Page 39 of Sweet Home

“I’ll read to her and sit with her,” Mimi Kendrick said firmly. “The two of you should go have fun.”

If that wasn’t clearly implying that they were seeing each other, Dulcie wasn’t sure what would qualify. But West merely arched a brow at her in question.

And when she nodded, Elizabeth cheered, and then headed up to have a special over-the-ice-cream-shop nap with Mimi.

“What should we do?” West asked Dulcie as he pulled his jacket back on.

“Have you finished your shopping for Elizabeth?” Dulcie asked quietly.

“Good thinking,” West said. “Want to go to the toy store?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Dulcie said.

She couldn’t help but notice Tripp and Charlotte exchanging a look as they headed out. But West either didn’t see it, or didn’t mind.

Don’t think about it,she told herself.You’re just friends having a nice day together.

The toy store was predictably crowded, but completely magical. Dulcie helped West choose some art supplies. She paused at the castle display in the window on the way to the register, not sure if it was inappropriate for her to suggest such an expensive gift.

“I already bought one,” West said quietly. “I hid it at the office. I know maybe she’s a little spoiled, but with only one parent around, I figure a few extra toys won’t do her any harm.”

“Especially toys that encourage her to use her imagination,” Dulcie agreed.

She really never would have thought of Elizabeth as spoiled. The little girl took good care of her things for a four-year-old and didn’t beg to do anything but look when they passed the shop windows.

“Bookstore?” West asked once they had checked out.

“Oh, yes, please,” Dulcie told him, feeling a little shiver of excitement.

They continued up Bear Avenue and crossed the street to the corner of Red Oak Street to the town bookstore.

The sign outside saidClever Fox Books.Peering in the big bay window, Dulcie thought that it looked like something out of a dream, with tall, wooden shelves, each hung with twinkle lights and practically overflowing with books.

West pushed open the robin’s egg-blue door and they stepped inside, where Dulcie noticed cozy-looking plush chairs tucked into every nook and cranny. This was a paradise where a reader could easily get lost.

Delphine would spend all day in here.

“Oh, she loves these,” West said, heading over to a spinning display of Mo Willems books.

Dulcie grabbed one and started reading. After a moment, she was laughing out loud.

They picked out one Elizabeth didn’t have, and kept moving through the store. It wasn’t as enormous as the big franchises out in the city, but Dulcie couldn’t help noticing the personal recommendations.

“Oh, wow,” she said, stopping at an aisle cap to look at the cover of a romance novel. It showed a couple and two children outdoors in a snowy small town. “It looks like Sugarville Grove.”

“Do you like books like that?” West asked.

She felt a little wave of embarrassment, but she had promised never to lie to him, so she nodded. West nodded in approval and grabbed the book, adding it to the one he had chosen for Elizabeth.

“You don’t have to buy me books,” Dulcie said quickly.

“I know,” he told her. “But I likebuying books.”

“Let me guess, you have to help out the flatlander owner of this place too?” she teased him.

“Actually, this place is owned and run by folks who have been in Sugarville Grove practically forever,” West told her.

“Oh,” Dulcie said.

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