“Who?”
“Your scientific researcher friend.”
“She is lovely and married to a brilliant man with whom she’s produced four equally intelligent children. I met her in college. I helped her with her economics class, and she got me through chemistry as my lab partner. All those years ago, I considered choosing the seat next to her in science as my best move ever.”
“I don’t need to be jealous?” Essie asked, her cheeks heating with embarrassment.
“No, Little girl. I didn’t ask her out years ago. I won’t change my mind now. Besides, someone else came into my life. Finding you overshadows any other beneficial relationships, Little girl.”
Essie pressed her hand to his chest, delighted that he valued her most. “Sorry, Daddy. I had to ask.”
“I’m glad you did if you were worried. Now you know. I came to tell you a surprise is waiting upstairs.”
“Is this a surprise I’m going to enjoy?” she asked, leaning away from his chest to study him skeptically.
“Definitely.”
“Is the nursery….”
“Free of dust and ready for a Little girl to come play,” Zander told her with a big grin.
Instantly, she bolted into action. Wiggling off his lap, she accidentally elbowed him in the chest. Her mouth rounded into an O. “Sorry!”
“Whoa, Little girl. Don’t knock me out!” Zander rubbed one pec. “I guess that means you’re interested in evaluating my cleaning skills?”
“Daddy! Come on! Let’s go,” Essie urged, practically dancing with excitement. The events of the day rebounded into her mind. If she’d only waited a few more hours to explore! She held a hand out to tug him to his feet.
“I think I’m okay. We’ll walk slowly up the stairs, so I don’t overtax my injured self.”
“You’re killing me, Daddy,” she pleaded with him to hurry.
Zander’s deep chuckle told her he knew exactly what he was doing. “Okay, Little girl. I can move a bit faster despite my tragic injury.”
He allowed her to set the pace as Essie raced up the steps as fast as she could. Zander pulled out the familiar keychain and dangled the three keys in front of her. “We’ve already figured out the first key goes to our suite of rooms.” He put the largest antique key into the slot to demonstrate locking and unlockingthe door. They left the main door open during the day to allow staff to clean and refresh the rooms.
Walking inside, he inserted that same key and fastened the door behind them. “We don’t need visitors while we’re exploring.”
She nodded eagerly before urging him. “Can you open the nursery?”
“Of course. Let’s go.”
Zander fit the second largest into the lock they’d discovered in the paneling, and the door swung inward. This time the scent of lemon and freshness wafted out. “You go first, Essie.”
She stepped through the threshold and froze. Looking around the large, airy space, she couldn’t believe that this was the same place. Every surface gleamed and sparkled. “Wow! How did you do this?”
“With some elbow grease and the right cleansers. Maybe this is weird to say, but I think the room helped.”
“Really? Like the nursery was eager for another Little girl?”
“Yes. I’m sure that’s totally in my head, but simply removing the rugs and bedclothes freshened the area a lot.”
Essie walked to the crib and ran her fingers over the beautiful walnut railing. Zander joined her and triggered something to drop the barrier.
“How did you do that?” she asked, checking for a hidden lever.
“Daddy’s secret. Sliding that down took me a while to figure out. I found the trigger when I accidentally wiped a control. That railing lowered with a thunk. The scare chopped several years off my life. I wondered if Edmund was demonstrating how everything worked.”
She giggled, imagining him jumping at the sound. “You can show me.”
