Page 9

I ’d say it’s been a successful venture out. Both Sienna and Selena look happy as they drink their soda and tell me all about the drama at school.

What started as a quick trip to the store for a brush turned into lunch at the diner down the street. How could I deny them when they said they were hungry?

So after helping them both with their hair, I caved and told them we could get something quick at the diner.

They really are some amazing kids. Even if the entire venture took money that I really should have been saving. It was worth it, though.

Now we are walking back to the shop, the girls looking happier than when Midnight dropped them off this morning.

“I swear Gina said that she likes bologna with mayo and steak sauce. I can’t even imagine that combination.” Sienna fake gags.

“I mean, everyone likes what they like. Why does it matter if she likes it? Do you have to eat it?” I ask.

Sienna considers my words for a moment. “No.”

“Right, so what she eats shouldn’t be your concern. Who knows? If you tried it, you might even like it,” I tell her, keeping my tone light.

I don’t want to lecture her, but I was also the girl that got made fun of in school. I don’t want this Gina girl being picked on for food she likes.

“You’re so right, Lainey.” Selena shoots a look at her sister.

“Suck up,” Sienna says with a fake cough.

“Sienna, do you disagree with what I said?”

“No. I guess not.”

“Let me ask you this. You like ketchup with fries. How would you feel if someone told you that you were gross for liking that? That they couldn’t imagine eating it?”

She scrunches her nose. “I wouldn’t like it.”

“Exactly. There are people out there who don’t like ketchup, so to them, you eating it with fries would be gross. The world is already full of negativity. Let’s not add to it.”

“I won’t. I’ll do better,” Sienna promises.

“Now look who’s the suck up,” Selena jokes.

My phone rings, interrupting us both. My stomach dips when I see Midnight’s name.

“Hey,” I answer.

“Where in the fuck are you with my children? I want you to bring them back right now. You have no right to kidnap them. What the fuck were you thinking?”

My heart drops as his angry tone comes through the line. I feel like I’ve swallowed cotton as tears start to fill my eyes.

“No, I didn’t. I just…”

“Bring them back now. If there is a single hair on their head hurt, I will make you regret it.”

He hangs up the phone before I can respond.

God, I’m such an idiot. I didn’t even think to tell him I was taking them. We were only running a few doors down to the store. I didn’t plan on going to the diner or being gone for so long. Now I’ll lose the only thing keeping me alive right now.

Fuck.

“I’m sorry, Lainey.” Selena sounds so sad that I look down at her.

“What are you sorry for?” I ask her, trying to keep the fear out of my tone.

“You’re in trouble because we were hungry. I’ve only ever heard Dad that mad when he talks to Mom. We don’t want him to hate you like he hates her. We like you.” Selena looks down at her feet.

I look over and see Sienna looking like she might burst into tears too. I wrap my arms around both of them, stopping for a moment.

Fuck Midnight. They need reassurance.

“It’s not your fault. I should have told him I was taking you out, and I didn’t. This is on me.”

“He’s going to make you go away.” Sienna sniffles.

“Maybe, but that’s not your fault. It’s going to be okay.”

“Okay.” Sienna hugs me tightly before letting go, and Selena does the same.

I feel like I’m being led to my execution.

The closer we get to the shop, the more I know I need to hold my emotions in check. I can’t cry in front of this man even if today is going to be a sad day for me. I thought I finally was getting my life together.

We walk through the door to find Midnight waiting at the front. Both girls run to him, hugging him. He glares at me as he hugs them.

I walk behind the desk, avoiding his gaze. I start to grab my things.

“Daddy, it was our fault. We wanted food,” I hear Sienna tell him.

“Take a seat. I’ll be right back,” he tells them.

I move to go toward the front door, but he steps in my path.

“Office. Now,” he demands, grabbing my arm.

I let him drag me all the way to his office. As soon as the door is shut, he turns to me. I feel caged in with the door at my back and him standing so close in front of me.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Going home. I assumed I was fired after you accused me of kidnapping your children.”

“Don’t be dense, Flower.” His hand comes to rest next to my head on the door. “I never dismissed you. Go back out there and do your job.”

“You don’t trust me. Why would you want me to work here?” I counter.

“I won’t apologize for being concerned that you took my daughters without asking. They are the most important thing in my life. I have a right to worry when they aren’t where I left them. Especially with the bullshit I’m dealing with right now.”

I narrow my eyes at him, “You brought them to me looking disheveled. Their hair wasn’t even brushed. I told Elle where I was going.”

He frowns. “I never asked her.”

“If you had, she would have told you that I ran with them to the store to get a brush. We were gone a bit longer because they were hungry, so we stopped at the diner and got food. They were safe the entire time. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt them,” I tell him.

He grunts. “I’m such an asshole.”

I know I should reassure him that he’s not, but his reaction was over the top, and he was a dick. At least he’s self-aware enough to know that he overreacted.

He sighs. “I’m not used to relying on anyone else when it comes to them.”

I resist the urge to bring my hands to his chest. I want to comfort him right now even though not five minutes ago he was a complete dick.

Something must be fucked up in my head.

“It’s fine, really. I should have texted you. I didn’t think about it. If I’m not fired, then I might want to get back to work. It took way longer than my lunch break, and I really can’t afford to miss any hours,” I tell him, my hand pushing back on his chest.

He doesn’t move, though.

“How much did you spend?” he asks.

“It doesn’t matter. Can I go now?”

“It does matter.” His hand moves to run a finger down my cheek. “You spent your money on my girls.”

