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Chapter One

Eric

“Dad, can I meet Pippa now?”

Watching as h her wavy blonde hair, I s in her seat When I told Julie ould attend Sebastian Bennett’s wedding, she announced she wants her hair styled in waves, not a braid, because the latter is for little girls, and she just turned twelve She’s growing up too fast

“Not yet She’s busy right now” I suspect Pippa will be busy for the rest of the party since it’s her brother’s wedding

Julie hero-worships Pippa Bennett—or hter loves to draw, and lately, she’s taken to drawing jewelry, which isn’t such a surprise since I sell jewelry for a living Callahan’s Finest, of which I ah-end jewelry shops on the East Coast and has been for three generations We work closely with Bennett Enterprises, and I ad Sebastian created Bennett Enterprises less than fifteen years ago, and it grew to be one of the ious producers in the jewelry market It takes a lot of determination and hard work to make that happen in such a short time

Julie fell in love with their designs a while ago and insists onforward toPippa Bennett as well

“This is a beautiful wedding,” Julie co on the bride and groo to Mom this beautiful?”

Wha old wounds to resurface

“Yeah, it was”

My life changed at twenty-one when Sarah toldon my mind, but I wasn’t about to leave the woman I loved to deal with the responsibility alone Sarah and I got married Julie stole my heart from the moment she was born I held her in e

My life changed again five years ago when an accident killed Sarah and left Julie with a limp and a dependence on an inhaler

“Hey!” I elbow Julie playfully, deciding it’s time to cheer her up “Do you want to do a movie marathon tomorrow?”

“Yeah But you can’t fall asleep again, Dad”

“I can’t make you any promises”

Julie lovesthe saain, hence why I sometimes fall asleep

“I will draw you a mustache with a permanenta grin “Then you’ll have to go to your office like that”

That’s a thought That would severely undermine my reputation as a business shark

“I’d like to see you try”

Julie lets out a giggle, which turns into laughter Her laugh is always contagious, so before long, I can’t keep a straight face either I love this little girl to pieces, and I would do anything to make her happy

“Ooooh, look” Julie claps her hands excitedly “The first dance”

I sarners me a frown from her

“Let’s watch it,” I say “Then we can go find Pippa Bennett”

Pippa