“Daddy!” Mackenzie exclaimed as she raced toward the man who walked through the open door, closing it swiftly behind him.

“Zee!” he said, using her new nickname and opened his arms as she leaped into them. He wrapped his arms around his daughter and held her tight, eyes closed as though he wanted the moment to last forever.

Tears pricked at the back of my eyes. I swear I could count on two hands the number of times I had cried in my entire life prior to this, but that number was increasing exponentially now that I was in Maine.

Dr. Mills seemed glad to be home, and Mackenzie clung to him. It was time for me to give them some time alone.

“Hey, Athena,” he offered casually.

“It’s Thea, Daddy,” his daughter corrected.

“Ah, yes. How could I forget?”

“Welcome home, doc.” I smiled. “I think I’ll retire if that’s all right.”

“Yes, yes of course.” His eyes flickered with a question, but he didn’t ask. Was that guilt I saw course across his face?

At least he had the decency to act semi-sheepishly, I thought, moving toward the stairs. It was incredulous that he hadn’t called to let me know he was coming home.

“Wait!” Mackenzie exclaimed, her voice nearly filled with panic.

“Zee, it’s okay.” I turned back to my little ward. My eyes flew to Dr. Mills, his eyebrows raised and eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?” I asked, walking toward Zee.

“I don’t want you to leave,” her tearful voice whispered.

I blinked hard to hold tears back from my own eyes at the desperation in her voice. Jeez, what was going on with me? “Zee, I’m not leaving, sweetheart,” I assured her, taking her little hands into mine with a smile. “I’m just going to my room to read for a bit. Why don’t you take your dad to the living room and show him what we’ve been working on while he’s been away, and I’ll see you in the morning? Maybe, just maybe, there’ll be pancakes waiting for my favorite sleepy-eyed girl,” I said with a wink.

“Okay,” Mackenzie whispered, but then brightened. “You’re okay?” she asked.

“Of course I am.” Intuitive little bugger, isn’t she?

I could feel Dr. Mills’s intense eyes raking over my face, and heat rising in my cheeks. “I’m more than okay, Zee,” I reached up to tap her on the nose. “Thank you for a fun afternoon.”

Zee stretched out her arms for a hug. I paused. She was still in her father’s arms. Awkward much?

He let Mackenzie down, and she raced into my hips and wrapped her little arms around me as far as they would reach.

“Thea—I love you.”

“I love you, too, Zee. I love you very much.” My body welcomed the little girl, and I picked her up to hold her tight, willing the tears not to fall. Then pulled back to give Mackenzie a smile.

“Thea, you have tears, too. Why are you sad?”

Good grief! From the mouth of babes.

“I’m not sad, Zee. Have you ever heard the expression ‘tears of joy’?”

The little girl nodded.

“Then that’s what these are. I’m happy your dad is home, and you can show him all the things we’ve been working on while he’s been gone. Now scoot.”

I put Zee down and turned as the heat in my face reached scorching, taking the stairs two by two, well aware that Dr. Mills’s eyes followed me all the way up the stairs.

“Come on, Zee, let’s see what you’ve been cooking up while I’ve been gone,” I heard, just before I reached my bedroom door.

“How was your trip, Dr. Mills?” I asked as the doctor walked into the kitchen where I was starting breakfast.

“It was good—thank you. And Thea, I’m sorry. My trip took longer than expected, and I neglected to let you know I was coming home.”

My eyes narrowed, and I studied him, trying to read him. How could his surprise arrival home have been anything but intentional? “What do you have planned for the day? Or do you need me to take Zee?”

“Goodness no. You’ve done enough and now I owe you two additional days off. Why don’t you head out, and I’ll take care of breakfast for Zee and me?”

“No, but thanks. I promised Zee I’d have something special ready for her breakfast, and I will. You guys went to bed late last night?”

“Yes. Given that I was away all week, I thought it best to let her stay up late and have extra time with me. She fell asleep watching the Disney movie, but it was still time well spent.” He paused a half-second. “You don’t have to call me Dr. Mills, you know.”

“It’s how I think of you.”

And then I saw that look cross his face that I’m-in-professional-mode-now-and-I’m-going-to-analyze-you look.

I put both hands on the counter and leaned forward, my eyes laser-focused on his. “Not everything needs to be analyzed, Gabriel. If you prefer that I call you by your first name, I will. It’s not like we’ve had time to discuss it yet.”

His eyes widened.

“Fair enough; and yes, please call me Gabriel.” His eyes turned thoughtful, and he looked as though he was going to ask a question, but we were interrupted by the pitter-patter of steps.

“Daddy!” Mackenzie squealed as she raced into his arms.

“Good morning, sleepy head. How are you?”

“Great! I had the best dream ever, Daddy. We got a puppy!”

He cringed and tried to cover it up with a smile. “Did you? That does sound like quite a dream.”

“Can we, Daddy? Can we get a puppy? I promise I will feed it and make sure it has water, and we could get a fence so the puppy doesn’t get hit by a car, and I can walk it. Thea can help me walk it, and it will be so much fun, won’t it, Daddy? I will take care of it, I promise.”

“We’ve talked about this, Mackenzie. My schedule is unpredictable and if we get a dog, it needs to be during a time I can be here, too. Do you understand?”

“But we have Thea now, Daddy. She can help, too, can’t you, Thea?”

“You know, Zee, that’s really something between you and your Dad. It’s his home and your home, and although I live here now, too—this is not really my permanent place so I can’t be part of that decision.”

Mackenzie’s lower lip began to quiver. “But it is your home, Thea. I want it to be your home, too. I want you to stay. Please, Daddy, please ask her to stay.” She raced around the kitchen island to hug me.

It quickly became apparent that this was about much more than a puppy or even my role as the nanny, and I looked to Gabriel for some help.

“Zee, come here, sweetheart. Let’s talk about this.” He reached out to draw Mackenzie to him, but she backed up.

“No! I don’t want to talk about this, and I don’t want a cuddle.” The quivering lip quickly turned into a frown. “I want Thea to stay here forever with you and me, Daddy—and I want a puppy.”

The silence stretched for two, three, four seconds, then the doorbell rang. Gabriel looked at me, but I shook my head. I had no idea who was at the door, or what to do about Mackenzie’s angst.

“We’ll table this conversation for later, Zee. I need to see who’s at the door.”