, very much so.”

She came over, climbed onto my lap.

“I love you, Daddy.” She said pressing a kiss on my cheek and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head while looking at the picture before me.

“This is the best night ever! Did you see I even got you Dubai chocolates?”

I looked down into the box and saw the chocolate bar and the bag of salted caramels.

“They are my favorite.” I said, kissing her again.

“I know. Can I go over to the corn maze?” Sophie asked, pointing toward the maze entrance. “Can I? It’s right there!”

I glanced over my shoulder.

“Alright, go, but stay where I can see you.” I wiped her face with a napkin before she took off.

I shoved another bite of the funnel cake into my mouth and sat there watching Sophie when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Ember standing there. I patted the bench next to me and waited for her to sit down.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I see you survived.” Ember said, reaching over and wiping the powdered sugar off my coat.

“Barely,” I chuckled.

“Nonsense, you’re almost smiling,” she said smiling. “Did you like your gift?”

“I am not almost smiling, and I did like it, but to be honest, all of this,” he said, gesturing to our surroundings, “is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.”

She bumped her shoulder against mine. “Everett, I know you hate to admit it, but you are smiling, and I think you secretly love all of this.”

I looked over at her, the lights from the booths in front of us reflected in her eyes. Her cheeks were pink from the chilly night air, and there was a smear of powdered sugar sitting on her lower lip. I reached over, wiping it away with my thumb.

“Ember?”

“Yes, Everett?”

The moment I heard my name on her lips, I stopped. I sat there, lost in her eyes, thankful she had come into our lives.

“Thank you.”

She leaned against me and rested her head on my shoulder as we watched Sophie across from us in the maze, helping another child from the community separate pumpkin seeds, shrieking with delight as she ran her hands through the insides of a pumpkin.