“Oh no! Is it broken or anything?” She took the dolphin from my hand, giving it a careful once-over.
“No, I think it’s okay. Its nose got caught at the back of the drawer,” I answered. “Why is it in the drawer and not in the curio cabinet?”
“Well…” She blushed, looking at me and then at the wooden dolphin in her hand. “I know you made it for my collection, but when I heard that Oliver was getting married, I decided to give it to my new sister since dolphins represent friendship and loyalty. Sort of like a welcome-to-the-family gift. I put it in the drawer so nothing would happen to it.” She wrapped her fingers around the small figurine.
My heart squeezed at her words. Rosalind had always wanted a sister. From the time she was a tiny girl, she would take turns asking Oliver and me when one of us was going toget married, because she wanted a sister and to have more girls around.
“That’s really sweet, Rosie. I think your future sister-in-law will love it.” I smiled.
“As long as it’s not that bitch Renata, I’ll be happy.”
“Rosie!” I exclaimed, surprised. I had never heard her swear before.
“What?! She is, and you know it.”
All I could do was laugh. She wasn’t wrong, although I was surprised she had picked up on just how bad Renata was. I wondered how much this little girl, with one foot in childhood and the other in adolescence, really observed when the rest of us thought she wasn’t watching.
After fixing her toilet, which turned out to be a loose valve, I checked my watch. Time to head home.
“All right, squirt. I think I fixed everything. Don’t clog any more toilets for a few more weeks, okay?”
A low huff came from the overstuffed chair.
“Let’s go home, Eugene,” I called from the door.
“He told me he wants to stay here tonight,” Rosie answered from under the dog.
“Oh, he did, huh?”
She burrowed her head into his neck and scratched his ears. Eugene let out a loud, satisfied sigh. They were insufferably cute.
“Fine. Steal my dog for the night. I’ll get him at breakfast.”
“Birdie! I miss you!” Sam’s face filled the phone screen, her smile wide.
“I miss you, too! What’s new at home?” I rolled onto my side, snuggling into my pillow and relishing the warmth of the down covers. It was early and I still had at least half an hour before Sonya would be in to officially wake me up to get ready for my private palace tour with Prince Oliver.
“Literally nothing. Dating is dumb, people are off their rocker, work is boring. I’d much rather hear about your life, thanks very much. Tell meeverything,” Sam gushed. She had always been an extreme night owl, often doing her best work after midnight. It was baffling, but I was certainly glad for it now with the time difference.
I filled her in on the whirlwind of the last few days, including as many details as I could remember.
“We had yesterday free and, to be honest, I spent most of the day catching up on sleep. I’m headed to the palace later this morning for a private tour with the prince, though.”
“Is Prince Oliver as nice as he seemed when we hung out with him here?”
“Oh, for sure,” I said. “He is genuinely kind and caring, maybe even a little bit shy at times. Although I think he does have his limits; he was really pissed when that reporter asked about my mom. He handled it well, but I could tell how mad he was.”
“Sounds like he’s protective of the people he cares about,” Sam said thoughtfully.
“I mean, I dunno if he knows me well enough yet to care about me,” I hedged.
Sam gave me a skeptical look. “Okay, sure. Keep telling yourself that, Birdie,” she laughed. “So…what about Knox?”
“What about him?”
“Like, has he been around? Have you seen him much?”
“Oh yeah, he’s been at all the events so far. I actually ran into him at the woodshop the other day while I was looking for the bathroom. He has a workspace there, showed me some of his carvings, and then he showed me how to work with the wood.”
