Page 46 of Sweet Home

She tried to ignore the way his deep voice sent a little shiver through her heart

“You’re very welcome,” she told West. “Let’s get the muffin tin out, okay, Elizabeth?”

As it turned out, they even had cupcake liners in the drawer. Elizabeth set each liner in the pan and then watched carefully as Dulcie poured in the batter.

“This is a big person job,” Dulcie told her. “Because the bowl is heavy and the batter wants to run out all at once.”

“What if it does?” Elizabeth asked, sounding a little worried.

“Then we’ll clean it up,” Dulcie told her. “Everyone makes mistakes, especially in the kitchen.”

She waited for Elizabeth to look up at her. When she did, Dulcie made sure to be smiling encouragingly.

That won her a sunny smile back.

“Should we sprinkle sugar on top?” Dulcie asked. “It makes the muffins look pretty.”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “Can I do it?”

“Of course,” Dulcie told her. “Let’s put your apron on.”

Elizabeth ran and got her apron, and Dulcie helped her tie it around her waist. Then she pushed the step stool over to the counter, took down the canister of sugar, and grabbed a spoon.

“Okay, hop on up,” she told Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiled and climbed up.

“You only want to put a little sugar on them,” Dulcie told her, demonstrating. “And you don’t touch the sugar spoon to the batter, or you won’t be able to put it back in the sugar.”

“What if I do touch it?” Elizabeth asked, her brow furrowed again.

“We’ll just wash the spoon and dry it and try again,” Dulcie told her. “Because everyone makes mistakes, especially in the kitchen. Right, Lilibet?”

Elizabeth’s eyes lit up a little, hearing the words for the second time in a row.

You’re okay,Dulcie told her wordlessly.You don’t have to be perfect. You can just have fun.

She handed her little helper the spoon and watched as she tried her hand at sugaring the muffins.

The first one got a little mountain of sugar instead of a sprinkle, and when Elizabeth tried to fix it she put the spoon right in the batter.

“Oh no,” she whined, looking up worriedlyat Dulcie.

“You’re doing a great job,” Dulcie told her. “This is exactly how you learn to do it. You just have to get in there and try a few times.”

She handed Elizabeth a fresh spoon, and took the old one to wash it. By the time she turned back around, Elizabeth was gazing down at the pan in a pleased way. She had perfectly sugared two muffins.

“Those look awesome,” Dulcie told her, moving to stand beside her. “Practice makes perfect.”

As Elizabeth started the next one, Dulcie caught West watching them. He sat at the kitchen table, leaning back in a relaxed way. But his eyes were alive as he took in the scene in front of him.

When he caught her looking, his expression softened.

She felt her cheeks heat, so she turned her attention back to Elizabeth right away.

“You’re almost done,” she told her. “And I’ve already got the oven preheated. That means we can have muffins in about twenty minutes.”

“Can you wait twenty minutes?” Elizabeth asked her dad.

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