My heart is pounding in my chest at the intimate gesture.

“It was like forty dollars, I think, but I don’t mind.”

He stays close to me as he pulls out his wallet. He hands me three twenties.

“This is too much.”

“Take it and get the early bus home. If I get the day off today, so do you.”

He pushes away from me, pulling me until he can open the door. Then he leaves me standing in the middle of his office confused as fuck.

Walking into my shop and not seeing my girls had me ready to wage war.

After finding their house cleaned out with the exception of the twins mattresses and the bags of clothing, I panicked. What if Miranda had come and gotten them so she could take off with them? Logically, I know that in her note she said she wasn’t coming back, but I don’t know if I trust it. Not yet. I have a feeling it’s going to take me a while to accept that she just dropped them off, loaded up her place, and took off into the wind.

Then I realized Lainey was gone too. It didn’t take me long to figure out that she took them.

I should have remained calm and asked her where they were. Instead, my lack of sleep and panic got the best of me, and I found myself barking orders at her to bring my girls back. I didn’t let her talk.

When they got back, I felt relief when I saw them. Even Lainey. I realized that maybe I wasn’t just worried about my girls. I was worried about her too.

I have no idea when I started to feel a sense of responsibility for her, but I do.

That’s a lie. I think I felt it the moment I laid eyes on her.

The fact that she thought I was going to fire her only had me getting angrier. After the chat in my office, I wasn’t feeling much better.

I think the girls knew it too. They stayed silent the entire way home.

As I pull in the driveway, I know I need to talk to the girls. I have to tell them what I was doing this morning and what I know as of right now. I hate this part of being a parent. Having to disappoint them because their mother is unreliable.

“Let’s go inside, girls,” I tell them.

I help them each from the truck before leading the way to the door. After unlocking and opening it, the girls go into the house looking more subdued than normal.

“I want to talk to you both in the living room,” I say as gently as I can.

I watch as they both sit on the couch. I sit on the coffee table in front of them. Steepling my hands in front of my mouth, I try to find the words I need. There is no book on how to handle this kind of situation correctly.

“Is Lainey in big trouble?” Selena asks.

I frown, feeling confused. Are we still on Lainey?

“She should have told me she was taking you, but we talked about it. Why are you worried about Lainey so much?”

“We like her. She’s nice. She talks to us about stuff. She helped me braid my hair. We want to see her again,” Selena says matter-of-factly.

“She put my hair up too. Look how pretty it is.” Sienna turns, showing me some bun-looking hairstyle on the back of her head.

“I’m glad. I’m happy you enjoy being around her. She still works for me, so I’m sure you will see her again. That’s not what I wanted to talk about, though.”

“It’s about Mom, right? She’s gone for good?” Selena asks, not meeting my eye.

It breaks my heart that my child just uttered those words. That she knows something is so wrong that her mother may not come back.

“She is coming back at some point, I just don’t know when,” I tell them softly.

“Mom said she probably wouldn’t be back for a long time,” Sienna whispers, making my stomach drop.

“When did she say that, baby girl?” I ask, clearing my throat.

“Right before we got out of the car at your job. She said that she loved us, but that she raised us for ten years. It was your turn to raise us for a while. She said she had a ticket out of this ummm…” Selena hesitates.

“You can say it. It’s okay,” I tell her, knowing it’s probably bad.

“She said she had a ticket out of this shithole, but that she will come back and visit when she can.”

Of course she did. Miranda is always looking for her next meal ticket. I bet she still expects me to pay child support too. As stupid as it is, I will do it because I’d rather not spark her ire and have her come take the girls away.

I fucking hate this shit.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I look at them both.

“It was late, and then this morning you were in a bad mood, so we figured we would wait and tell you when you weren’t so mad,” Sienna says.

I rub my hand down my face. “I’m never mad at you girls. You tell me when you know stuff. It would have saved me a trip to your house. Your mom cleaned it out. Did you know that?”

They nod. “She sold all of our things. We were only allowed to keep what would fit in our bags.”

I know I said I couldn’t kill Miranda, but right now I might. How dare she do that to our girls? How fucking traumatizing was it for them to watch their shit being taken away by strangers? Why couldn’t Miranda have just been a decent fucking human and let them keep everything of theirs so they could bring it here?

“Okay. It’s okay. We will figure this out. Your school is on the other end of the county. I know you are established there, but how would you feel about transferring here?”

“We get to live here?” Selena asks.

“Yes, baby girl.”

“Then yes, we want to transfer.” Selena grabs her sister’s hand.

“Okay. I’ll work on that tomorrow. Go play for a bit, and I’ll make pizza.”

They each stand but hover.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Can we go see Lainey in the morning so she can do our hair again?” Sienna asks.

My heart aches in my chest. They desperately want female attention. It makes me wonder if I made a mistake not fighting harder for them. I thought Miranda having them was a good option. She’s never been an amazing person, but she loves the girls. At least, I thought she did.

“I’ll find out if she’s working and let you know.”

As they run off, I think about all the shit I have to do tomorrow. I need to get them set up for school. Fuck, I’ll need to buy them all new supplies and new clothes too, because while they have some here, it’s not nearly enough.

I don’t know how I’m going to do this alone while still keeping all the balls I juggle in the air.

My flower pops into my head unbidden. She would help. Lainey would step in with no questions asked. I could go see her tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be fair to the girls to let them get attached to her. Who knows if she plans to stay long term or leave as soon as she gets her feet under her.

No, I need to keep my distance even if it kills me.