The next afternoon, Sophia stood outside a door above Morrison’s garage, wearing jeans and a sweater instead of her usual designer armor, holding a bag of art supplies she’d grabbed from an overpriced craft store, more nervous than she’d been for any investor meeting in her life. Jake opened the door and his whole face lit up when he saw her. And then a tiny tornado in reindeer pajamas came flying past him screaming at a pitch only dogs should be able to hear, “Daddy, there’s a princess at the door!”
Lily’s eyes were huge, her missing front tooth making her look even more adorable, and Sophia started laughing. “Not a princess, sweetheart. I’m Sophia.” Lily’s jaw literally dropped. “You’re Sophia Lauron from the magazine. Daddy, she’s famous.” She grabbed Sophia’s hand and dragged her inside before anyone could say another word.
And the apartment was small but warm and decorated for Christmas with obvious care, the kind of home that had love baked into every corner. Lily pulled out a shoebox overflowing with drawings, and Sophia sat on the floor in her designer jeans and went through each one genuinely impressed because this kid had talent. Real talent. The kind of eye for proportion and flow that couldn’t be taught. “These are incredible, Lily. Have you ever tried draping fabric?”
Lily shook her head, confused, and Sophia grinned. “Watch this.” She grabbed a bedsheet and showed Lily how to drape it over a chair to create different silhouettes. And within minutes they were both on the floor giggling and creating makeshift fashion designs. Jake watched from the kitchen doorway with hot chocolate mugs in his hands and his heart doing things it hadn’t done since Sarah died. Because Sophia was sitting on his floor in hundred-dollar jeans teaching his daughter about fashion design and looking more relaxed and happy than she’d looked in any of the put-together photos he’d found when he Googled her last night.
“You’re good with her,” he said, handing Sophia a mug covered in whipped cream. Sophia looked up at him and smiled. “She makes it easy.” They spent the afternoon like that, the three of them, and it felt weirdly natural, like they’d been doing this forever. And when Lily climbed into Sophia’s lap to show her a particularly complicated dress sketch, Sophia felt something in her chest crack open that she’d kept locked up tight for two years.
“Are you Daddy’s girlfriend?” Lily asked with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and Sophia choked on her hot chocolate while Jake turned bright red. “Lily, we just met. You can’t just ask people that.” Lily looked between them with a six-year-old’s brutal honesty. “But you like her. I can tell. You smile different.” Jake opened his mouth to deny it, but Sophia was laughing. And Lily kept going. “And Daddy needs someone nice because he’s been sad since Mommy died, but he pretends he’s not.”