"Emma! Look who's here!" Holly announced as she leads me into the kitchen. Emma was bent over the oven, pulling a metal sheet out and setting it on the waiting hot pads.
She smiled at me and winked as she closed the oven and slipped off her mitts. "About time you got here. I thought I would have to eat these cookies myself!" she proclaimed. "Now you and I can eat them all together!"
Holly looked her in horror. "Noooo!" she cried out, going along with the little game. She was growing up, but she still enjoyed childish fun for sure. "You said you were making them for me!"
Emma laughed as she came around to hug me. Then, she turned and stuck her tongue out at the little girl. "I seem to remember the agreement being we would make these cookies together. And then someone decided she would run off and play. I'd say that means all the cookies are mine to do with as I see fit."
Again, Holly looked at her nanny with horror in her eyes. To her, someone else eating all the cookies was the most heinous act someone could perform. I have to fight back my urge to giggle at the girl's predicament.
Emma looked over at me and winked. Then, her expression turned thoughtful. She pursed her lips together and stroked her chin, looking comical, and I had to again fight back the urge to laugh. Then, her eyes lit up like she'd just now thought of an idea. "What do you think, Gabbie? If Holly cleans up all the mess from baking these cookies, would that be enough to earn a couple for herself?"
"I don't know..." I said, taking on a thoughtful look of my own. I glanced between the girls and the mess of dishes scattered on the countertops. "That's a lot of cleaning to do. I don't think Holly is ready for that just yet. We'll have to eat the cookies ourselves, I think."
Holly glared at me. She put her hands on her hips, cocking them slightly. She looked so grown up and mature as she mimicked a look she'd seen from Emma many times. "I am not that little!" she insisted. "I'm ten years old now. I can clean up the kitchen by myself!"
Emma and I exchanged glances. Both of us tried to contain our amusement at the situation. Finally, we both nodded. "Very well," Emma said. "When the kitchen is clean, and the dishwasher is loaded, then you can have a couple cookies."
Holly let out a whoop of triumph, then ran over to clean. Emma and I watched her for a moment, grinning like fools, as the girl ran around cleaning. Then, we slipped off into the sitting room before we burst out into laughter.
"I see you've picked up a few tricks from when I used to babysit you," I said, smirking at Emma. I'd pulled similar tricks like that on Emma more than once when she was a little girl herself. It had been quite a few years since then, Emma no longer a little girl.
She shrugged and smiled as she plopped down onto one of the plush chairs. "Well, I had a good teacher. Even if I was a bit of a brat back then."
"Aren't all little kids?" I laughed and shook my head. Emma had her moments of being bratty, but the good moments far outweighed the bratty ones. Thinking back to those times brought a smile to my face.
Life had been so much simpler back then. I'd barely been out of girlhood myself when I'd been babysitting Emma. I'd still had a major crush on all four of the Frost brothers. I'd been so enamored with them, all of them. I'd dreamed of being a princess, them being princes, sweeping my off my feet and whisking me away to their castle.
Back then, I'd never thought I'd end up married to one of them. And I'd never thought it would be a marriage like. this...
"What's wrong?" Emma asked. She must have noticed the change in my expression. She leaned forward, fixing me with her gaze. I couldn't think of her as that little girl when she looked at me like that.
I shrugged, trying to put those thoughts out of my mind. My chat with Aspen hadn't brought much success. It had made things worse. Nick was under a lot of stress at work and didn't seem much more relaxed at home. It was like he'd shut me off from himself, keeping me at a distance.
"It's Nick, isn't it? Is he still not letting you into his bed?" Emma waggled her eyebrows at the insinuation. She smirked at me and shook her head. "I can't believe you guys have been married this long and you still haven't slept with him!"
"You and me both." I let out a breath and slumped back against the chair. I mean, seriously. How can two people be married for years and never have sex together? It was just annoying. I was out of ideas, out of ways to make him understand I want to take our relationship to the next level. To the level it already should have been. "How are things with Jack?" I asked to change the subject.
Emma looked down, and I grinned at the younger woman. I'd recognized the signs of infatuation long ago, but Emma has so far denied them. But every time I mentioned her boss's name, she became all flustered. How she'd kept working for the man without him noticing her crush was beyond me.
Then again, perceptiveness didn't seem to be a trait that ran in the Frost family. Jack must have been just as oblivious
