Page 73 of A Little Naughty

She steps back, her gray-blue eyes so full of warmth. “Piper said he was very convincing at the park yesterday, and she said he brought a dog for Nikki to play with?”

“Yeah… Can I have a glass of water?”

“Of course.” She takes a glass out of the cabinet and brings it to me. “I remember the day Mom took you away so clearly. There were nights I could still hear you crying in my sleep. I was furious at her for leaving us behind, but when she came back and took you away, it was almost worse. I struggled for a long time wondering why.”

“I wondered that too.” I drink the water, not really wanting to take this trip down memory lane. “I would go to sleep at night and imagine you were there, singing to me.”

“I’m sorry.” She slides her hand down the side of my hair. “Maybe she thought she was doing good? Maybe she didn’t want to be alone, or maybe she thought you were too little to understand being left behind?”

“Maybe she was just selfish.” That old anger is in my chest again. “She’d stay out all night, then she’d get up the next evening and do it all again. Like she was so determined to hit the big time, she forgot everything else. She said it was for us, but she left me behind as sure as if she’d left me here with you.”

My sister is quiet, and she holds my hands gently. “Aunt Carol said she died alone in a hotel room.”

A frown pulls my brow, and I draw back my chin. “Mom died at the hospital.” Cass looks up at me confused, and I explain. “She tried for a while to get clean, but it was too late. Her heart gave out.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Aunt Carol tell me that?”

“Because she’s mean?”

She doesn’t answer right away, but after a few moments she nods slowly. “She is… or she always was.”

I glance around this beautiful kitchen all stainless steel and white tile and reclaimed wood. My eyes drift into the living room, where massive couches are arranged in front of a theater-sized flatscreen television. These are the things my momma always wanted. She never got them.

“I wasn’t with her when she died.”

“What?”

“She fell, and I called 9-1-1…” It’s a memory I’d be glad never to relive. The flashing sirens, workers yelling, me being pushed aside as they rushed in and took her away. “I waited, but no one ever came back for me, so I crawled into her bed. I never saw her again.”

“Oh…” Cass slides her hand over mine, and I look up to see tears building in her gray-blue eyes. “I didn’t know.”

“They wanted to send me to live with some relative, but I wanted to be with you. Then they said Aunt Carol didn’t want another child.”

My throat tightens, and I don’t know why I’m telling her this. I don’t like these memories. I’ve accepted they’re a part of who I am, but they’re the past. I’m in Eureka now, and I want this to be the part where I get the magic, the love, the life I always dreamed about.

“It doesn’t matter now.”

She closes the space between us, pulling me into a hug. “It does matter.”

I feel her hiccup a breath, and I hug her back. “But we can’t change it. I learned who I could trust, and I learned to be strong.” I take her hands in mine, something I always wanted. “Now I’m building my own family, and we’ll always be there for each other.”

Wiping the tears off her cheeks, she squeezes my hands. “I hope you’ll let me be a part of it.”

“You already are.”

* * *

The justiceof the peace’s office in Ridgeland is a small room in an even smaller building in a strip mall off the highway north of Eureka.

Monay parks in the empty space next to Raif’s shiny motorcycle. “I guess I see how you’re getting home.” She glances at me across the console. “Miss Nik and I will be at the Pak-n-Save getting red vines and slushies for Movies in the Park tonight.”

“You’re going to have so much fun.The Princess and the Frogis one of my favorites.” I look over my shoulder at Nikki in the backseat.

She’s wearing a pretty, hot pink dress with eyelet embroidery, and her hair is brushed smooth with a little flower headband.

Monay is wearing a full face of makeup, her best Dolly wig, and a pale pink sheath dress and matching coat. It matches Angie Dickinson’s dye job, and of course, Ange is with us, wearing her best puppy tiara for the occasion.

“I expect you’ll be having your own fun tonight.” Monay gives me a wink, and anticipation shimmers in my stomach.

---