I squeezed her knee. “No more questions?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay.” I leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll come get you to leave soon.”

As I was walking out the door, she stopped me. “Wait.”

“Yeah?”

“I do have one more question.”

“Shoot.”

“Can I get the big box of Milk Duds at the movies?”

I chuckled. “We’ll see.”

Another wave of relief hit me as I left her room. That had gone way better than I’d anticipated. I hoped nothing would happen to jinx it.

Birdie ended up really enjoying the Disney movie we watched. As for me, I really enjoyed holding Sadie’s hand as I sat between them. Not to mention I’d been so busy taking care of everything over the past several years, I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone who was looking out for me. Sadie would do subtle things like move the hair off my face or brush crumbs off my shirt. She definitely had a very protective instinct. And I had to say, I loved being looked after by a beautiful woman.

It was too soon to have Sadie spend the night with Birdie home, but I wanted nothing more than to have her in my bed tonight. I’d have to figure out a way to get alone time with her, whether it be in the middle of the day or by having Magdalene do a few overnights here and there.

When we left the theater and Sadie took Birdie down the hall to the bathroom, it occurred to me that it was the first time in ages that I didn’t have to stand outside the door while my daughter used a public women’s restroom to make sure she was okay. That was definitely one thing I’d taken for granted when Amanda was alive.

After the movie, the three of us went to a restaurant of Birdie’s choosing and, as usual, she chose fondue.

My daughter dipped a piece of bread into the melted cheese as she looked up at Sadie, who was sitting next to her.

“Don’t you like fondue, Sadie?” she asked.

Sadie seemed to be enjoying watching Birdie eat more than enjoying the food herself. “You know . . . you might not believe this, but I have never had fondue before tonight.”

Birdie’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Whoa. How come?”

“I know. Seems crazy, right? I never really started going out to eat until I moved to the city, so I had a lot of catching up to do. Still catching up, I guess.”

“Your daddy never took you out to eat?”

“We didn’t have a lot of money growing up. So my dad preferred to cook at home.”

“Your daddy could cook?” Birdie looked at me with an impish grin. “Mine can’t.”

My shoulders shook from laughter. “Thanks for that, sweetheart.”

Sadie chimed in. “Yeah, but your daddy has so many other great qualities. He’s smart and witty and an excellent businessman. So, if he could cook, that would make him, like . . . perfect . . . and no one is perfect.” She winked at me, and it made me want to leap across the table and devour her beautiful lips.

“That’s true,” Birdie agreed. “He’s smart and really nice and tells really good bedtime stories off the top of his head.”

“See . . .” Sadie smiled.

Birdie’s eyes brimmed with curiosity. “So, what kinds of things did your dad cook for you?”

“My dad has a really big garden, so he’d make all kinds of things with vegetables. Tomato sauce for homemade pizza, fried zucchini . . . stuff like that.”

“Zucchini!” Birdie scrunched her nose. “I don’t love vegetables. I only love olives.”

“Birdie wishes her dad would grow cookies in the garden, right, sweetie?” I said.

Sadie pointed her finger to her chin. “Hmm, we’ll have to find some creative ways to get you to eat your vegetables, Birdie.” She raised her brow. “Do you like shakes?”

“I love them. Especially with ice cream.”

“I’ll bet you I can sneak vegetables into a delicious shake, and you won’t even know they’re there.”

Birdie looked skeptical. “Really?”

“Yup. In fact, I make them all the time for myself, and I can’t even taste the spinach.”

Her mouth dropped. “Spinach?”

You’d think Sadie had uttered an obscenity based on my daughter’s reaction.

“Yup. Wanna bet it’s good?”

“Can you come over and make it tonight?”

Sadie looked at me like she wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I think Sadie has to work tomorrow,” I said.

Sadie looked a little disappointed that I’d closed the door on her coming home with us. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to. I just worried I might mess up tonight in front of my daughter. But I really did want her to head back with us, even if for a little while. So I added, “But if she wants to come over and make you a shake for dessert, I’ll make sure she gets home safe.”

I signaled to her with my eyes that I really hoped she came over tonight. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed her to come over so that I could at least kiss her good night.

Sadie smiled at me. “Okay, maybe I can stop by there for a little bit.”

Birdie jumped up and down in her seat. “Yay!”

On the way home, we stopped at a market so that Sadie could buy the ingredients for what she dubbed her “magic shake.”

Once we got to the house, she laid all the ingredients out on the counter.

“Now, I shouldn’t even be giving out my secret recipe, but since I really like you, Birdie, I’m gonna show you exactly how to make my special shake.”

Birdie watched with excitement as I got the blender out for Sadie. Then I rolled up my sleeves and leaned into the counter to just enjoy watching the two of them interact.

Sadie peeled a banana. “So the first magic ingredient is a really ripe banana. Because that makes the shake super sweet without having to add too much sugar.”

Birdie looked up at her. “I love sugar.”

“I know, Miss Cookie, but sugar isn’t that great for you. I promise you that this will taste just as sweet as sugar, okay?”

My daughter shrugged. “Okay.”

Sadie opened up a jar of peanut butter. “This is the next secret ingredient . . . which does have some sugar in it . . . but I’ll let it slide.” She winked.

“I love peanut butter. Especially peanut butter cookies,” Birdie said.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Sadie chuckled.

My daughter eagerly hopped up on her toes. “What’s next?”

“Next is a cup of vanilla almond milk.”

Birdie scrunched her nose. “Milk made from almonds?”

“Yup. And it tastes kind of like vanilla ice cream.”

She looked skeptical. “Hmm.”

“Are you challenging me, Miss Birdie?”

My daughter giggled. It was nice to see her this engaged. Sadie made her so happy. She made me so happy.

“The next ingredient is . . . frozen blueberries.” Sadie ripped open the bag of fruit.

“I love blueberries!” Birdie squealed.

Sadie walked over to the ice maker and placed a cup under it. “Next, I’m adding a few ice cubes to make the shake extra cold. Then, last but not least, comes the most important ingredient.”