“I’m hungry, Mrs. Michaels. When are we going to eat?” Bored with the game apparently, Jack had wandered back to them.
“I think your father is going to be busy for a while yet. Why don’t you and Ava and I go find something? Perhaps dinner at the café tonight would be fun and we can pick something up for your father for later.”
“Can I have one of the sweet rolls?” he asked, his eyes lighting up as if it were already Christmas morning.
The housekeeper laughed. “We’ll have to see about that. I’d say the café’s business in sweet rolls has tripled since we came to town, thanks to you alone.”
“They are delish,” Caidy agreed, smiling at the very cute boy.
Mrs. Michaels rose to her feet with a creak and a pop of some joint. “It was lovely to meet you, Caidy Bowman.”
“I’m happy to meet you too. And I’ll keep my eye out for a suitable vacation rental.”
“You’ll need to take that up with Dr. Caldwell, but thank you.”
The woman seemed to be efficient, Caidy thought as she watched her herd the children out the door.
The reception room seemed even more bleak and colorless after the trio left. Though it was just past six, the night was already dark on this, one of the shortest days of the year. Caidy fidgeted, leafing aimlessly through her magazine for a few moments longer, then finally closed it with a rustle of pages and tossed it back onto the pile.
Darn it. That was her dog back there. She couldn’t sit out here doing nothing. At the very least she deserved to know what was going on. She gathered her courage, took a deep breath and pushed through the door.