CJ looked horrified. “Dad, she tried to organize summer. She also suggested color-coding the activities. Can you believe it?”
They were all talking at once now. Billie wanted to build a fairy village. CJ wanted a family camping trip. Bianca wanted to visit three museums and a historical battlefield. Billie added that she wanted a pet goat to help eat the weeds around the gardens. Bianca immediately vetoed the goat. CJ suggested two goats so they’d never get lonely.
The argument escalated rapidly.
I looked toward the front porch. And there she was. Winnie stood in the doorway, with a smile that still managed to steal every coherent thought from my head.
It had been one month since our first official date. One month since she’d sat across from me in that little restaurant and laughed about blood sausage. One month since she’d fallen asleep beside me and somehow made my enormous bed feel smaller in all the right ways.
My heart still reacted every time I saw her. It was embarrassing, honestly.
I was nearly forty years old. A successful executive. A father of three. A grown man with responsibilities. Yet, one redheaded vampire standing in a doorway could still make me forget what I was doing.
She caught me staring. I wasn’t even going to pretend it happened accidentally anymore. Her smile widened.
Some things had become wonderfully predictable. Life with Winnie hadn’t transformed into some perfect fantasy. It had become something better. Something real. Solid. Comfortable.
We had routines now and shared responsibilities. Quiet mornings. Late-night conversations. Inside jokes. We had the kind of relationship that felt stronger because it existed in ordinary days instead of dramatic moments.
Technically, she still lived in her cottage. In practice, she spent more time at the house than anywhere else. The children had long ago stopped viewing her as a nanny. Honestly, so had I. She wasn’t the nanny. She wasn’t an employee. She wasn’t even pretending to be. The first time I’d attempted to pay her after everything settled down, she’d looked genuinely offended. Then she’d informed me that after surviving a homicidal vampire sire, she felt reasonably confident in her ability to avoid homelessness.
I had lost that argument immediately. Not that I minded. She was family. I finally understood something important. She hadn’t replaced Jade, she simply belonged here with us.
“Dad?”
I blinked. CJ was staring at me.
“You stopped listening.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, buddy. What were you saying?”
“We’re making a bucket list.”
“Yes, I think that’s a great idea,” I said.
The kids immediately cheered.
Winnie laughed. “Come inside,” she called. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
The kids sprinted for the house. I fell into step beside Winnie. Without thinking, I reached for her hand, and without hesitation, she intertwined her fingers with mine. It was so easy and natural. Her touch no longer felt new, yet it somehow made me happy every single time, no matter the circumstances.
I stopped short halfway through the kitchen. “Lady Ferdinand?”
The old woman looked up from her seat at the counter. “Hello, dear.”
I laughed. “What are you doing here?”
“We’ve been having tea.”
I looked at Winnie. She shrugged innocently. “We enjoy each other’s company.”
Lady Ferdinand lifted her teacup. “Your girlfriend is significantly more entertaining than you.”
I scowled. “How dare you?”
“I only speak the truth, dear.”
I doubled down, knowing that Lady Ferdinand could take my poking and prodding. “I’ve welcomed you into my home. And this is how you repay me?”
