Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Help me care for Madison until I found a good preschool program for her.
I looked back at my grandmother. “You knew how much I needed you.”
Softness played across her aged features. “Of course, I knew. You and I have always belonged together. Besides, it’s time to get out from under your father’s roof. My son is constantly flitting around, thinking I’m incapable of taking care of myself, and if I’m not careful, he really is going to send me off to that nursing home. He already has a room reserved and paid for.”
My smile was soft. “He just wants what’s best for you, but you aren’t ready.”
“That’s right, I’m not. I still have a little purpose here. The dream team is back together.”
Emotion thickened my throat and stung at the backs of my eyes.
“Can I be on your dream team, my favorite Lolly?” Madison asked, her voice perking with excitement.
“You already are, sweet child. You already are.”
Affection pulsed through my spirit.
God, I’d missed her. I had missed the way she’d stood in the vacant place after my mother had been killed in a car accident when I was six.
I had missed her teasing.
Had missed her belief.
I cleared the sogginess from my throat, forced a bright smile, and patted Madison’s thigh. “All right, time to get your teeth brushed. We have a big day tomorrow, and Mommy has to be up early to get to work.”
Today had been my first day, which had been comprised mostly of introductions and a few meetings to familiarize myself with the staff and my surroundings.
I knew I was going to love it. I’d found the place where I belonged.
Maddie popped onto her feet, and she swung her bunny around in a circle. “Okay, me and my Princess Verona will go brush our teeth so clean they’re gonna be shining.”
She scrambled down the hall, leaving me sitting there smiling behind her.
“She’s so sweet,” Lolly murmured. “So much like you when you were little.”
“She’s my world.”
My reason. My purpose. My everything.
And I would never let anyone taint or threaten that again.
Resolved, I climbed to standing and headed down the hall on the right side of the house where there were two bedrooms and one bathroom.
Lolly had taken the largest one at the end of the hall, and Madison’s was directly across from the bathroom in the middle.
I eased in behind my daughter where she was standing on a step stool, eagerly brushing her tiny, gapped teeth, Princess Verona propped on the counter beside her.
“All done!” She beamed those gleaming teeth up at me. “What do you think? Do I have ’em shining?”
“You did a great job,” I whispered, wiping the bits of toothpaste she had smeared on her cheek with a hand towel.
She grabbed her bunny and shoved it my direction. “Princess Verona, too?”
A soft giggle pulled free as I swept her into my arms, tickled her, and said, “Princess Verona, too.”
I carried her into her room, the perfect weight of her in my arms, hers locked around my neck, the scent of her bubblegum toothpaste all around me. I set her on the bed.
Our beds were the only things we’d had time to bring in and set up before the storm had hit, so her walls were still a stark white and the floors were barren.
I tucked her under the covers.
“Story time!” She grinned as she clutched the top of the blanket to her chest with both hands.
I sat beside her and picked up her favorite book, Goodnight Moon, my voice softened as I moved through the story.
My daughter began to get drowsy, lulled by the familiar, comforting words.
When I was finished, I leaned down and kissed her nose. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
She gave a groggy giggle and grabbed me by the cheeks, keeping our noses touching. “Night, Mommy. You better get some big rest so you’re not tired at your new job.”
My heart swelled.
My sweet, sweet girl.
“I will,” I promised before I rose and crossed her room, flicked off her light, and crept back down the hall.
Lolly had already retreated to her room, the light glowing beneath the crack.
I edged toward mine that was on the other side of the house, through double doors on the opposite side of the kitchen.
I’d tried to give the primary to Lolly, but she’d insisted on taking the smaller room.
I stood in the doorway, taking it in. It had the same tile floors as the rest of the house, and the walls were painted a warm beige.
I had to have pulled ten muscles dragging the black fabric headboard in, but somehow, I’d managed, and now it was covered in a plush duvet that was a rich teal and embroidered with black lilies.
Unease wobbled through me, and I knew what had me trapped in that spot didn’t have a thing to do with the new room. It was the energy that swallowed me.