AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Perkins. See you soon.” He turned to his daughter with a smile of relief. “All right, Brianna. Your friend is coming. Happy?”
“Yes, Daddy. Thank you.”
“You’ll play in your room. Go clean it.”
“Why? We can play in it without cleaning it. I’ll do my homework first.”
“Good idea.”
Homework was at the top of his agenda, too. Knowing Annette was an excellent teacher, he’d never interfered in the way she’d raised their daughter. To give her credit, Brianna aced all her tests, math, reading, science, and others, even if she’d never bothered to make her bed or clean her room. Their cleaning lady handled that task once a week.
By two o’clock, Brianna sat on the steps behind the door and waited for her friend. “Daddy, they’re here,” she screamed when a large van pulled into the driveway.
Tim ran to the door to meet their guest and her mother. A woman wearing a winter coat over her scrubs jumped out of the driver’s seat and opened the back door, helping out a little girl in blue jeans and a red parka. His arm outstretched, he stepped forward and shook hands with the young medic while Brianna ran to hug her friend and pull her inside.
“Nice meeting you, Mrs. Perkins. Would you like to come in?”
“Thank you, but no. I have to run. I’m an associate nurse, working second shift in the ER at Bethesda North.”
“Then have a good evening and don’t worry about Debbie. I’ll bring her back at five.”
“Thank you. Bye.” She slid into her van and backed up, waving.
Somehow he thought her job suited her gentle, easy-going personality. Although he’d hardly exchanged two sentences with her, he was used to assessing people at first glance before digging into their past to discover their personality—but Erin Perkins wasn’t a client in need of a lawyer. He shrugged and stepped inside his house to avoid the brisk breeze announcing another winter storm.
He climbed to the second floor to check on the girls and stopped short in the hallway outside Brianna’s room, listening.
“Why should we make my bed? I never do that.” His daughter’s voice dripped with annoyance.
“I can’t play in a messy room. Mommy makes us clean our rooms before we go to school.”
“Every day?” Brianna sounded horrified.
“Of course. We can’t come back from school to a messy room.” Debbie stated, probably repeating her mother’s words. “How would we do homework?”
Sure enough, Brianna shrugged. “I can do my homework anywhere.”
“I can’t. I make a lot of mistakes. Don’t waste time. Let’s clean your room quickly so that we can play,” Debbie insisted.
Tim sent a mental compliment to the young mother who’d instilled healthy habits in her daughter, and then tiptoed down the stairs to work in his office.
At five o’clock, he returned upstairs, delighted with the three hours of quiet they’d granted him. The sight of Brianna’s room froze him in place, so neat and attractive with its colorful comforter, pillows, and teddies artistically arranged on the bed, as the girls played with several dolls on the carpet.
“Wow, your room looks so pretty.”
“Debbie showed me how to make the bed, Daddy.” Brianna beamed with pride. “It’s not difficult. I can do it every morning before school.”
“That’d be wonderful.” He was ready to invite Debbie over every other day.
“We read a book together, and I showed her how to write a summary.”
An English teacher, Annette had taught their daughter to read at an early age. Often left to herself, Brianna now took refuge in her books.
He patted his daughter’s shoulder. “It’s good that you two can help each other.”
“Then can I ask Debbie to come tomorrow?”
Tim smiled at his daughter’s eagerness. “I don’t know about tomorrow, but she can come any day her mother allows.”
