Page 87 of Tight Ends & Tiaras
SIENNA
With a sigh,I drop to my knees to look under the bed, but there’s no sign of my passport or the bracelet my godfather Melvin gave me for my birthday. Those are the only two things I can’t find. I fuss with the gauze on my hand and try to remember the last time I saw them.
Lily yells my name from the yoga room, which makes me halt my search. She can’t quite say Sienna, but hearing her try always puts me in a good mood.
“Coming. Just one more sec.” I bring the trash bin closer and dump another pile of sand and glass.
It’s hard to maneuver while my hand is wrapped like a giant paw. I smile when I read the words Ben taped to it this morning.
“Don’t take this off until I get back. I’ll spank your ass if you hurt yourself while I’m gone.”
Promises, promises.
But I mean, really, does he expect me to sit around all morning and not clean this mess?
It hurts to throw all of my mementos away, and a part of me wonders if this is karma biting me in the butt for having Destiny’s shit tossed on my lawn or for throwing Cal’s laptop out the window. Just because they deserved it doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do.
I sigh. Adulting sucks.
After I awkwardly wash my one hand by rubbing it against my elbow, I get Lily from the yoga room, which has been child-proofed.
“Whatcha want for lunch, Lily? Maybe some soup?” Her little nose scrunches, and I laugh. “Hmm. Okay, what about chicken nuggets?”
“Nugs! I’m hungwey.”
“Nugs it is. Do you want some ketchup too?”
Her eyebrows pull together in the most serious expression I’ve ever seen on her face. “Of course.”
I laugh. “Okay, nugs and ketchup, coming up!”
“And Foot Loops.”
It takes me a second. “Fruit Loops?” I don’t have that, and even if I did, that has too much sugar. She’ll be bouncing off the walls instead of taking her nap. “Hmm. Do you like apple slices?”
She shrugs. “Shom-times.”
Sometimes. I chuckle.
Now that she’s getting used to me and Ben, she’s talking a lot more.
I’m watching her scarf down her food that I’ve cut up into toddler-sized pieces when my phone rings. Except no name or number show up on the caller ID.
I answer because what if it’s Janelle? I have her kid. Doesn’t she care about her welfare? Won’t she check on her at some point?
Plus, I’m not sure if I should be expecting a phone call from a potential babysitter. Ben plans to hire someone to help this summer so Lily’s childcare doesn’t fall entirely on me while he’s at training camp.
When I answer, a deep voice greets me. “Hey, little sparrow. How’s my favorite girl?”
I haven’t heard that code name in ages. “Melvin! How are you?”
“Better than you, apparently. You wanna tell me about that break-in?”
My head falls back. Of course the head of my family’s security team would find out about the police report in less than twenty-four hours.
“You can’t tell my dad. He’d lose his shit.” Melvin and my father went to Stanford together, and Melvin is another tech genius, but he hates the limelight and prefers to sit behind a computer screen where he quietly runs his security firm.
“No kidding he’d lose his shit. You’re lucky I got to this before anyone else did.”
