Page 22 of Tortured Tones

A sly smile curled across my lips. “I’ll work on Ma. Okay?”

“’Kay.” A flash of excitement flickered in her eyes.

I picked up the small plush white unicorn off the floor. “This guy’s cool. What’s his name?”

“Martin.”

I pursed my lips again, trying not to laugh. I loved the names of her toys. “Do you think Martin would like a friend?” I held out my bear again. “I have this teddy who needs a buddy. Do you think they could play together?”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know.” I looked at the cream fluffy bear. “What would you like to call him?”

“Barney.”

“Barney it is.”

“Thank you.” She took Barney and placed him on the floor beside her. “Can we play ponies?” She picked up a comb and handed it to me along with Martin. “Brush his tail, please. Can you braid it?”

Fuck. I didn’t know how to plait. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

She shook her curls. “Ma always does it.”

“My sister might be able to teach me. She’s got long hair.”

We sat on the floor for ten minutes, playing with her pile of toys. The ponies lived in a magical forest and had to run away from the big bad bear...Barney. For a three-year-old, she had a wicked imagination. Whatever ideas I suggested for the story were wrong. She immediately went off into a different tangent that made my mind spin. I couldn’t keep up. Maybe I shouldn’t have drunk so much last night.

Then she tossed her pony aside, grabbed her pink backpack and slide out a book. “Will you read me a story?”

“Sure.” I held out my hand to take it.

“No.” She clutched the book to her chest, scooted over to me, and crawled into my lap. I held my arms out wide as she wriggled against my chest. What the fuck? I hadn’t expected this. That she’d trust me so soon. She had no reason not to. But still...my mind was completely blown. She picked up Barney, tucked him underneath her arm, and opened the book. “I turn the pages. You read.”

My heart melted a tiny fraction.

I glanced toward my onlookers. Hannah had tears in her eyes; her hands were fanned over her heart. Paul gave me the thumbs-up. Arilla glared at me like I was under police interrogation...which I kinda was.

But Ava...nodded. Her shoulder-width stance was still rigid as a rock and her hands were clasped in front of her body, no doubt posed, ready to strangle me or anyone who got in her way, but...whoa! Were those tears welling in her eyes? Surely not.

I was just trying to be nice and not scare the fuck out of my kid. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was pretty cool. The back of my eyes prickled again. I smoothed my hand over Charlotte’s soft silky curls that smelled of bubblegum. Her tiny body was light as a feather. Every time she looked at me, her big green eyes weakened my knees. Thank God, I was sitting down. Yeah...she’s my kid. I took a deep breath and read the first page of Alice in Wonderland.

But Charlotte groaned, tossed her head back, and smacked it against my shoulder. “No. That’s wrong. You’ve got to do funny voices. Just like Ma does.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I chuckled. “This is a first for me, kid. Shall we start again?”

“Yes. Alice has a pretty voice. But Rabbit talks really fast, like I’mlateI’mlateI’mlate.”

Oh boy! What was I in for? For someone so little, she had one of the biggest personalities I’d ever seen. I cleared my throat. “Got it.”

By the time we got to the Mad Hatter’s tea party, Charlotte’s body had slumped against my chest. Guessed she was getting tired. I certainly was. “Hey?” I closed the book. “Let’s finish this later. Why don’t we go have something to eat. Do you like ice cream?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, how about we head home?” Since Arilla hadn’t stormed into the room, I assumed I’d passed the initial test. The next step in transitioning Charlotte into my care was to spend the afternoon together with Hannah present to make sure Charlotte didn’t freak out. Or me. I’d had Mackenzie buy a stack of toddler-appropriate food. I had no idea what to feed a three-year-old. “I have vanilla and chocolate. Are they okay?”

“Rainbow is my favorite.”

Why did that not surprise me? “We can mix the two together for now. But I will make sure I get some rainbow ice cream next time I shop.”

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