Page 14 of Harmonizing with Little Heaven Leigh

“My apologies, Angel. If you take your attention off them for a moment, they start looking for mischief.”

“I’ve noticed,” he said, wincing as he thought of his castle, and how much work it was going to take to repair it.

Her mouth softened, losing the stern lines as she placed a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry about your chocolate. What you do is an artform. It must be devastating to have it ruined. Will you be able to fix it?”

He shrugged. “I hope so. It will probably be less majestic, but once we sort everything out, I’ll get back to work.”

She nodded. “Well, let me know if you need me.”

Nanny J’s skills might end up being necessary by the end of things, and he nodded before he left the classroom.

CHAPTER5

Heaven Leigh didn’t waste any time heading for Master Derek’s office. She was speed-walking so fast that she almost got herself in trouble when Chef Conner rounded the corner, and she had to skid to a stop to avoid crashing into him.

One eyebrow went up as he looked at her. “Were you running, young lady?” he asked.

She quickly shook her head. “No, sir.” And then added, “Just walking really fast,” when he didn’t look convinced.

“Hmm, where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“There was um, an accident…”

Chef Connor’s second eyebrow joined the first. “What kind of accident?”

“Well, it… it looks like someone… uh, ate some of the chocolate castle for the event tonight.”

Chef drew in a sharp breath. “Angel’s chocolate castle? The one he’s been working on for the past couple of days?” She nodded, and his expression turned stormy, eyes darkening. “Who?”

Heaven Leigh had a pretty good idea of at least one of the culprits, but she really didn’t want to say. She already struggled to fit in with the other Littles and being a tattletale certainly wasn’t going to help. “Um, we didn’t see it happen, but Daddy wanted me to get Master Derek to come and help figure it out.”

“Well, get going then.” He waved her off, but added, “But no running.”

Heaven Leigh slowed her walk to one that could best be described as “brisk” at least until Chef was gone, and then she sped up again, arriving at the office slightly out of breath. Erika wasn’t at her desk, and Heaven certainly wasn’t going to sit and wait for someone to notice her.

This was an emergency, so she took a deep breath and knocked on Master Derek’s door. And then knocked again. And then a third time just to be sure, before she finally admitted to herself that he wasn’t in there.

Apparently, he was having a busy morning because everywhere she looked, he had just been there and gone. And, caught up in the moment, it didn’t occur to her to stop chasing around the resort and just have someone call him.

She finally ran into him on his way back to the office and spilled out the whole story. The way his face tightened, and his brows furrowed made it clear that there was big trouble on the horizon, and Heaven was glad that she wasn’t going to be on the receiving end this time. Master Derek turned on his heel and started toward the Littles’ Wing at a quick walk. With his long strides, she had to trot along behind him to keep up, but she figured she was safe enough from getting in trouble as she trailed along in his wake.

By the time they got back to the scene of the crime, Angel had apparently come up with some suspects. A trio of Littles stood in the hall, shuffling their feet and looking at the floor, as he stood in front of them with his arms folded across his chest.

“I want to know what happened,” he was saying as they hurried up.

“So do I,” Master Derek added.

Heaven Leigh was relieved to see Piper in the lineup because that was the one Little she’d been sure was involved. The super-bright colored clothing and red hair were kind of hard to miss as she’d scooted away. Heaven Leigh liked Piper, or Pippi as she preferred to be called, a lot and really hadn’t wanted to rat her out to Angel, but she would have had to if he hadn’t discovered her on his own.

And the smear of chocolate on Pippi’s cheek, that almost, but not quite, blended with her freckles, was a giveaway that she’d been there. In fact, all three of the Littles had evidence of chocolate on their clothes or faces. Becky had an obvious stain on her uniform, and Mindy had managed to get a streak across her forehead, so there was really no doubt.

As Master Derek took over, Heaven Leigh moved to stand behind her Daddy. Her hand slipped into his and she squeezed. He let out a slow breath and after a second squeezed back. It was obvious he was upset, and she couldn’t blame him one bit.

“Well? What happened here. Someone better start talking, ladies.” There was ice in Master Derek’s tone. None of the three spoke up, and after he gave them a minute longer to do so, he spoke again. “This is serious, and I’m very disappointed.”

Aside from a sniffle, there was only silence, so he shook his head and looked back to Angel. “Is this everyone who was involved?”

Angel shrugged. “I’m not sure. They were the only ones wearing the evidence, but they aren’t talking as you can see.”

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