Page 38 of Little Bits of Daddy (Montana Daddies)

Gigi shook the can and tipped her head back, squirting the liquid cheese into her mouth. This just seemed wrong. The only thing she’d squirted straight from a can was whipped cream or chocolate mousse.

But cheese?

She swallowed hastily.

“How was it?” Daisy asked.

“Are you okay?” Abby rubbed her back lightly.

“She looks like she’s gonna be sick. Someone get her a bucket,” Eden said urgently.

She waved a hand. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I just. . .that was, umm, different.”

The three women all looked at each other and then burst into laughter. Gigi smiled, then started giggling as well. Abby wrapped her arm around her waist.

“Well, Gigi, you just passed your initiation by liquid cheese,” Eden said dryly. “And now on to your next treat. Better get in there quick before Daisy eats it all by herself and then gets her butt roasted by Jed?—”

“Hey,” Daisy protested. “Only if he finds out.” She grinned cheekily at Gigi, looking totally unworried about that possibility.

Gigi reached for a Snickerdoodle. Okay, those were good. She went through, sampling each sweet thing. A few of them she thought you could get in Australia, like Twinkies, but she’d never tasted them. Her budget hadn’t stretched to many treats.

“He’ll find out,” Abby said. “That man is scary. I swear he can read minds.”

“Sometimes I think they all can,” Eden added. “Far too observant for my peace of mind. I swear Zeke must have a camera in my car. Every time I go over the speed limit I get in trouble. What’s the point of driving if you can’t drive fast?”

“I have no interest in driving,” Gigi told them, picking up an Airhead. “Even if I had a license.”

Daisy grabbed a handful of Gushers, popping them all in her mouth at once. Her cheeks poked out as she chewed them.

Gigi looked over at Abby with wide eyes. Should they maybe cut Daisy off?

Abby bit her lip. “I think I’ll put all this away now, okay?”

Daisy’s lower lip dropped out in a pout but she sighed. “All right. Jed’s just so miserly with the candy. And I can’t find his stash anywhere. I’ve searched the whole cabin. I spent two hours the other day turning the place upside down when I was supposed to be working. Then I had to explain why I was behind and had to work late that night. Jed wasn’t happy. I ended up having to write lines and have a nap the next day. Naps suck.”

They sure did. She loved having people around her who understood her relationship with Macca.

“So how are you liking living here, Gigi?” Abby asked her. “Are you settling in all right?”

“Do you miss home?” Daisy asked.

“Not really,” she told Daisy. “It’s different here. So beautiful though. And everyone has been so welcoming. I didn’t have any friends or family back home. Just Penny, Macca’s grandmother.”

With Penny gone, she had no ties back home. Moving here with Macca, a man who loved her exactly for who she was, wasn’t exactly a hardship. Kent, Macca’s boss, had generously let him have some time off to help her settle in.

Abby reached across and squeezed her hand. “It must have been so hard on you both, losing her.”

“It was.”

“I bet she would be happy the two of you ended up together, though,” Eden told her.

“We’re so glad that Macca met you,” Abby told her. “I’ve never seen him smile so much since you came back here withhim. I can’t imagine moving so far away and knowing no one, if you need anything let us know. Especially when Macca goes away for work.”

Warmth filled her at those words.

“Thank you. You’re all so nice. I was a little worried when I moved here that no one would like me. I’ve never really had friends.”

“I think most of us can relate to that,” Abby told her.

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