with trees, monkeys, tigers, birds, lizards, and even a sleepy sloth. Vines hung from the ceiling, and a seating area that looked like a tree house had been built into the corner.
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?”
I turned to where my father stood next to me, admiring Thea’s brilliance. Glinda was beside him, and I saw a flash of wild red hair right before Amber flew at my legs.
“Leo!” She giggled my name as I lifted her into my arms.
“Hey, munchkin. How old are you now? Fifteen?”
She giggled again. “No, silly. Three.”
“Only three?” I gasped. “I can’t believe it.”
The littlest Sharpe was a precocious imp of a child, but we all loved her. Since Glinda was still working through her fear of flying, Tristin, Hayle, Thea, Toto, and I tried to make as many trips to visit Amber in Atlanta as we could. We’d seen her a few months ago, but she’d changed in that short time, her face slimmer and legs longer.
Finally catching sight of the jungle, her eyes widened. “What’s that?”
“Thea painted it. Do you want to go check it out?”
She nodded, already squirming to get out of my arms. With a kiss on her cheek, I let her down and watched as she ran right to the sloth and stretched an arm out, trying to reach it.
My father chuckled, that warm look he always had when Amber was around taking over his face. If my brothers and I had changed, we had nothing on our father. Walking away from Sharpe Shipping was probably the best decision of his life. That, along with marrying Glinda. He now worked as a consultant and was home for dinner almost every night. For Amber’s sake, I was glad for it. She deserved to have the attentive father Tristin, Hayle, and I had never experienced firsthand.
Still, I doubted that the three of us and Thea would ever fully move on from our father’s past actions. He’d manipulated us too many times. Not to mention the way he’d so obviously mishandled Lily and her problems. Hayle hadn’t gotten over that in the last four years, and I suspected he never would.
“What do you think of our investment?” I asked, gesturing to the center as a whole.
When Dad had sold the business, he’d set aside ten million dollars for each of us to invest in our own ventures. I wasn’t sure what he’d intended for us to do with the money, but I had a feeling he hadn’t expected us to pool it together to open the center. Not that I could take any credit for the project. I’d only signed over my funds, as well as advised on the athletic programs.
He cut his gaze from his daughter to look at me. “When the four of you first told me about opening a new youth center after the other one shut down, I was skeptical. But, now, I have to say I’m impressed. You will do a lot of good for this community.”
“Well, don’t be impressed with me. This is all Thea, Tristin, and Hayle’s doing.”
Tristin and Thea had volunteered at the previous youth center until it shut its doors over a year ago due to mismanagement of donated funds. Tristin had already decided he wanted to find a way to work with youth full-time after college, and Thea had declared her major in art education at the beginning of her sophomore year.
Together, they’d put together their version of a business plan and approached Hayle with the idea for a new-and-improved center while he was finishing up his MBA. He’d immediately jumped on board, and just like that, the Yellow Brick Road Youth Center was born.
They aimed to bring together children of all ages and economic backgrounds, providing them a safe place to spend their time outside of school. From fitness to tutoring to art and music, the center would offer a wide range of activities and specialized workshops. It was an ambitious plan, but I had no doubt Thea, Tristin, and Hayle would pull it off.
Dad slapped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’m impressed with all of you. You’ve found your own paths, and you’re happy. That’s the best part.”
I laughed under my breath. “You know, it wasn’t that long ago that I would have rolled my eyes if those words had come out of your mouth. But, amazingly enough, I believe you.”
His gaze slid back to Amber, who was now sitting at a small table with her mom, drawing. “Family is everything.