CHAPTER TWENTY
Bliss adjusted the baby blanket around Nori. It felt so good to hold her and watch her beautiful eyes. Now, if she could just find Tipsy. Her stuffie was gone, and she thought she knew where.
On Ms. Talon’s last visit, the woman had come out of the bedroom, holding Tipsy in front of her by her stuffie’s ear with two fingers. With a look of disgust, she’d asked, “What is this?”
There seemed to be an obvious answer to the question, but Bliss couldn’t tell the woman the stuffie was hers. Yes, this was Darling. And yes, most of the women in town owned stuffies. But they were being bullied with the threat of losing their children.
So Bliss lied. “It’s one of the girls’ stuffies.”
Old Seagull frowned so hard, Bliss was surprised the corners of her mouth didn’t touch below her chin. She dropped Tipsy on the floor and sniffed her disapproval. “I see,” she’d said, then she scribbled more notes on her clipboard.
Bliss had put Tipsy in a basket by the door to keep her safe. She’d been changing Sophie’s diaper when Seagull left, and Bliss got busy taking care of the babies. The next day, when she went to retrieve Tipsy, her stuffie was gone. Bliss had been so upset, she’d sat on the floor and cried.
She glanced up at the sound of the creaking door, automatically drawing Nori closer.
“Hello?” Winnie’s cheerful voice drifted inside the cabin.
“In here!” Bliss called from the living room, relaxing her grip.
The afternoon sun slanted through the big windows, warming the polished pine floors Connor had insisted on refinishing the week before. The cabin looked nothing like the quiet place Bliss had first stumbled into months ago. Toys were everywhere. Baby blankets draped over chairs. A bouncy seat rocked gently beside the couch.
And three energetic girls ruled the place like it was their kingdom, which, everyone mostly agreed, it was.
Winnie stepped into the room and stopped short. “Oh my goodness.” She looked around the room in wonder.
Bliss smiled softly. “That bad?”
Winnie laughed and shook her head, her blonde curls catching the light. “No, it’s just… different.”
Sadie gurgled from the play mat while Sophie attempted to chew on the corner of a stuffed fox. Nori slept peacefully in Bliss’s arms.
Winnie walked slowly around the room, taking everything in. “It looks so… homey now,” she said. “When I lived here, it looked like a bachelor lodge. Have you used the tree swings yet?”
Bliss snorted softly. “Are you kidding? Only every day. I’ve also been using the craft room. It is killer. But you’re right, it does that “bachelor lodge” feel.”
Winnie grinned. “I know, right? Reid’s place looked the same way before I moved in. Of course, we mustn’t forget the throw pillows.”
Bliss laughed. “I still can’t believe you talked Reid into owning throw pillows.”
“But she did, and we never let him forget it,” Connor said from the doorway behind her.
Winnie spun around. “Connor!”
He grinned lazily and leaned against the doorframe. “Relax, Tink. I didn’t sneak up. You just didn’t hear me.”
“I’m not sure that there’s a difference,” Winnie said.
Bliss chuckled softly as Connor crossed to the kitchen, carrying two grocery bags. He glanced around the room. “Why does it look like a toy store exploded in here?”
Bliss narrowed her eyes. “Because three babies and a Little live here.”
Connor grinned at her. “Fair point. I guess it would be more accurate to say four baby girls live here.”
Winnie crossed her arms and looked between them. “I wish Bliss and the girls could live in Arcadian Hills with all the rest of the Musketiaras. We’d have a blast.”
Connor shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”
Bliss caught the twinkle in his eye. “What does that mean?”
