Page 74 of Sweet Home

It was all Dulcie could do not to laugh—at the funny sweater, but also at the pure joy on Elizabeth’s sweet face. She definitely felt good about her dad going on a date with Dulcie.

“That’s impressive,” Delphine said, winking at Dulcie. “But I might like this one even better.”

She held up a pale blue sweater, knit in the softest, prettiest material.

“Oh, Elizabeth picked that one out for me,” Dulcie said. “I love it. It’s perfect.”

She watched the little girl’s chest puff up with pride. Elizabeth had also picked out the funny Santa Claus sweater during their shopping trip to Second Hand Rose, but that probably went without saying.

With the help of her two favorite girls, Dulcie chose a nice skirt, and Delphine even lent her a pretty pair of drop earrings.

“You look beautiful,” Delphine decided when she was ready. “The blue brings out your eyes. What do you think, Lilibet?”

“Just like a princess,” Elizabeth said approvingly.

“Ifeellike a princess,” Dulcie said, laughing, but also sort of meaning it.

A few minutes later, the princess headed out to the living room with her two ladies-in-waiting trailing behind her.

Maggie sat on the sofa looking through her recipe book. She glanced up and smiled at Dulcie, nodding as if to say she looked very nice.

But Dulcie forgot all about herself when she caught sight of West.

He stood by the front door, wearing a white buttondown with a tie, his wide shoulders and handsome face making him look like a magazine model.

Dulcie swallowed hard.

“You look beautiful, Dulcinea,” West said immediately.

Dulcinea.

She felt herself blush instantly, all the way to her hairline.

“Whoa,” Delphine said. “Lookin’ sharp, Superman.”

That made Dulcie laugh and suddenly her feet were back on the ground again. He might be dressed up, but he was still just her sweet West, chuckling at her sister and sweeping Elizabeth up in a big hug.

“Be good for Grandma,” he told Elizabeth. “No monkey business.”

“No monkey business,” she agreed solemnly, while Maggie shook her head and chuckled.

“What about me?” Delphine asked. “Can I do monkey business? What about penguin business?”

She began tottering around the living room clucking in a truly terrible imitation of a penguin, and Elizabeth laughed so hard that she almost fell over.

“We’ll be fine,” Maggie said as they headed to the door. “Just go, and have lots of fun.”

The cold air outside felt good on Dulcie’s heated cheeks. West opened the door for her, and she hopped into the truck.

It was funny to be going somewhere just the two of them. But the moment West got in, they immediately fell into conversation about the girls, his work, the stocking donation project, how Elizabeth’s usualbabysitter Mrs. Webster and her daughter were doing just fine, how Mrs. Harris was taking her meds and enjoying her candy, and everything else that had been filling their days.

Before she knew it, West was pulling onto a bumpy little road that was hung with lanterns, and Dulcie realized they were in a part of Sugarville Grove she had never seen before.

Snow-covered pines lined the way, and she got the sense that she was entering a fairytale.

“Where are we?” she asked him.

“I’m told that this is the best restaurant in town,” West said. “It’s small, and very private.”

---