Free Drops of Gold by Sarah M. Eden Page B

so convinced you were about to swallow a small fortune in hidden change.”
    “I want to hear about the funny pepper.” Caroline jumped into the conversation.
    “Don’t you think we should eat our cake first?” Miss Wood asked.
    Caroline appeared to think it over for a minute, obviously torn between the two choices. Finally, she nodded. Miss Wood opened her eyes wide as if overwhelmed by excitement. She held her fork ready and watched Caroline like she would a rival in a race, but with a laugh in her eyes. Caroline held her fork precisely the same way and looked at Miss Wood with the same mock rivalry.
    Miss Wood nodded almost imperceptibly. In perfect synchrony, the two females tore into their cakes with their forks.
    “I am going to find it, Caroline! I am going to find it!” Miss Wood called out as she dug with remarkable enthusiasm.
    Caroline laughed so hard she could hardly search for the coin. Tears trickled from her crinkled eyes, and she gulped for breath. Miss Wood had reduced her slice of cake to a pathetic pile of crumbs and had begun picking apart Caroline’s. Squeals and giggles echoed off the walls of the nursery, a sound Layton had never heard, not once in the four and a half years since Caroline’s birth.
    “It’s—It’s not—there,” Caroline gasped out between giggles.
    “Where could it have gone?” Miss Wood asked as though she were completely baffled.
    “Papa has it, Mary!”
    “He’s hiding it from us, is he?”
    Then they both turned to look at him, eyes running over with laughter. Layton felt his smile widen. He’d been certain when Miss Wood had arrived that she would be trouble. But watching Caroline, listening to her easy laughter, Layton was never more grateful for another person. Caroline had saved him four years earlier. And now Miss Wood was saving Caroline.

Chapter Ten
    “That means he’s king,” Caroline said.
    “Not if we get the coin before he does.” Marion laughed, an idea popping into her head.
    Amusement flashed in Caroline’s eyes, and Marion was instantly glad she’d encouraged the girl in a little devilment. She needed to laugh and smile more. She needed to play more. If only Mr. Jonquil could shed a little of his composure so his daughter would feel lighthearted and playful with him.
    Marion slipped an arm around Caroline’s middle and whispered in her ear. “Tickle take, Caroline. I think it is just the thing.”
    Caroline giggled. “Like the daughter in your stories,” she whispered with childlike glee.
    “Precisely.”
    “What are you two plotting?” Mr. Jonquil asked warily. One look at his face, and Marion knew he was playing along. Marion’s heart soared. She would make a family of these two if it was the last thing she did.
    Caroline clasped her hand over her mouth and giggled. Marion wiggled her fingers at Caroline. In the next moment, Caroline launched herself at Mr. Jonquil, her tiny fingers wriggling against his waistcoat, attempting to tickle him. He laughed heartily, though Marion was certain Caroline’s little fingers weren’t nearly strong enough to have any affect through several layers of clothing. Caroline’s giggles grew to full-lunged laughs.
    Mr. Jonquil held his cake plate aloft and grabbed for Caroline, who managed to skirt away, all the while continuing her attempts to tickle him into submission. Marion swooped in and took the plate from her employer’s hand. The game would last if she had anything to say about it! They needed this. She needed this.
    “We have it, Caroline!” Marion called out, dancing around with the cake plate, hoping she wasn’t making too much of a spectacle of herself.
    “Huzzah!” Caroline shouted then turned back to her father and said with a great deal of pride, “Stanby taught me that word.”
    Mr. Jonquil’s smile widened. Marion froze on the spot. His smile was magical, transforming his face, his entire countenance. She’d always thought her employer handsome, but when he smiled like