Daddy's Eager Little Princess (Wounded Daddies 10)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Annamarie

It has taken me almost three weeks.

I think Dennis believes I gave up.

I think he thinks it was too hard for me and he was glad that it was.

But it was not too hard.

The agent immobilier gave incorrect numbers, so the numbers on Daddy’s spreadsheet are wrong. It was a typo, a misplaced number.

I check the numbers on the spreadsheet, save the document and then send the email. The numbers are even better than Daddy thinks, and that really excites me. Of course, it is possible I made a mistake in the calculations but I do not think so. I tell myself to calm down and not behave like a total idiot, but I cannot help myself and rush from my room and bound across the living room. Mom and Dad look up at me and I almost shout, “Cannot stop! Be back in a minute!” Their laughter, which might ordinarily irritate me, makes me feel bubbly and giddy.

I rush out the front door and across the backyard to the sliding glass door. It is a wonder I can keep from bouncing up and down. I feel giggly and jiggly and so filled with excitement I am almost buzzing like some kind of windup toy. I do not know how in the world I even remain upright. I knock on the door, something I would not ordinarily do, except it is Saturday and Candy and Thaddeus are home.

I feel like I am going to explode waiting!

Finally, the curtain moves aside and Candy’s bright and smiling face looks at me. She pulls open the glass door and then the screen door and says brightly, “Hi!” A second later, we are hugging and giggling. I do not have the slightest idea why we are laughing. It is just giggling for the sake of giggling because she is happy and I am happy and… and, I suppose, because we are little girls.

“Is my Daddy here?”

“Right here, princess,” comes Dennis’s voice from around the corner.

He steps into view, and I rush up to him and throw my arms around him. “There was a mistake, Daddy! There was a mistake! I found it. I found it and I fixed it! The loan can go through because I fixed it!”

His arms are around me and he stiffens slightly before relaxing and pushing me back just a little bit. He looks down at me and says, “Tell me.”

“The agent immobilier gave you bad numbers. How do you say it? Bad data!”

“Agent immobly her?” he asks.

“Real estate agent,” Candy replies.

I hug Dennis. “I sent you the spreadsheet. You can see!”

“I’m afraid the internet is down over here,” Thaddeus says, stepping into the room. “We’re switching providers and we’ll lose a day.”

“I can look on my phone,” Dennis says.

“No, Daddy!” I say, giggling and smiling. I take hold of his hand and say, “Come to my house! I will show you on my laptop.”

I drag him along and he says, “Okay, princess. Let me walk. I’ll follow you. Come on now.”

I half obey him but still kind of pull him as I all but skip away. “Bye Candy and bye Candy’s Daddy!” I laugh as we step into the backyard.

My mother and father are walking out of the guest house. As we pass them, my mother says, “We’re going to a movie because the TV stopped working.”

“It’s the internet,” Dennis says. “It will be back up tomorrow.”

“We’ll watch two movies,” my father says, “and then dinner for my beautiful bride.” He looks at Dennis a little suspiciously and then at me with a warning. “Now, you two—”

“Enough, zhizn moya,” my mother says, pulling him along. “We were young, too, and you wouldn’t listen to my father, now, would you?”

“That’s exactly what—”

“Enough, darling.” She pulls him along and he sighs in resignation.