CAM
Ipulled into the driveway forty minutes early, my shoulders aching from lifting furniture all day. The house was lit up, warm light spilling from the windows, and my heart squeezed at the knowledge that Emily was inside. Waiting for me.
She’s not waiting for you, asshole. She’s there because you pay her.
I cut the engine, trying to ignore the way my pulse kicked up in anticipation. Yeah, this was getting to be a problem.
Dragging in a deep breath that had no effect on my galloping pulse, I grabbed my things and headed inside. I’d barely made it through the door when I heard the girls giggling and talking in hushed tones. I followed the sound to the playroom and stopped dead in the doorway as all the air whooshed from my lungs.
Emily was lying on the daybed covered in a blanket, eyes closed, hands folded across her stomach. She looked heartbreakingly lovely, lying there with her hair splayed across the pillow, her lips curved in a half smile as my girls flitted around her.
I was so mesmerized that it took me a full minute to take in what they were actually doing.
Audrey and Alice were placing hand drawn flowers all around her, their movements careful and deliberate, like they were performing some kind of sacred ritual.
“Daddy!” Alice spotted me first, her face lighting up.
“Hey, monsters.” I forced myself to sound normal, casual. “What’s going on here?”
Emily opened her eyes and started to sit up, but both girls immediately jumped forward.
“No!” Audrey pressed her hands against Emily’s shoulders. “You can’t move yet.”
“I can’t?” Emily’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why not?”
“Because we’re not done with the test,” Alice said seriously.
“The test.” A hint of laughter sparkled in her eyes. “Right. Of course.”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe, too curious now to interrupt whatever this was. “What kind of test are we talking about?”
“A very important one,” Audrey replied.
They stood there staring at Emily, identical expressions of intense concentration on their faces. Waiting for something.
Emily lay perfectly still, playing along. “Am I supposed to be doing something?”
“Just lying there,” Alice said.
More staring. More waiting. Watching Emily try to keep a straight face while my daughters conducted their mysterious experiment was possibly the best thing I’d seen all week.
Finally, Audrey and Alice exchanged a look. Some kind of silent communication passed between them, and they both nodded.
“Okay,” Audrey announced. “You can get up now.”
“Thank God.” Emily sat up, brushing flower drawings off her shirt. “I was starting to think I’d failed whatever that was.”
“You did.”
“Wow, that’s brutal, Alice.” I didn’t even try to hide my amusement, and you bet my heart stuttered when Emily’s eyes met mine, glowing with the same humor.
“But we’re not finished yet,” Alice assured her
“There’s more?”
“Daddy.” Audrey turned to me with that serious expression she got when she was on a mission. “You need to make Emily coffee while we get ready.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Get ready for what?”
