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“Good girl. You’re Daddy’s good Little girl, aren’t you? Shh. Come here.” He sat with her on his lap, holding her tight, keeping her safe.
The way he always did.
8
Charlie heard them coming before she saw them. It was like a stampede of elephants walking into the house. Amazing how a bunch of women could make such a racket. She smiled huge as they stepped into the living room.
They all entered in a rush. Voices high with excitement. It was late afternoon. The woman from the spa would be here soon to do their nails and give them all facials. Then they were all having homemade pizza before being picked up.
“Charlie!” Ellie cried out. She set down a container she’d been carrying and rushed forward and sat next to Charlie on the sofa to give her a big hug. “I’m so excited. I’m gonna get bright pink nails.”
Daisy walked in next with a smile. “Bright pink will look great on you, Ellie.”
Daisy set a plate of chocolate cupcakes down on the coffee table. Yum. She leaned in and gave Charlie a hug. “So glad you’re feeling better.”
“Me too. Doc finally relented and let me get out of bed. I thought I was gonna end up having my wedding in there.”
“He can be such a stick-in-the-mud sometimes,” Caley said as she walked over to them. She put down another plate. It held an assortment of cookies. “When I hurt my hands, I was barely allowed to walk anywhere. And Lord forbid I try to even glance at my laptop. That man nearly lost his mind.”
Charlie smiled up at Caley, who was a romance writer. All of her
books were about Littles.
The others all came in with plates of food until the coffee table was covered.
“Yes! Someone brought candy,” Daisy said. “Jed wouldn’t let me buy any.” She dug her hand into the bowl of mixed candy.
“I did,” Gigi said quietly. “I told Macca I wasn’t sure what everyone liked so we grabbed an assortment.” She winked at Daisy. “Thought you would appreciate it.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Daisy said sincerely as everyone else giggled, knowing what a sweet tooth she had and that Jed wouldn’t let her eat much.
The meanie.
“It all looks so good, I don’t know where to start,” Ari said quietly. The famous singer could be quiet and shy, which seemed crazy seeing as she used to sing to thousands of people. But her parents and manager had forced her into those concerts. She was happy living in her cabin, with big, scary Bain and creating her own music rather than touring around the country and singing to huge crowds.
Eden, Clint and Kent’s younger sister, rolled into the room, followed by Abby.
“Sorry I’m late,” Abby said, looking a bit stressed. “I was trying to get the bows right.” She was carrying a huge, wrapped silver box with a pink ribbon.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Charlie said.
“It’s from all of us.” Ellie bounced up and down as Abby handed it over with a smile.
Charlie looked over at Eden who gave her a wink before accepting a glass of pink lemonade from Daisy who was pouring them each some.
She opened up the box, her eyes widening in shock at the gift cradled in tissue paper.
“Oh my gosh. You guys, this is amazing.”
It was a large rose gold frame, but instead of just holding one photo there was a series of photos. All of them black and white. Most were of her and Clint. But the others all featured as well. Some photos were pictures of the ranch. And most of them were photos she’d taken.
“Where? How?” She sniffled, feeling overwhelmed.
“Clint helped,” Abby told her. “He snuck onto your laptop and sent them to me. I got them printed. Ellie and Daisy picked out the frame and everyone helped put it all together.”
“Do you like it?” Gigi asked.
Tears dripped down her face. “I love it. It’s amazing. Thank you so much. I can’t believe you did this for me.”
