Chapter One

    "Do you think Daddy got my letter yet, Connie?"
    Connie Ladden couldn't bear to quash the hope shining in Silver Abbot's glossy blue eyes, so she brushed the riot of blond curls away from her four-almost-five-year-old charge's face and eased onto the bed, next to the little girl.
    "Remember I showed you on the map how far away Argentina is?"
    "Uh huh." Silver nodded solemnly.
    Too solemnly for Connie's liking. Silver wanted her daddy, and after two months as nanny for the delightful child, Connie thought Wade Abbot needed to act more like a father and be here for his precious daughter. Still, her job was to help Silver with her life as it was, not the way they wished it could be.
    "Well, it's only been about a week since we mailed it, sweetie. Argentina is a very long way for a letter to go." 
    Thanks to the courier's emailed confirmation of delivery, Connie knew the package with Silver's recorded message had safely arrived at its destination. But she didn't want to say that. Connie hadn't yet met Silver's father and she wasn't sure how Wade Abbot would react to his daughter's latest communication.
    "It's been ten days. I counted." Silver frowned. "Danny at my preschool told me email is very fast. Do you know how to do email?"
    "Yes." Connie smiled at her serious look.
    "You could have sent my letter that way, couldn't you, Connie?"
    "I guess I could have. But think how nice it will be for your daddy to get an envelope from home, from his own little girl."
    David Foster, Mr. Abbots' lawyer and Silver's guardian, had made it clear when he hired Connie and provided Wade Abbot's email address, that Silver's father did not want to be distracted by everyday minutiae. Wade Abbot was in Argentina on a very tight schedule. It was urgent that he bring in the project on time for Abbot Bridges Inc., according to David. The way he'd phrased it had led Connie to deduce that the company stood to lose a substantial amount of money and perhaps forfeit future contracts with the Argentinean government if the deadline was missed.
    "Your daddy might not have had a chance to open it yet."
    "Cause he's so busy." Silver sighed. "I know." Resigned, she snuggled into her bed and drew her puffy pink quilt up to her chin.
Connie bent to kiss her goodnight a second time, unable to resist the downy softness of Silver's rounded cheek or the delight of another hug.
    "Can't we have just one more story, Connie?" The chubby tanned arms refused to release her neck. "Please?" The beguiling smile begged her to relent.
    "You've already had three stories, munchkin. Now it's bedtime. You know my rules." Connie rubbed her nose against Silver's, unclasped her grasp and tucked her arms beneath the pink quilt patterned with fairy princesses. Tiny silver bells attached to princess shoes tinkled softly. "We have a lot to do tomorrow. It's our birdwatching day. I want to find out more about the hummingbirds here in Tucson. You need to rest those baby blues so you'll be able to point them out."
    "You sure like hummingbirds."
    "I sure do," Connie agreed.
    "Hey, we forgot to say my prayers." Silver grinned.
    "So we did. Okay, go ahead." Connie knelt at the side of the bed, closed her eyes and waited.
    "Dear God, thank you for today. And for Connie. I love her lots."
    Connie's heart squeezed so tight she could barely breathe. It's mutual, kiddo.

         ***