Page 47 of Sweet Home

“Sure,” West told her. “That will be just the right amount of time to get you dressed.”

“Good thinking,” Dulcie said. “We can go upstairs and get you dressed while these are in the oven.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, looking excited.

Dulcie had Elizabeth go to the table while she put the muffins in the oven. She was pretty sure the four-year-old could learn how to behave around the oven, but she figured it was best not to do too much in one day.

“Now I’m setting a timer,” she told her little charge. “That’s because I don’t ever want to leave something in the oven too long. It could get burnt or cause a fire.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth said, her eyes large with concern.

“Usually, I like to stay in the kitchen while things are cooking,” Dulcie told her. “It’s a good time to clean up or read a book. But your daddy is here, so he can keep an eye on the oven for us, right, West?”

“I’d be glad to,” he told her.

She and Elizabeth headed upstairs together, with Elizabeth immediately letting her know exactly what she would like to wear as they climbed the stairs.

This is going to be just fine,Dulcie told herself, feeling much better about everything now that she was in the moment.

By the timeWest was heading off for work, Elizabeth was smiling and finishing up her muffin. She already had a whole list of other things she wanted to cook, and Dulcie had promised her that they could look and see what was in the house.

On his way out, West pulled Dulcie aside.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” he told her. “Remember what I said—if you have any questions at all just call me, and then my mom if I don’t pick up right away.”

“Thank you,” she told him.

When she headed back to the kitchen, she found Elizabeth back on her step stool by the sink withher apron on.

“Oh, Elizabeth,” Dulcie said. “Are you cleaning up?”

“Mrs. Webster always cleans up after breakfast,” Elizabeth said.

“And do you help her?” Dulcie asked.

“No,” Elizabeth said, then looked down.

“But you wanted to help me?” Dulcie asked.

Elizabeth looked up at her hopefully and nodded.

“Thank you,” Dulcie told her with a big smile. “That would be great. The sooner we get cleaned up, the sooner we can do something fun.”

“Cook something?” Elizabeth asked excitedly.

“If you want,” Dulcie said, laughing.

She got the water started, showing Elizabeth that she was making it nice and warm, but not too hot. Then she washed and Elizabeth rinsed until all their dishes were in the drain rack.

West had a dishwasher, but Elizabeth was having so much fun playing in the sudsy water that Dulcie was glad they had done them by hand. It actually gave her another idea.

“Would you like to give any of your toys a bath now?” she asked.

“Mytoys?”Elizabeth echoed, chuckling.

“We could get a nice bowl of soapy water, and we could sit on the floor and play with the ones that are okay to get wet,” Dulcie said. “If you want.”

Delphine had always loved that game. The two of them had spent plenty of happy hours sitting under the kitchen table with a bowl of water and a towel, parading their plastic toys through the bath. And they hadn’t had nearly as many of them as Elizabeth did.

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