“Really?” Her eyes went wide. “It’s a real place?”

I nodded, widening my eyes too. “Yes.”

“Is the story real?” she wondered.

“Definitely,” I said.

“I want to marry a prince, don’t you?”

I winked at her. “Definitely.”

A little while later, I got her to take the Motrin but she refused to eat much more than a piece of bread with nothing on it. She did let me braid her hair, though, and she was asleep with her head on my lap when I heard Mack and the other two girls come in the back door.

“How’s she doing?” Mack said, following Millie and Felicity into the living room.

“She’s fine,” I whispered, putting a finger over my lips so the girls would stay quiet.

Millie noticed her sister’s braids right away. “You said you’d teach me how to do Dutch braids in my hair, remember?”

“I want braids too,” piped up Felicity.

Millie rolled her eyes. “You don’t even have enough hair. And it’s all hacked up in the front.”

Felicity started to cry, and Winnie woke up. Mack came over and helped her sit up, feeling her forehead.

“I think you have enough hair for braids, Felicity,” I told her. “I can do it—they’ll just be short at the ends.”

“Yay! Daddy, can Frannie stay a little?”

“That’s up to Frannie,” he said. “If she wants to spend more time in this loony bin, I’m not gonna stop her.”

I laughed. “I like this loony bin. I can stay a little longer.”

When all three girls had Dutch braids in their hair, I gave them each a hug goodbye and went into the kitchen, where Mack was pouring a can of tomato soup into a bowl for Winnie.

“Hey, I’m going to head out,” I told him. “Unless you need anything else.”

“I’m good.”

“What about this week? The usual schedule?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe the weekend is over already.” Covering the top of the bowl with a plate, he stuck it in the microwave. “But I spoke with Mrs. Ingersoll on the ride to Petoskey, and it turns out the break wasn’t as bad as she thought. She’s in a cast, but her daughter can help with the driving and she can watch the girls this week.”

“That’s good news.”

“Hell yes, it is. I’d have been fucked without her this week. And without you last week.” After setting the cook time for three minutes, he took out his wallet and placed forty dollars on the counter. “For everything extra you did, although it’s not enough.”

I shoved it back toward him. “I don’t want your money, Mack.”

“Please take it.” He met my eyes. “You spend so much of your time making my life easier, and I can’t give you more of my time.” He put his wallet away and pushed the bills toward me again. “Take it.”

“No,” I said stubbornly. “We’re friends. And friends don’t pay each other for favors.” I headed for the back hall, where I put on my boots and zipped up my coat. I was about to put on my gloves and hat when Mack joined me by the door.

“Hey,” he whispered, grabbing my arm.

“Hey what?”

With a quick glance over his shoulder, he suddenly pulled me close and slanted his mouth over mine. His tongue swept between my lips. His arms twined around me, his hands roaming over my body. For ten full seconds, he kissed me so deeply I was breathless and dizzy when he broke away.

“We are not friends,” he said, his voice low and firm. He winked before backing out of the hall and calling the girls to lunch.

In a daze, I made my way to the car, not even feeling the frozen sting of the air on my cheeks.

Later I found the two twenties in my coat pocket and realized what Mack had been doing there at the door. I burst out laughing and stuffed them back in.

Every Sunday evening, my mother made dinner for the family. My parents still lived in what we called “the old part of the house,” some of which had been taken over and renovated into rooms for the inn after us kids moved out. But they kept plenty of rooms for themselves, including their kitchen, dining room, library, and family room downstairs, and the master bedroom and bath, and a guest suite on the second floor.

Occasionally one or both of my sisters wouldn’t make it, especially if they weren’t at the inn already. But tonight they were both there.

Chloe cornered me in the dining room as we set the table. “So,” she whispered, glancing toward the kitchen. “Any news?”

I couldn’t hide a smile as I placed a fork to the left of each plate. “I saw him last night. And again today.”

Her jaw dropped. “Jeez. So it’s serious, huh?”

“Today I was only watching the girls. Last night was more of a …” Then I stopped. What had it been? Not a date, really. “A romantic interlude.”

Chloe snorted, setting a wine glass at each place. “What the hell is a romantic interlude? Does it involve sex?”

“In this case, yes.” I paused, debating whether to go on, then thought fuck it. “In the kitchen.”

Chloe stopped moving and blinked at me. “Seriously? Kitchen sex? I’m impressed.”

“Shhhhh.” I glanced behind me to make sure Mom and April were still chattering away in the next room. “It was sort of spontaneous. Winnie was asleep upstairs.” I told her about the accident at their aunt’s house as I set the rest of the silverware out.

“Oh my God, poor little thing,” she said, pulling a corkscrew from the sideboard’s top drawer. She worked the cork free from a bottle of wine. “Must be hard raising three girls all on his own.”

“It is,” I confirmed. “He’s worried that he doesn’t have enough time for me. But I keep telling him I’m not needy. I just want to be with him.”

“Be with who?” April breezed in carrying a platter of broiled salmon and set it on the table.

Chloe and I exchanged a wide-eyed look. “Um,” I mumbled.

April folded her arms and looked back and forth between the two of us. “Something is up with you two. Spill.”

Twisting my fingers together at my waist, I leaned over and looked past April to make sure our mother was still busy in the kitchen, and she was, bickering with my dad over something. “Okay, if I tell you, you have to promise to keep it quiet.”

“Of course. Tell me who he is!”

I grinned. “Mack.”

Her mouth fell open and then she looked at Chloe. “I knew it! I was right!

“Shhhhh,” I hushed. “You were. But it’s very new and it’s kind of tricky because of all the circumstances. I don’t want Mom and Dad to know yet.”

“Why not? I think it’s great.”

“It feels great so far,” I said, my face getting warm. “But there are kids involved and—”

“What’s this little powwow about?” my mother asked, carrying a bowl of green beans into the dining room.

“Ryan and Stella’s wedding,” April said quickly. “Frannie is making macarons, and she was just telling me which flavors she’s going to make.”