Page 23 of Sweet Home

“What’sthat?” Elizabeth asked.

“This is a scarf,” Willa told her, handing it to Dulcie. “But it’s a scarf fit for a princess, so I couldn’t just leave it out in the shop where anyone would find it.”

The fabric was surprisingly soft, but it sparkled with tiny sequins and lace that had been added to the material. It felt warm and beautiful, and Dulcie was very sure that Willa had set it aside for herself.

“Take it,” Willa told her softly. “It suits you.”

Dulcie and Elizabeth trailed her back to the counter, where the exquisite scarf was placed to the side as Willa weighed the rest of the clothing, naming a price that really seemed too good to be true.

While West pulled out cash to pay, Willa grabbed a few things from under the counter and placed them in a separate bag along with the scarf.

“These are my gift to you,” Willa said, handing it to Dulcie. “It’s just a littleway to say welcome to town. I know you’ll love it here.”

Dulcie glanced inside the bag and saw packages of brand-new socks and underthings—as if Willa had sensed that Dulcie might be too embarrassed to tell West that she needed that stuff too.

She was right about that.

“Thank you,” she said, blinking back sudden tears.

“Every girl needs to freshen up her wardrobe from time to time,” Willa said, winking at her.

“That should do it,” West said, handing over his cash.

“Thank you so much for doing business with me,” Willa told him. “Tell your mother I send my love.”

“I will,” West said, his serious expression melting into a big smile at the mention of his mom.

“Now can we look in the toy store window again?” Elizabeth asked hopefully as they headed out.

But West’s phone started ringing before he had a chance to respond, and Dulcie suddenly remembered that the man probably had more important things to do than take her on shopping sprees.

8

DULCIE

Dulcie walked through the park with West and Elizabeth, trying not to let herself get too distracted by the beautiful sights.

West’s call had been from someone called Deb, who was apparently the nurse who worked as his assistant, with news for him that a patient was at the office with a sick toddler. Thankfully, his office was right across the park, so they were all going to stop by together.

She was sort of impressed that he was going in on his day off, while wearing jeans and a flannel under his coat. But it sounded like the patient really only wanted to see West.

They walked between a massive evergreen tree and a pop-up skating rink. An older lady was skating with two small children while an older man sat on a nearby bench, cheering for them. The lady laughed and shook her head as if the man was being very silly, but the children smiled proudly.

They passed the pavilion where a pack of little kidswere chasing each other while their mothers sipped coffee and gazed up at them from the lawn below. Dulcie saw there was a playground on that end of the park too. The equipment was all beautifully maintained wood with plastic trim in bright colors—so different from the cold gray metal of the city playground where she used to take Delphine.

“Here we go,” West said, heading for the corner once they were back on the sidewalk.

“You can go ahead if you want and Elizabeth and I will catch up,” Dulcie offered. “Right, Lilibet?”

“Thanks, but we’re basically there already,” he told her.

Once they crossed the street, West’s office was in the middle of the block.

“Come on in,” he said, pushing open the door.

Dulcie stepped in to find a space that was bright and tidy, if a bit plain. The woman who must be Deb sat behind a desk while another lady paced back and forth with a toddler in her arms. The lady and the toddler both looked miserable.

Elizabeth immediately dragged Dulcie to a bench in the far corner of the room where there was a table with blocks on it. Elizabeth got right to work with the blocks, and Dulcie figured that was just fine, since they didn’t want to get in the way, or get sick themselves.

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