"Jojo," Amanda said, "go get glasses."
Jojo knew this command well since her previous owner had often requested her glasses. Jojo hopped off Julie's lap and looked around for the requested object. Amanda pointed at Jacob, who was standing against the fence, clinging to the wires with both hands. He was so close that the tip of his nose was actually inside the cage. Jojo dashed toward him, climbed the cage, and before he could stop her, reached through the fence and pulled the sunglasses off his face.
"Hey," Jacob protested.
Jojo offered a sheepish grin and raced off holding his sunglasses over her head. She promptly dropped them in Amanda's lap.
"Good girl, Jojo!" Amanda said, stroking her head. "He looks much better without them."
Julie laughed. "She took Daddy's glasses."
"Little thief," Jacob accused, but he was smiling.
It took them a long while to coax Julie out of the cage. She didn't want to say goodbye to her new friend. "I will miss her so much," Julie said.
Jacob swung her into his arms and tugged her against his broad chest, one strong, masculine hand gently cradling the back of her head. Amanda tripped over her feet as she watched them. What was it about daddies protecting their little girls that Amanda found so irresistibly sexy? When Julie had been an infant, Amanda's ovaries had practically exploded every time she'd seen the man with his baby in his arms.
Suddenly, music declaring life in plastic as fantastic blared from Amanda's cellphone and she scowled at the sound of her sister's ringtone. It was as if Tina knew Amanda was coveting her family and needed to put a stop to such thoughts at once.
"What's up?" Amanda answered.
"Brenda can't make it to lunch, so I thought maybe you'd like to join me. Get out of the house for a while."
Tina was under the impression that Amanda left her house only to jump at Tina's whims or, during the school year, to go to work.
"I can't make it. I'm busy today."
"Is that Mommy?" Julie asked. She must have recognized the "Barbie World" ringtone. Crap!
Amanda grimaced and cupped her hand around the bottom of her phone to muffle sound.
"I want to tell her about Jojo!" Julie squealed excitedly.
And when Julie did tell told her about Jojo, she'd undoubtedly mention she'd been with Amanda. And that Jacob was with them both.
"Is that Julie?" Tina asked.
Amanda's grimace deepened. She wondered if it would be better to come clean now or to convince Julie to keep a secret. Amanda was sure the child would try, but Julie was much too excited about the monkey to keep her trip to the zoo from her mother for long.
"Yeah. I was volunteering at the zoo today." Amanda decided on the fly that a partial lie would be best. "And Jacob just happened to bring Julie by. I think she wants to talk to you about the monkey she saw. I'll put her on."
She handed the phone to Julie, who told her mother all about her adventure with Jojo, but didn't-thank God-mention that Jacob and Amanda had arrived at the zoo together. Or that her aunt had a strange way of getting dirt in her eye whenever her daddy was near.
"You know," Jacob said quietly to Amanda. "I don't give a shit if Tina knows we're together. She's going to have to come to terms with it eventually."
"I know," Amanda said, deciding eventually would be best a few years into the future. "I think we should break the idea to her very gradually. It's enough that she knows I saw you today."
"At random," Jacob said flatly.
"Exactly."
"Okay, Mommy. I love you!" Julie shoved her phone into Amanda's hand and skipped ahead to peer at another capuchin monkey through the wires.
"What have you done?" Tina said accusingly.
Amanda's stomach dropped. "Um, we just- I thought- He invited-"
"Now she wants a goddamned monkey," Tina interrupted Amanda's disjointed stammering. "A monkey. You'd better get that idea out of her head before you send her home. Jacob will go out and buy her one. You know how stupid he is. I had to put her fucking birthday present in a lockbox at the bank."
Amanda's spine straightened, and her jaw hardened. "He's not . . ." She glanced around to make sure he wouldn't overhear. He had lifted Julie into his arms so she could see into an exhibit and wasn't paying Amanda any mind. ". . . stupid," she whispered harshly into her phone.
Tina snorted. "He has a brick for a brain, that one. He's lucky he's attractive."
Jacob had so much more going for him than his looks. Even more than the vocal talent that had made him successful and rich. Yes, even more than his exceptional skills in the bedroom. As far as Amanda was concerned, Jacob's best trait was his big ol' heart, and Tina was the stupid one for discarding it.