Page 11 of Beanful Wishes

“It’s perfect,” she declares, pulling the dolphin out of the frosting and licking the fins. “But there are no dolphins at the aquarium. They don’t have enough room for them to play.”

“Sorry about that.”

She shrugs and tucks the plastic figure into her purse. “It’s okay. You didn’t know. I didn’t either.”

“What was your favorite part?” I ask, launching into a gentle interview.

It doesn’t last long, but there’s enough for my report, and I enjoy watching her rush off to the playground with her dad.

“This is the payoff.” Jake takes a seat and slides me a slice of the cake.

“Watching them?” My gaze follows the couple as they deepen their bond and make memories that I’m sure will last a lifetime. “Or the cake?”

“Yes.” Jake takes a bite of the cake. A little blue frosting sticks to his bottom lip and I watch him lick it off, surprised how much the simple act affects me.

I turn my back and return to watching Michael and Lily. My mind flashes back to my own childhood, and I wonder if I’ll ever have this kind of bond with a child.

“Are you Sophia?” The voice startles me out of my daydream and I look up and into the eyes of a woman who looks vaguely familiar.

“I am.” I get to my feet and hold out my hand. “Sophia Martinez, WILM-TV.”

“Then you are the one I’m looking for.” She shakes her long red strands and flips them across her shoulder. “Lori Carpenter. Children’s book author. I hope I’m not late.”

“Not at all. You’re right on time.” I turn and motion to my partner in today’s endeavor. “This is Jake Harrison.”

“Ah, the famous inventor of the Wishing Wall.” Lori holds out her hand. Her fingers are long and end in a perfect French manicure.

He shakes it, and I’m surprised by the pangs of jealousy I feel. I shove those feelings into a box and tuck it away in the deep recesses of my mind.

“Lori is who I hired to create the custom book for Lily,” I explain before turning back to the author. “Did you bring it?”

Lori laughs. “Of course I did.” She pulls a colorful book about a tale of a little girl and a dolphin from the tote bag slung across her shoulder and hands it to me.

Together, Jake and I flip through it. He’s so close I feel the warmth of his body and smell the scent of coffee on his breath.

“This is beautiful. She’ll love it.” Jake returns the book, and we chat while we wait for Michael and Lily to make their way back to us.

“Who are you?” Lily asks when she skips over.

“I’m Lori and I have something for you to help you remember today,” the author says.

Michael puts a hand on his daughter’s shoulder and looks from me to Jake.

“I asked her to join us,” I say quickly to remind him.

“Sophia asked me to make this for you.” Lori hands the book to Lily.

She takes the book and shows it to her father. “Can we read it together?”

“Of course.”

I watch the two of them read the story out loud, motioning for my camera crew to get a shot.

“Is this necessary?” Jake asks, raising an eyebrow. “You got a bunch of footage earlier.”

“It’s the perfect shot to end the segment.” I can see the entire story arc play out before me, and my fingers itch to edit it for this weekend’s segment. The perfect uplifting story at the end of a long week for our viewers.

“And there’s no harm done,” Lori says, coming to my defense.

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