Take My Breath Away

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

ched 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."