Page 60 of A Little Naughty

Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t look excited. “Isn’t that what orphans do? I’m not an orphan. My mom’s coming back for me. She said she would.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay…” Reaching out, I slide my fingers along the sides of her hair. “I know she will if she can. I just don’t know when that might be, and I don’t want Bill to take you away from me. I think, for now, it might be safer if I adopt you. Then if your mom does come back?—”

“She will!” Nikki’s eyes shine with growing tears, and I scoot my chair closer to hers, pulling her into a hug.

“Of course, she will.” My tone is soothing, and I rub my hand up and down her arm, doing my best to ease her tension. “I didn’t mean to say she wouldn’t. Just until she does, would you like to stay here with me?”

She sits back in the chair, and her eyes are on the front of my robe. She blinks several times without answering, and my chest is tight. I don’t know what to think. I took her from Bill, and brought her here. The whole time, she never fought me or cried or asked to go back to Branson.

Up to this point, I’ve interpreted that to mean she wants to do this. Now a knot is in my throat, and I’m afraid I might cry. Maybe I did kidnap her like Piper said… Am I the monster?

Finally, she looks up at me. “If I say yes, does that mean I gave up on her?”

“Oh my goodness, no!” The word comes out in a rush of breath, and my eyes prick with tears. “I would never ask you to give up on your mom.”

I hug her to me again, and this time, her arms slide around my waist. For a moment, I hold her, wondering what all this little girl has survived in her short life. I can’t take away her hope as well. We rock side to side, and I wait as the tension slowly leaves her body.

When she’s ready, she sits back in her chair. Her lips tighten, and my heart twists as I watch her choose her words. “You’re really nice to me. I like being here with you and Monay and Angie and Ryan and Owen.”

I slide my thumb over the tear on her cheek, wiping it away. “You do?”

She nods, and our eyes meet. “Yeah, you guys are okay.”

She’s teasing, and a smile curls my lips. I lean forward, hugging her again. “You know I’m not very good at being a mom. We’ll just be a special family that gets each other through the hard times. Okay?”

“Okay.”

* * *

“I heardthis place started out of a VW van in Nashville.” Piper walks out to a picnic table with two trays of hot dogs in her hands.

“Sounds like our next story,” I call to her.

Nikki has her phone out and her green bucket hat on, and she’s showing her SpongeBob drawings to Ryan and Owen while I sit beside Britt. Bonnie is awake and waving her tiny fists, and I cup her little white-blonde head in my hand.

“She’s so cute,” I coo, leaning closer to kiss her, taking a big sniff of baby scent. “She smells so good.”

“Johnson’s baby wash and Baby Magic baby lotion.” Britt says it like she’s reading a recipe. “Ooo, what have you got?”

“Mac-n-weenie for you…” Piper sets a bun full of what looks like macaroni and cheese in front of Nikki, then a plain hotdog with mustard, ketchup and relish in front of me. “One Frank-n-weenie, hold the onions. Chili weenie for you guys...” She sets two chili-covered hot dogs in front of the boys. “Pimento and cheese weenie for Britt, and a weenie without a cause for me.”

“What’s that?” I frown at her dog.

“Veggie weenie.”

“There truly is no cause for that.” Britt laughs, taking a sip of her lemon water. “We can get caramel corn after.”

“We’re speaking to Harold again?” I arch a brow, looking up at her.

The last time I was here, Harold ran his dog Bo against Britt’s grandmother in the mayoral race, then he yelled at Piper for calling his dog a delicious snack in the paper, which was really Martha’s fault.

Basically, we were not speaking to him when I left to get Nikki.

“He did a really great job apologizing to Gran.” Britt nods, stuffing a french fry into her mouth. “If she forgives him, I will. He does make the best popcorn on the coast.”

I’m all set to make a witty comeback when a little girl prances out of the Popcorn Palace in the direction of Heaven Scent, the aromatherapy and candle store I did one of my first business profiles on for Piper.

It’s Annabelle, and she’s dressed in jeans and cowboy boots with a lavender plaid shirt and a flat-brimmed hat. She looks like a little fashion model, but from the glint in her eye, I can tell she’s a mean girl.

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