Page 8 of A Dream for Daphne

“Don’t you two look as if you’re having fun,” Poppy said.

“Calorie free tea and cookies are the best,” she said.

“That’s what I need,” Poppy said. “Tatum fell asleep. He’s in his playpen in the living room.”

She accepted the monitor that Poppy handed over. “Thanks. Do you have dinner plans? Do you want me to have it started for you?”

Poppy laughed. “I love you, Daphne. But you don’t have to do those things. Your job is to care for the kids.”

“I know,” she said. “But I don’t mind. I’m used to having more than two kids at a time.”

“Then consider this life in the slow lane for once and enjoy it. You know where Reese is if you need anything and you’ve got my number.”

“I do,” she said. “Thanks.”

Poppy walked out looking more stylish than Daphne could ever pull off.

“I want to swing,” Holly said, starting to take off her play clothing.

“Why don’t we wait,” she said. “Tatum is sleeping. We can go watch a movie if you want or color in the other room.”

“Color,” Holly said, running to another chest to look for what book she wanted while Daphne quickly picked up enough of the clothing to put away. They’d come back and clean up together later.

“How much sugar did you eat today?” she asked Holly when the little girl started to run down the hall.

“I was drinking out of the bottle. Daddy laughed. Mommy said no.”

She laughed when she realized it had to have been the maple syrup bottle. “And that explained why they both left this morning.”

But Daphne had it because she could handle anything.

She hoped.

3

FUSSY CREATURES

“Everything on track?” Mac asked. Abe was leaning over the hood of his truck looking at the plans on the McGill Estate and talking to his crew on Monday afternoon.

“Yeah,” he said. “Just double-checking things. This is a huge deal.”

“Keeping us busy for close to a month or more,” Mac said. “I don’t think your father ever had a job this big.”

Mac had been with the company since Abe was in high school. He’d leaned on the older man more than he could ever repay in those early years.

Hell, Mac had been the one doing most of the work when Abe was in Florida caring for his mother, but he knew it was his responsibility to leave the real control in a family member’s hand and that was why Easton had stepped in as the go-between to oversee work and staff.

“He didn’t,” Abe said. “But he’d be proud of what we are doing. This is going to be one hell of a showpiece when it’s done. I took a bunch of pictures prior and I’m going to get plenty during the process.”

Reese McGill chatted with him hours ago when he walked out to his barn to get to work saying where he was if they needed anything and that they could use the bathroom in the barn, and there was a fridge full of drinks.

The dude was great and Abe wished all his clients were that good, but Poppy had said no way she was allowing an outhouse on the property for weeks.

He got it, some clients hated that and normally he argued about it, but it was saving him money to not bring it out and pay for it.

The crew had been warned to be respectful and he trusted they would be.

“This could be the focus of your website. Everyone knows of the estate,” Mac said. “Word is going to travel quickly that we did the work.”

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