Page 68 of Sweet Home

After the past week, Dulcie knew she should be getting used to having a man in her life who didn’t berate her or call her stupid for making mistakes. But his kindness just twisted up her insides all over again.

“Is that everything?” he asked after a moment.

She thought back over the ugly years since Mom died, the awful words her father launched at her, the sight of Delphine, small and frightened, thehunger, the fury, the helplessness she’d felt, and the odd jobs she’d taken to put food in their bellies before Cal at the grocery store took pity on her and gave her a real job.

She thought about the loneliness and despair that had consumed her since leaving Delphine, even though she’d known deep down that she would have to leave for a while to have any real chance of getting them both out.

And she thought about the hope she’d harbored until tonight, that somehow she could bring her sister here, to a place where hunger and heartbreak could never touch them again.

“Yes,” she told him. “That’s all.”

West nodded, his eyes meeting hers. His jaw was tight again, and she waited for him to scream at her.

“We’re going to get your sister out of there,” he said instead, his voice calm and certain.

“Wh-what?” she asked.

“I know a good attorney. We’ll go see him in the morning,” West said. “And we’ll ask him about getting that arrest off your record, too.”

“Why would you do this?” she heard herself ask, her voice almost breathless with disbelief.

“Because you’re our princess,” West said simply. “You can’t leave. It’s Elizabeth’s Christmas wish.”

I want my princess to keep forever…

“She meant the doll,” Dulcie heard herself say.

“No,” West said. “I don’t think she did. Besides, some generous person already got her that doll.”

“It was the least I could do,” she told him.

“The least you could have done was to drive on through this town like you planned, and leave us the waywe were,” he said. “You didn’t have to help Elizabeth relax and have fun. You didn’t have to make my parents smile. You didn’t have to participate in our town activities, and fill the house up with fun and laughter. You didn’t have to wake up something inside me that I thought was lost.”

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but then closed it again.

“And now?” West went on. “Well, can you imagine how excited Elizabeth is going to be when she hears there are going to betwoprincesses in Sugarville Grove this Christmas?”

“You barely know me,” Dulcie whispered, desperate to believe him, but determined to guard her heart against what sounded too good to be true. “She’s never even met Delphine.”

“She loves you,” West said simply. “And this is where you belong. It’s your home.”

Home…

Dulcie smiled up at West, trying to remember the last time that word made her happy.

22

DULCIE

Dulcie paced the sidewalk beside the lake again four days later, wondering how so much could have changed since the last time she had walked along this frozen vista.

For his part, West had proven that he was as good as his word. The morning after their talk, they had met with a family attorney and begun trying to negotiate with Dulcie’s dad for custody.

It turned out that there were elements of the situation Dulcie hadn’t even been aware of—like the fact that her dad received a death benefit from Mom on Delphine’s behalf each month. And that the landlord looked the other way when the rent was late or not quite paid in full because he’d felt bad for the poor widower’s daughters.

“Herbert Bloom has every reason to fight a custody battle,” the attorney had said during their talk yesterday morning. “Delphine isn’t just his daughter, she’s basically a paycheck for him. You should expect that this could take time, and there are no guarantees.”

Dulcie’s heart sank.

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