Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
“No more work for today.” Ivan’s voice interrupted them. “It looks like you had a productive meeting. Now it’s time for Tiffanie to rest.”
Tiffanie rolled her eyes at Essie, but inside she was glad to have him give her an excuse to knock off for the day. Suddenly, she was exhausted. “I’ll chat with you later, Essie.”
“Definitely,” Essie said. When Ivan turned to leave, Essie met Tiffanie’s gaze and mouthed, “Daddy?” bobbing her head toward Ivan as he disappeared into the foyer.
“You might be right about that, Essie,” Tiffanie answered, confident Ivan was too far away to hear her.
“Right about what?” Ivan asked, reappearing in the doorway.
“About putting red tablecloths on the tables for the Knowledge Fair,” Tiffanie answered quickly.
“You can handle all those details later. But my carvings would show up best on dark blue or black,” Ivan said.
“Dark blue is a great suggestion, Ivan,” Tiffanie said, agreeing with him as she walked across the room. “I wish I’d thought of that.” She met Essie’s gaze and winked.
After grabbing her bag containing Biff and her notes, she wrapped her hand around Ivan’s upper arm and let him bolster her balance as they walked out to the truck. Yawning, she collapsed into the passenger seat and squeezed her stuffie to her chest. Who would believe she made her first Little friend and spent the night with her Daddy in less than twenty-four hours?
Chapter Thirteen
“How’s she doing?” Phineas asked at the door of the carriage house.
Ivan shook his head. “She wouldn’t eat anything for me tonight. Do you want to see if you can convince her?”
“I can try. I don’t suppose you’d go grab a beer and leave me alone with her for a couple of hours?”
“If you think she’ll eat for you, I’ll pack a bag for Timbuktu.”
“Going that far won’t be necessary,” Phineas said with a smile. Ivan stepped out of the doorway, and Phineas walked in. “I’ll go check on her in her room. Would you put this in the microwave for me? Three minutes on high.”
“Got it. I’ll leave the container in there for you.”
Phineas headed down the hallway, hoping to find his Little girl resting. When he knocked and silently opened the door, Tiffanie sat crumpled on the carpet next to the bed. Her forehead rested on her knees.
She didn’t raise her head but called, “I’m going to bed, Ivan. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You’re going to sleep on the floor, Princess? Ivan is terribly abusing you.”
“Daddy?” she asked, glancing up in surprise.
“Of course. Did you think I was going to miss seeing you this evening? What’s going on?” He walked forward and sat close to her.
“Maybe you were done with me? I didn’t hear from you all day.”
“Sorry, Princess. I answered your text about the event’s location. You wouldn’t believe the chaos that happened today.” He made a mental note to communicate with her more frequently. “Daddies make mistakes sometimes. I tried to concentrate on work today to get through everything as quickly as possible so I could spend time with you.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. I won’t ever lie to you, Little girl.”
She relaxed a bit and leaned against him slightly. Phineas wrapped his arm around her shoulders and scooted closer. “I had a good day. Stressful now and then. Maybe I screwed everything up. I’m second-guessing myself now.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“Essie and I had a great meeting. We decided on the decorations and the layout for the Knowledge Fair.”
“That’s awesome news. Was that the stressful part?” Phineas asked.
“No. That came when we were finished. Essie asked me if I was Little. Just like that. I got scared and told her I didn’t know.”
“That question came out of the blue, didn’t it? That took a lot of bravery on her part to bring the subject up.” Phineas could feel the emotions radiating from her. He wanted to make this better for his Little girl, but she’d have to work her way through the worry. Perhaps he could help.
“I didn’t know she was Little! Did you?”
“I didn’t know, but I suspected from a few things I’ve overheard and seen when she is with Zander.” The muffled sound of a spank on a clothed butt coming from the office before he’d walked in, a whispered good girl, that look that warned of repercussions, and the care that Zander always showed Essie.
“I must be totally clueless,” Tiffanie said sadly.
“Or busy and not paying attention. You’ve had a few things on your mind, and most people try to keep a distance between themselves and their boss when discussing one’s personal life.”
Tiffanie turned her head to meet Phineas’s gaze. She paused for a moment as if considering what he said before saying, “Yeah, I think that’s it. Totally.”
“Did she tell you why she asked?” Phineas asked.
“She wanted a Little friend.”