Amber’s POV

    Alice tugged insistently on my hand. Knowing she would run straight to Julian, I finally let her go.

    Despite all the problems Julian and I might have been facing, I couldn’t keep Alice from her father, especially not when she was so happy and excited to see him here.

    To diminish my daughter’s joy would cause me great pain. I could only hope Julian felt the same. Though

    he seemed to, smiling as brightly at Alice as she was smiling at him.

    Once I released her hand, she darted forward, rushing to Julian as I expected. Only, before she could

    reach, Olivia stepped in the way, she bent over, so that she was more on Alice’s level, though she still

    towered over her somewhat.

    Alice stopped in her tracks. I started forward, slowing when I realized Olivia was only introducing herself.

    “Hello,i” /iOlivia said. “I’m Julian’s friend, Olivia.”

    If Olivia was only being polite, I didn’t want to pull Alice away too quickly and teach her that it was okay

    to be rude. Alice, not knowing Olivia, wouldn’t understand the reason for my rudeness.

    “I’m Alice.”

    Olivia smiled. Though I was certain she was trying for kind, the smile had a bit of an edge.

    I wasn’t sure how Alice would react to Olivia. Not being able to see my daughter’s face as she was turned away from me, I still couldn’t be sure.

    “Alicei,/ii” /iOlivia said. “That’s a pretty name for a pretty little girl.”

    Alice paused a moment. Then she said bluntly, “You have lipstick on your teeth.”

    Olivia immediately straightened and covered her mouth with her hand. When she lowered it again, her smile had vanished and her brow was pulling together in clear annoyance.

    “Well, your hair is full of knotsb,/bi” /iOlivia countered.

    Close enough now, I ced my hands on Alice’s shoulders and eased her back.

    At the same time, Julian over around Olivia to her side. “That’s enough. She’s only a child.”

    Olivia made a “humph” sound, her re still on my child. “Someone needs to teach that child some manners. Her mother certainly hasn’t.”

    “Don’t talk about my mom!” Alice shouted.

    “Olivia,” Julian said, more firmly. “That’s enough.”

    His more forceful tone of voice seemed to snap Olivia out of whatever vindictive mood she was feeling for Alice. Her annoyance was gone in a sh, and in its ce, she began to pout as she looked at Julian

    with her most pathetic doe eyes.

    “I was only teasing,” she said.

    I didn’t believe her for a moment, but whether Julian did or not, I couldn’t be sure.

    Alice looked up at me and then over at Julian. “Daddy?”

    Olivia smartly positioned herself away, picking up a nearby conversation with Ca and one of the nurses. Before she turned away though, she made sure to spare a second to re at me.

    Though I only stared back, the feelings of dislike were mutual.

    I still didn’t know what she was doing here. Did Julian invite her? But who invited him?

    This evening had only begun and already it felt like a disaster. I couldn’t just walk out though, not with all

    my employees here. It was my name on the door to the clinic. How would it look if I abandoned everyone who worked for me, when we were supposed to be celebrating?

    Julian knelt down and opened his arms. Alice tugged away from me once more and flew into Julian’s

    arms, and he hugged her tightly.

    “I missed you,” Alice said, and my heart broke a little. If she missed him after only a couple of days, what

    would it be like when he had left us for good?

    “I missed you, too,” Julian told her. I had known Julian a long time. He could be difficult to read at the

    best of times, but in this case, I swore he sounded so sincere that my heart broke twice.

    When they pulled away, Anna distracted Alice by pointing out the nearby arcade games. Alice

    immediately wanted to try the w machine. After giving me a knowing look, Anna went with Alice to try her luck, leaving me with Julian.

    Immediately, I wished that I had gone to y the w game, because the first thing Julian said when

    Alice was out iof /iearshot was, “About the other night…”