Kitchen Boss

“Did you sleep well?”

Maisie nods as she pulls away.

I brush the wisps of hair off her forehead. “No nightmares?”

She shakes her head.

“Good.”

She hasn’t had one since the night I first stayed here. I was so worried when I heard her screaming and crying that I ran to her as fast as I could. Thankfully, she calmed down shortly after I held her in my arms, though I still don’t know what she dreamed of. What gives a child nightmares?

“Daddy said you keep the nightmares away,” Maisie tells me.

I give her a puzzled look. “Did he now?”

I don’t know why Jackson said that, but I guess I should consider it a compliment.

Maisie nods. “He also said you and I can play today.”

“Really?”

“That’s why she woke up so early,” Jackson says as he walks out of the house. “Last night, I told her that you didn’t have work today and she got so excited to spend time with you.”

I look into Maisie’s eyes. “Did you now?”

She nods even more enthusiastically.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Jackson adds.

I shake my head as I glance at him. “It is part of our agreement, after all.”

“It was Ken who said that,” he answers. “I offered you a place to stay because I wanted to. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay,” I assure him as I touch Maisie’s cheek. “After all, who wouldn’t want to spend time with the most adorable little girl in the world?”

Maisie chuckles.

She’s worked like a charm for me, actually. Ever since I’ve been around her, I’ve been feeling less lonely, less haunted. It’s as if the shadow of death had been hanging over me like a rain cloud and Maisie is the sunshine of life. It’s amazing what the innocence and wonder of a child can do.

“So it’s okay for me to leave her with you?” Jackson asks. “Because I’ve got some stuff to do today.”

Of course he does. He’s even busier than I am. It’s no surprise he doesn’t get a day off.

“Sure,” I tell him. “I’ll watch Maisie.”

She throws her arms up in the air as she starts jumping up and down. “Yay!”

“And I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun together,” I add as I touch her little nose.

“What are we going to do?” she asks curiously.

“Oh, lots of things.” I lower my voice to a whisper. “Lots of girly things.”

She giggles.

Jackson scratches the back of his head. “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to regret having the two of you teamed up together?”

“Oh, shush.” I wave a hand at him. “We’re good girls. Aren’t we, Maisie?”

She nods. “We’re going to do good girl stuff.”

Jackson cocks his head. “Oh, is that so?”

“Secret good girl stuff,” I add with a grin.

Jackson lets out a breath. “Well, in that case, I’m not needed here anymore.”

“Nope.” Maisie shakes her head. “Because you’re not a girl.”

He frowns.

“Don’t worry,” I tell him as I put my hands on Maisie’s shoulders. “We’ll be fine. You just… do what you have to do.”

“Okay. The two of you have fun.”

“We will,” Maisie replies. She grabs my hands and places them around her neck.

Jackson waves before going back into the house. As soon as he’s gone, Maisie turns around to face me. A big smile lights up her small, round face.

“Now we can do girl stuff,” she says.

“Right.” I pat her head. “The question is, what are we going to do first?”

She shrugs.

I touch my chin. “Let’s see…”

~

“There.” I meet Maisie’s gaze in the mirror of her dresser after I finish drying her hair. “You look and smell like a princess again.”

She giggles.

We’ve spent the whole day doing one fun thing after another. First it was making pancakes for breakfast, then playing with dolls, then coloring. After we had sandwiches for lunch, which we ate in the garden, I read her some fairy tales. Then we played dress-up. I let her try on my heels and some of my clothes. I even let her try on my make-up, which maybe wasn’t the best idea because she ended up looking like a clown and then I had to give her a bath. Still, we had fun.

“Do you think Daddy will like the pictures we took?” Maisie asks.

We did take a lot of snapshots on my phone.

“I’m sure he will. He’ll probably laugh at some, like that picture of you with lipstick all over.”

Maisie laughs.

I, too, grin as I recall the red streaks that covered almost half her face. But then I sigh as I remember what’s left of my lipstick – not much.

“I guess I’ll need to buy a new one.”

She turns her head to look at me. “You think Daddy will buy me a lipstick?”

I narrow my eyes at her. “No. And you shouldn’t ask your daddy to buy you one.”