Sophie had had an abusive husband, and the children had seen and experienced things that shouldn’t be part of any child’s memories.
“Well, it’s a good thing that didn’t happen,” Campbell told him, “because if you’d been given to someone else, you wouldn’t be my niece and nephew.”
Winfield suddenly flew out of the family room where the children had been watching movies. Then he spotted them with Campbell and put a hand to his heart in relief. “Thank goodness,” he said in his gravelly voice as he came toward them. “I dozed off during the third viewing of Nemo. Party breaking up?”
Campbell had hired Winfield a little more than a year ago, concerned about the family’s safety. A butler trained in self-defense and security was suddenly a popular new hybrid among household staff. Winfield was Campbell’s height but showed the results of years of weight training as a professional boxer. He had thin blond hair, light blue eyes and a nose that had been broken several times. He was flawlessly courteous to household members and guests of Shepherd’s Knoll.
Winfield worked hard at keeping the house safe, though his skills hadn’t really been tested. A good result of the very fact that he was there, Campbell thought.
“No, I have a few things to do tonight,” Campbell replied, “so I had to excuse myself.” He ruffled Eddie’s hair and kissed Emma’s. “I guess I’ll see you at the party.”
“Come on, kids.” Winfield led the children back to the family room. “Campbell has work to do. Let’s go raid the kitchen.”
There were cheers of approval, and they ran toward the kitchen ahead of the butler.
Campbell changed into comfortable clothes and went down the back stairs to his office off the kitchen. He could hear Winfield and the children rummaging in the cupboards, talking about crackers and peanut butter and Kezia’s lemonade.
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