Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 31777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Where was Isaiah?
Was he all right?
“Immy, why is this door locked?” Tobias said through the door. “Are you out of bed?”
Cupcakes!
Immy suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing. And it wasn’t packing all her gifts.
Unicorn poop!
She was meant to be taking a nap. They wouldn’t get into Southampton until later tonight because Jenner, Sampson, and Abe were all working today. So Tobias had put her down for a nap.
What was she going to do?
Ohhh, she was going to be in so much trouble. She shoved her suitcase into the closet and then pointed a finger at Miss Pippa Porker. “Don’t you tell on me.” Then she glanced up at her elf. He’d appeared on the first of December and she’d squealed in happiness. She’d been so loud that Sampson had heard her from outside and come rushing into the house to check on her.
But she had to say that she was starting to have her suspicions about this elf.
She thought that he and Miss Pippa Porker might just be spies.
Naughty spies.
Because Tobias had left her fifteen minutes ago after putting her down for a nap. So how did he know she was awake, huh?
Yes, she had her suspicions all right.
Or it could just be that you were dancing around the room and making enough noise to wake a herd of elephants.
That was also a possibility.
“Cherry, open this door right now,” Tobias demanded.
Unicorn poop!
She rushed over to the door and unlocked it, stepping back rapidly. Then she stared at him with a big smile on her face.
“Papa! How nice of you to visit. Would you like to sit? How about a cup of tea? Maybe a cookie?”
“Cherry,” he growled at her as he crossed his arms over his massive chest. “What are you doing?”
“Who me? Nothing, Papa. What are you doing?”
“I’m staring at my naughty girl who I put down for a nap earlier and who I heard moving around and when I came up to see her, she had locked the door.”
“Oh, right. Well . . . um, I was doing something and I needed privacy.”
“And why would you need privacy from your Papa?” he demanded. “I knew that I should have taken the lock off this door.”
“The lock is in the door handle!” she protested. It was the same throughout pretty much all of the house and had come that way.
“So? I could have just removed the door handle.” He prowled toward her and she backed up until she banged into the wall.
Tobias placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head and leaned in until they were face-to-face. “Why aren’t you in bed, sweetness?”
Hmm. He sounded reasonable and calm, but she wasn’t fooled.
“I told you, Papa. I was doing secret stuff.”
“And I told you that you aren’t allowed to keep secrets from me.”
She sighed with a frown. “Fine! I was packing all the gifts.”
“All the gifts?” he repeated.
“For Christmas! I was packing all the presents.”
“Why haven’t you packed them already?”
“Because I didn’t want anyone trying to sneak peeks at their presents. And I also didn’t finish wrapping the last one until just now.”
Thank goodness she’d finished before he discovered that she was awake.
Tobias watched her with a knowing look. “When did you wrap the other gifts?”
“Huh?” she said with mock-innocence.
“I said, when did you wrap the other gifts? I’m with you most of the time and I didn’t see you wrapping any gifts.”
Uh-oh.
She was busted.
She hummed, trying to think of an excuse. There was no way he knew, right?
Immy glanced around the room and looked at the elf who was hanging from the ceiling by a small rope. Then to Miss Pippa Porker.
“Who tattled?” she demanded as she smacked her fist into the palm of her hand. “You know what happens to tattletales!”
“Immy,” Tobias warned.
Cupcakes.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ve been wrapping them during nap times. But not the whole nap time. I usually spend ten minutes wrapping, then the rest of the time napping.”
“Immy,” he said again.
Urgh! How did he always know when she was exaggerating the truth? It was so annoying!
“Fine, maybe twenty minutes wrapping. But I like to get the gifts just right.”
She didn’t have a nap every day, just when she was extra tired. Or she was going to be staying up late. Immy tended to get sick a lot, especially if she wasn’t taking care of herself.
But Tobias had taken charge of looking after her and ensuring her health. It was infuriating sometimes.
“Damn it, Immy,” he grumbled.
“Hey! You’re gonna have to put money in the swear jar.”
Tobias shot her a stern look. “You might want to worry less about the swear jar and more about your butt.”
Immy slid her hands behind her to cover her bottom. “Hey! That’s just rude. What’s wrong with my butt?”
“You know damn well there’s nothing wrong with it. But it’s about to be red and sore.”