Page 95 of The Billionaire’s Nanny

Carrington came in at half past eight wearing a sweater and no shoes. She stopped in the doorway with her cup already full, which meant she'd been up a while somewhere else in the house.

"Sit down," Lucy said to Carrington.

"I can help."

"I have enough help. You can sit down."

She sat down on the far stool. Grace cracked the first egg one-handed on the flat of the counter. Nobody had taught her that. It went into the bowl with a sliver of shell.

"Get that out with a bit of the shell," Lucy said. "Fingers won't cut it."

Grace fished it out and held the piece up on her fingertip. Lucy nodded at it, and Grace flicked it into the sink. The second and the third went in clean. The fourth broke all down the front of the cupboard.

"Beautiful," Lucy said.

"That one was me trying," Grace said.

She got a cloth without being asked and climbed down and wiped the door. Then she straightened up with the cloth still in her hand and looked across at her aunt.

"Aunt Carrie," she said.

Carrington had her hand around her cup and didn't take it off.

"That's what I'm going to call you now," Grace said. "The long one's just what other people call you." She put the cloth on the edge of the sink and lined it up square. "Is that all right?"

"Yes," Carrington said.

"You can say if it isn't."

"It's all right, Grace."

Lucy put the pan back on the burner and kept her back to the room for a second. Carrington got off the stool, and Lucy heard her go up the hall.

Grace watched the empty doorway. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Lucy said. "Put some milk in and don't beat it to death."

Grace poured the milk. Lucy heard the study door open, then nothing for about a minute, then the door again. Carrington came back in and shifted her cup an inch along the marble.

"Flour," Lucy said, and pushed the bag along the marble at her. "Cup and a half."

Carrington looked at the bag, then she rolled her sleeves up and slowly measured it out. A good deal of it fell down her front.

"How many pancakes is she making?" Carrington said.

"Eight, but she’ll only eat two."

Grace flipped the pancakes, and Lucy took over when the handle got hot. Two got burned, but they still had six good ones to share. After she finished eating, Grace took her plate to the sink and left to get her shoes. Deborah was coming at eleven.

Carrington got something out of her pocket and put it on the marble. It was a key on a loop of green string.

"It’s for the courtyard door and gate," she said. "Not the cottage."

Lucy looked at it and didn't pick it up.

"It's a key," Carrington said. "That's all it is."

"I can see."