At the ticket office of the carousel, when Sheffield was plunking down money, the cashier looked at his handsome face and said shyly, "Your daughter is so cute!"
Sheffield looked at Gwyn and smiled, "She's not my daughter. I'm her uncle."
The cashier was a little embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought she was your daughter. You look a lot alike. That'll be $80, please. Thank you!" The cashier thought to herself, 'They aren't father and daughter? I'm sure I saw a family resemblance. Was I wrong?'
After paying, Sheffield walked to the merry-go-round with Gwyn in his arms. "Which one do you want to ride, little one? A blue horse, a yellow ostrich, or Santa's sleigh?"
For a long time, he got no response at all from Gwyn. Just when he was about to give up and just pick an animal himself, she reached out her little hand and pointed at a blue horse.
Sheffield got on the little artificial horse with Gwyn and made sure she was belted in tight. They could hear the cheerful cries of children all around them. There were young couples without kids riding the carousel too.
He resolved to take Evelyn here to ride the carousel one day. He was pretty sure she never came here as an adult. He was going to fix that.
Three minutes later, the merry-go-round started spinning. The song "Fearless" played over the speakers.
Sheffield began humming the song to Gwyn. "I'm not scared of cockroaches. Nothing can scare me. I'm not afraid of sleeping alone. I never lack courage…"
He held her little body with one arm and gently shook her hand with the other, letting her hand wave back and forth with the rhythm of the music.
Gwyn stared at Sheffield, who was acting like a kid himself, allowing him to swing her hand back and forth. She didn't resist. And why should she? She was having fun.
She couldn't quite put it in words, but she had thoughts to the effect of, 'This guy's so different. It's like he's a child himself, and I think he's enjoying this more than I am.'
When the merry-go-round stopped, Sheffield hopped down first. He had Gwyn clutch the pommel tightly, and then he unbuckled her and helped her down.
He put her down and then his phone rang.
Gwyn stood still and looked up at him while he was on the phone. After a while, she reached out her hand and held one of his fingers.
With a smile on his face, he held her hand and told Tobias, "We'll talk about it when I get back. I'm busy now."
Gwyn pulled his hand and started walking. It seemed she wanted to go somewhere. Sheffield bent down a bit to follow her.
He would follow her wherever she went.
The girl finally stopped at a fresh juice shop and stared at the pictures on the menu. She was too little to clearly see what was on top, so she stared at the ads for their products on the side.
That was when Sheffield took the hint; she was thirsty. He held up the little cutie from the floor, pointed at the pictures and asked, "You want some juice, right, Gwyn? They've got mango juice, pear juice, strawberry and apple juice, cherry juice, dragon fruit and banana juice. Which one sounds good?"
He had thought Gwyn couldn't answer his question. Or maybe she'd just point at the picture with her finger. To his surprise, Gwyn looked at him and said, "Cher…"
Her soft, gentle voice made Sheffield like her even more.
'Cher?'
"Do you want cherry juice?" Sheffield asked, pointing at the picture.
Gwyn nodded and pointed at the picture too.
"A cup of freshly squeezed cherry juice, please. Thanks!" Sheffield
"Yes, sir. Total comes to $160, please. Our cherries are picked fresh in Chile. Each cup requires a good amount of fruit. It might be a few minutes before it's ready. Cash or phone, sir?"
"By phone." He didn't have much cash on him. He didn't like to carry much cash, anyway.
After paying, Sheffield moved off to the side, Gwyn's hand in his. Just then, he heard a man's surprised tones. "Sheffield?"
Without turning his head, Sheffield knew whose voice it was. He picked up Gwyn and turned around. "Mr. Tang! It's you!" he said.
It was Sterling and his wife, Kaylee Lou.
The woman was 33 years old. She was the one Sterling accused Sheffield of sleeping with. Tall and slender, she wore a wine-red strapless dress, and her long curly hair spilled down her back. She was heavily and expertly made-up; her lips were purple, and her eyes were like those of a fox, bright and attractive.
She looked feminine and extremely sexy. When she saw Sheffield, a glint appeared in her eyes.
As soon as she noticed a couple of strangers approaching, Gwyn immediately buried her head in Sheffield's shoulder.
Sterling was shocked to see the girl in his arms. "I've never seen this little girl before. Who is she?"
Sheffield couldn't be bothered to tell them about Gwyn. "She's my friend's kid. But enough about her. I never see you two shopping together!"
Kaylee Lou curved her seductive lips and waved the shopping bags in her hand in front of Sheffield. "I bought some new underwear. I need your brother's opinion on something like this." After saying that, she winked at Sheffield openly.
"Huh, touching. I'm jelly." There was no sign of envy on Sheffield's face, though. He simply ignored her comments.
Sterling was more interested in the baby in his arms. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Sure she's not yours? You've had more than a few women, if I recall."
"Mine? Oh no, no." Sheffield glanced at him. "Sorry to disappoint you, but she's not. Her family will be by soon to pick her up. I just came here to buy her a cup of juice."
"Is that so?" Sterling gazed at Gwyn's back, his thumb and index finger on his chin, thoughtful. "Looks like she's pretty attached to you."
Sheffield chuckled. "What can I say? Kids like me. Take Nastas, for example. He always wants to play with me. He hardly ever bugs you guys."
He was right. Every member of the Tang family knew that Nastas was very attached to Sheffield. But they didn't know why.
Hearing that, Sterling decided to stow his thoughts for the moment. He put his arm around Kaylee Lou's shoulder and said, "I'll let you go, then. Nice seeing you again. Bye."
"So long!" Without giving the couple a second look, Sheffield turned around and whispered to Gwyn, "Don't be afraid, sweetie. They're gone. Your juice is ready, I think." He grabbed the cup from the counter, glancing at the number to be sure it was theirs.
Before he let Gwyn take a drink, he called Joshua. "Ask Terilynn how Gwyn's stomach is. She allergic to anything?"
Joshua asked Terilynn and then answered, "She said no. She says Gwyn is perfectly healthy."
"That's good." Only then did he gently tell Gwyn, who had been holding the cup and waiting to drink, "You can drink it now."
"Everything okay? Has Gwyn been good? If she gets to be too much, you can call us."
Sheffield didn't want to curse in front of Gwyn, so he tried to hold his temper. "Bruh! Don't try that with me. I know you better than your father does. You kept trying to get me to come over, because you want me to take care of Gwyn. That way you can be alone with Terilynn. I'm not dumb."
