Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Valerie beamed up at her Daddy before she skipped toward her new friend. Tonight just kept getting better. It was going to be the best night ever.
Chapter Nineteen
When the doorbell rang, Valerie ran to see who was there. When she saw Grayson’s familiar form outside, she threw open the door.
“Daddy! You have a key!”
“Hi, Cupcake! Got time for lunch with your favorite delivery guy?” he asked.
“Yes! What are we having?” she asked, looking to see if he’d brought something.
“It should be here, right about now.”
A fancy truck pulled up and two men jumped out. “Hi! Are you Valerie?”
“Yes,” she answered nervously. This didn’t look like a pizza delivery.
“I have instructions to set up everything in the backyard. Is that okay?”
“Sure. What is everything?” Valerie asked.
“Just wait! Every little girl’s dream. Your daughter is going to love this,” the delivery man assured her. “Okay to go through that gate?”
“Yes. That would be wonderful.”
When he left to open the back of the truck, she looked at Grayson. “Daughter?”
“That seemed easier than other explanations.”
“What are they setting up?” she asked.
“Every Little girl’s dream.”
Within a few minutes, the driver stopped to have Grayson sign a form. “We’ll be back after five to tear everything down. If you’ll just leave the gate open, we can take care of it without bothering you again.”
“Thank you,” Valerie said with a smile.
“What have you done?” she asked Grayson as they drove away.
“Come see. Let me grab something first.”
After running to his car and returning with a suspicious-looking box in a plastic bag, Grayson took her hand and led her through the gate. The men had transformed her plain backyard into a fairytale paradise. A table overflowing with flowers and a beautiful tea set now decorated the patio.
“Can we have a tea party?” she asked, grinning up at him.
“Sounds like the perfect lunch with my Little girl.”
“Let me go boil some water. I have my favorite teabags and sugar cubes!” she said, dragging him inside.
“You get tea ready. I’ll set up our lunch out here,” he suggested, handing her the beautiful teapot. “Be careful with the boiling water and call me when you’re ready for me to carry this out here full of hot tea. Promise.”
“Yes, Daddy. I’ll call.”
In a few minutes, she peeked her head out the door. “It’s ready, Daddy.”
Catching sight of the table with all his goodies on it, she walked slowly forward. He’d arranged small crustless sandwiches and beautifully decorated cakes and cookies on the silver tiered serving dishes. “It’s so pretty. Oh, look! Birthday Cake cupcakes!”
“Ellie made a few for me special,” he shared before hugging her and dashing inside to bring out the heavy teapot.
“May I serve you, young lady?” he asked, now sporting a dishtowel slung over his forearm.
“Of course, Sir Daddy.” Her giggle made him laugh as he carefully poured the aromatic liquid into the ornate teacups. “One lump or two?”
“One, please.”
Sitting on the edge of her seat, Valerie tried a nibble of each of the offerings. “I even like the cucumber sandwiches, even though that seems weird.”
“I liked them, too, but not as much as you did. Eat this last one for Daddy,” he requested, handing her the final cucumber sandwich from his plate.
“Oh, I couldn’t… Okay, if you insist,” she caved.
When all that was left were the two Birthday Cake cupcakes, Valerie patted Grayson’s arm to get his attention.
“Yes, Cupcake?”
“Are these chairs strong enough to hold both of us?” she asked.
“They should be. Want to come sit on my lap to eat your cupcake?”
“Please.”
After scrambling onto his lap, she admitted, “I’m too full to eat any more. Can we save them for tonight?”
“Of course. Let’s take them in and put them away so the bugs don’t steal them.” He set her on her feet.
When he also picked up the teapot, she stopped him. “Doesn’t that belong to the fairy tea-party people?”
“Just the table and chairs and decorations. The cups, teapot, and layered trays are yours, Little girl. I thought you might like to have another tea party.”
“Really. I get to keep these? They’re so pretty. Yes!” Valerie bounced up and down before catching sight of the time. “We have to get back to work.”
“Let’s get everything stowed inside,” he suggested, and they took care of that quickly.
After giving her a hug and kiss at the door, Grayson promised, “I’ll see you as soon as I get everything delivered.”
“Be careful, Daddy.”
“Of course. I have the best reason ever to drive safely now.”
A few hours later, Valerie was sad to see the men removing the fairy table and decorations from her patio. She poured water into one of the teacups and carried it into her office. Leave it to her Daddy to make sure the special memory they’d made together would continue into the future.
Finishing her work at the end of the day, Valerie pulled out her crayons and coloring books. She knew her Daddy would probably be late because he’d taken extra time off in the middle of the day. When she couldn’t stop yawning, she curled up on the couch with Tarzan and her phone to wait for him.