Page 7 of Substitute Bride

“You’re not going to be leeches,” Deanna said with a scowl. “Why on earth wouldn’t we want to contribute to the family?”

“You can contribute. You do contribute. But we shouldn’t get used to just relying on you. It’s not fair.” Rose was serious about this since she’d been thinking a lot about it recently, and her voice broke slightly in her earnestness. “I know Grandmama will take everything you give her since she prides herself on getting you and Mitchell together in the first place, but it’s not right. I’m not going to let us take advantage of your generosity.”

“But Mitchell doesn’t care! I know he was kind of snotty at first, working out the limits of the budget he was willing to spend on the house. But he’s different now. He loves us. He wants us to use his resources.”

“I don’t care. Of course we’ll let you help out, but you shouldn’t have to pay for everything. If you’re going to contribute to the cost of taking care of these clothes, then I’m going to contribute too.”

Deanna rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking annoyed, but she didn’t continue to argue. It was always that way growing up. Rose was always the milder and quieter of the two, but she was also the most stubborn. Deanna might be more forceful in arguments, but Rose held out the longest—which meant she usually won.

“So let’s pick out the prettiest dresses to put on the forms so we’ll know how many we need.” Rose’s tone was light and friendly, and as usual, their argument was forgotten almost immediately.

Deanna started rooting through clothes that were piled up on the floor. “The lace wedding dress is gorgeous, and it’s still in good condition. And what about that green flapper dress?”

“I love that one. And also the gold empire waist gown. Those three and this ball gown here would make four. Surely that’s enough.”

They kept working for another hour, and Rose was in a good mood when she and Deanna went out to grab a sandwich for lunch.

She’d often felt a little distanced from her family since the Harwoods lived in an upscale suburb on the outskirts of town, and her life with James and the girls felt so different than her upbringing with her grandmother and sisters.

She liked to be able to help as much as she could. And she liked to spend time with her sisters, who had always been her best friends.

Occasionally someone would ask her how long she planned to be a nanny, and she’d never had an answer for them. She assumed she wouldn’t be a nanny all her life, but doing something else would mean leaving James and the girls.

And she wasn’t ready to do that yet.

“But I wanted to go the skating rink and have strawberry cupcakes,” Julie wailed, leaning back in her seat in the car, her small face crumpling.

“I know,” Rose said calmly. She’d picked them up from dance practice with the unfortunate news of the birthday party being canceled because the birthday girl had caught a stomach bug. “You’ll still get to do it. They’re going to reschedule the party in a few days as soon as Mya feels better again.”

“It won’t be the same!”

Rose used the same light tone she always did when Julie bemoaned the world not being perfect. “Yes, life is tragically hard, isn’t it? But better to reschedule than going to skate tonight and have poor Mya throw up all over the place.”

“Gross,” Jill said with a little giggle.

“Gross!” Julie agreed, her woe the moment before considerably lessened. “When will it be?”

“Mya’s mom didn’t know. Maybe Thursday or Friday. She said the strawberry cupcakes would definitely be there for the taking though.”

Julie let out a long-suffering sigh. “Oh. So what will we do tonight?”

Rose glanced out the window at the cars passing them on the highway. James always had her and the girls driven around in a hired car, something Rose appreciated. She didn’t own a car herself since she’d never been able to afford one. She did have a license, but she hadn’t driven in years. She would have hated having the stress of getting used to driving again while being responsible for two little girls.

“I don’t know what we’ll do,” she said cheerfully. “Your daddy has a business dinner, so we’ll have to think of something fun to do.”

“Can we go to a movie?” Jill asked.

“Maybe. Let’s think about it and see what’s playing.”

“Oh, can we go try on dresses at your grandma’s house?” Jill asked, the idea obviously coming to her unexpectedly. Rose had told the girls about what she’d done that morning earlier in the afternoon, and they’d been intrigued by all her descriptions of the long dresses and full skirts.

Julie’s face beamed. “Yes, yes, please!”

“Oh, and we can see the Pride,” Jill added, thinking of a new reason for excitement.

“The Pride!” Julie repeated.

Rose’s grandmother had the macabre habit of stuffing her Siamese cats after they died, and she had a large collection of them that she liked to display with her other treasures. Rose had told the girls about the stuffed cats several times, and they’d been fascinated.