Page 6 of A Dream for Daphne

“Reese is helping her change. She spilled syrup on her shirt with breakfast.”

Reese worked from home as a woodworker in a barn on the property. More than one building had been added for his business.

“Do you have plans today?” she asked.

Daphne felt odd being a full-time nanny with Poppy still on maternity leave. She was being paid for not doing much and itdidn’t sit well for someone who’d worked more than one job her whole adult life.

She never wanted a handout like her parents often asked for. Maybe because of that she tried so hard for people to not see the same in her.

She came over to the main house every day to check in, took Holly on adventures, learned routines, offered to do anything they asked, even running errands if she needed to.

“I’m going to the office for a few hours,” Poppy said. “Got to start back slowly, but there is so much to do. The runway was a huge success and our orders and calls are coming in like crazy.”

Daphne nodded, not understanding a ton of this.

But since her brother, Aster, was the Director of Facilities at Blossoms, the company Poppy owned with her sisters Lily and Rose, she’d gotten bits and pieces from him.

One of those things was that Poppy’s bags were on a runway fashion show in Italy and now they had a growing international presence, pushing her new boss back to work earlier than she’d planned.

“It’s so exciting,” she said. “Over my head, but still exciting. I love all the products I’ve got. I can’t thank you enough. I was spoiled when Aster sent me stuff, but you’ve got my cabin full too.”

The two-bedroom cabin she lived in on the McGill estate was about eleven hundred square feet and came updated and fully furnished.

She even had a three season room that she’d been spending a lot of time in at night looking at the property around her while she read or watched TV. Sometimes listened to music.

It’s not as if she had any friends she was calling and talking to.

Aster was the only person she talked to other than his girlfriend, Raine.

She should try to get out more and find friends, but she had never been that outgoing.

The previous weekend, she’d given it a try and ended up in bed with a guy who attracted her more than anyone else in her life.

She’d just wanted to be someone else for the night.

But when she woke hours later and realized what she’d done, she’d snuck out of there faster than a French bulldog doing zoomies for attention.

She didn’t know what possessed her to have a one-night stand.

She’d always thought ill of her friends who did that, but at least it was with people they knew.

I did it with a stranger.

How stupid and reckless could she be?!

“I’m glad to know you love our products.”

“Daphne,” Holly yelled, the two-year-old running into the room in a little yellow and white sundress. There were white sandals on her feet and she lifted her arms for Daphne to pick her up.

“Hey there, sweet stuff. Don’t you look pretty.”

“Daddy said I was pretty too.”

She ran her fingertip down Holly’s arm, the skin soft and smooth like a child’s always was.

Holly’s light blonde hair was pulled back with a pink and yellow bow. One from Blossoms.

“Daddy thinks all the women in his life are pretty,” Reese said, coming into the room.

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