Minding Grace

9: Who do you think you are?

Over the next few days, the subsequent jet lag eased and Harry began to settle in, learning not only the girl's routines, but the comings and goings within the van Otten household.

Harry noted in particular that James seemed to be doing all of the going.

Without Grace.

He imagined he must a lot of important people to see, running such a large property with the rest of the business and lots of paperwork.

But something just didn't seem to sit right, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it gnawed away at him sometimes.

When he tried to mention it to Rosie, he was met with a pinch on the cheek and told to focus on the girls and not Grace.

The girls were a lot of fun, a bit of a handful at times but they seemed to have already bonded with Harry and loved being with them.

But he wasn't completely deluded, he had nieces and nephews and knew it was a matter of time before he encountered a tantrum or three.

He was now in the kitchen making sandwiches for the girl's lunch as they patiently sat and waited, watching his every move.

"Why are you cutting the crusts off Harry? Mama says we always have to eat our crusts," Dottie asked.

"Yeah...always," echoed Tilly.

"Well," Harry bent over the counter and beckoned them with his finger to lean in, "we're having a special meal, like a high tea and they don't have crusts on their sandwiches."

"Oh..." Dottie replied before her eyes widened, "is it fancy?"

Harry nodded in response.

"Do we have to dress up for it?" Dottie asked.

"If you'd like to," Harry replied with a smile.

"Come on Tilly!" she yelled, jumping off the chair and dragging her sister off before she could say anything.

"Slow down you two!" Harry heard Grace scold the girls as they ran past her but there was also humour in her tone.

"What's got them in such a tizz?" Grace asked as she walked into the kitchen, addressing no one in particular, "oh," she stopped when she saw Harry standing at the kitchen bench, his hair pulled back into a bun and his black shirt undone to the middle of his chest.

She'd given up reminding him to button up and just let him go, accepting it was his thing.

Besides, Rosie had scolded her for even suggesting it, saying she quite enjoyed the view.

"We're having a high tea," Harry explained, "the girls thought they should dress appropriately."

"Lucky things," Grace replied, "sounds like much more fun than what I'm going to have."

"Your lunch thing?" Harry asked as she continued to cut up the sandwiches.

"Yes, my lunch thing," Grace replied with a chuckle.

There was a sharp knock at the front door and Harry noticed Grace immediately tensed up.

"Gracie, we're here!" came Lucy's sing song voice.

"Gracie?" Grace mouthed to Harry, a confused look on her face that caused him to snort.

Moments later, Lucy sailed into the kitchen with Joan right behind her, a sour look on her face.

"Hi there Harry," Lucy batted her eyes at him, leaning onto the bench.

"Um...hi Lucy," Harry replied as he made himself busy with arranging the food.