"Oh, I wish you could have seen him, Drake! You wouldn't have recognized him. He was so animated. He just adores Annie. It's so wonderful."

Drake nodded, trying to look interested. This wasn't the first time he'd had to listen to Grace gush about their boss. Most of the time he didn't mind. These moments were few and far between. However, tonight it felt different. It felt like more than an infatuation. He could see it in her eyes. Whatever had changed in Mr. Warbucks had endeared Grace to him even more.

"Did you see the way he carried her home? I always knew he had a tender heart underneath it all."

"Well," he said as he stood and began collecting their empty cups, "it's too bad she'll only be here for a couple of weeks."

Her face fell. "I know. She hasn't even been here a day and it feels like she belongs here, you know?"

He had to agree.

"It will be difficult that day I have to return her to Miss Hannigan."

Turning from the counter, Drake questioned, "Is she the person who runs the orphanage?"

"Yes. A beast of a woman if you ask me. I believe I saved Annie from punishment. She was adamant on keeping her around. Fortunately, before I'd fully introduced myself she let it slip that Annie had hidden herself in a laundry bag and managed to escape. I figure she'd just been caught and brought back. I had the advantage."

"A girl and a runaway? You are brave, Miss Farrell."

"You should have seen her peeking out from behind the desk. She didn't appear to me to be a troublemaker. It's obvious there was a reason. I wouldn't want to be under that woman's care, either."

"I don't get the sense she will be giving us any trouble."

"Neither do I."

"We'll make the best of her stay," Drake said, now back near Grace and pulling out her chair. "I must say, it's nice seeing you around a child."

A bit taken aback, Grace blinked twice. "You think so?"

"You pretend you only care about work, but you let it slip through sometimes that a part of you has always wanted a family."

She blushed. "Most women do… on some level."

"I believe many men do as well."

Her eyes lingered on him a moment longer before saying, "I suppose it's the natural way of things. At least we'll have a couple weeks to pretend."

"That we do."

She squeezed his hand, and before turning to leave, she said, "I'm sorry again for having missed our chat last night. I do so look forward to it."

"No need. It was foolish of me to be upset by it."

"Of course it wasn't. I'm sure you wanted to hear all about Annie."

"Let's just forget about it, all right? Why waste time while she's here?"

"You're right." She stepped on her toes so she could reach up to kiss his cheek. "Goodnight, Drake."

"Goodnight, Miss Farrell…"