“We’ll manage,” I say gruffly.
Her frown deepens. “There’s nowhere else… You said it yourself. How long did it take you to get here?”
“Eight or nine hours with a couple stops. Got a real early start.”
“Oh, crap.” She sucks her bottom lip.
Like I need a reminder.
“What else do you suggest, lady? I’m offering to get out of your hair.” I’m losing my patience.
“Dad, can we stay?” Dan calls impatiently from the other room.
I look back just as I hear Sophie smack him.
Margot leans against the wall, her arms folded, her face lost in contemplation.
“Why not,” she says with a sigh. “I know how hard it can be to find rentals in these parts, especially in the fall. This place is massive anyway. I won’t use all four bedrooms.”
“So we can stay?” Dan whoops from the great room.
“Weren’t you listening? We can stay!” This time, it’s Sophie.
She claps her hand over her mouth like she’s shocked at the sound of her own voice.
I am, too.
It’s not often she gets this worked up, especially in front of a stranger.
That tells me this place means more to her than I realized, and it slams my heart like a brick.
“You can stay,” Margot confirms. “As long as you don’t mind sharing a room and the kitchen.”
“That’s very generous—” I start, but the kids leap up from where they’re sitting on the stairs and sprint for the back door.
Dan flings it open until it bangs against the doorstopper.
He holds it open for Sophie, and they’re already gone before I can tell them to slow down and be careful.
Lovely.
“That won’t happen again,” I promise quickly. “If I can, I’ll patch up a few things around here.”
“No, don’t put yourself out. They’re nice kids,” she says, watching them as they go bounding across the lawn to the lake. “Sophie and…?”
“Daniel. Dan for short.”
“They look like twins!”
“They are.”
She shrugs and pushes off from the wall.
“Well, feel free to settle in and unpack. I don’t need more than a room, really.”
“Thank you,” I say cautiously.
This is fucking new.
