Page 46 of Tortured Tones

The doorbell chimed, then it swung open. Lewis and Tia came in. Lewis carried a plush rainbow-colored llama under his arm and Tia hobbled inside on her crutches. She had just over two more weeks in her moonboot, recovering from her ankle surgery. I hope this fixed her injury. It broke my heart she couldn’t do acting and stunt work anymore, but she’d moved on and seemed to have found her new calling working in our sound and lighting team. I loved my sister. It was great to have her home, and even better that we got to hang out again. For the first time in as long as I could remember, she looked truly happy. Lewis had been a big part of that.

That was all I ever wanted. I wanted people to be happy. To have fun.

But sometimes the best of intentions backfired. Some still haunted me. Some still lurked deep in my heart. As long as no one else got hurt, I’d be fine.

Tia and Lewis crossed into the living room, and aimed for the sofa.

I hoisted Charlotte up higher on my hip. “Auntie Tia and Uncle Lewis are here. Come say hello.”

She nodded as she gnawed on her breadstick. Dribble and chucks of slobbered on breadstick covered her mouth.

Ergh! Just ignore it.

I walked over to the sofa, sat adjacent to Lewis, and placed Charlotte on the cushion between us. “Charlotte, this is Lewis. He plays the bass in our band. That’s not as cool as the drums but still wicked.”

“Hi, Charlotte. Welcome to the family. This is for you.” He held out the llama.

“Fank you.” She clutched it in her arm next to Barney.

He stroked her bouncy blonde curls. “I love your hair. It’s as long as mine only curly.”

Charlotte crawled over to him and patted his head. I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh at the gluggy crumbs that had been stuck to her hand and were now in Lewis’s hair.

“I like yours too.” Charlotte tilted her head to the side. “What’s a bass?”

Undeterred by—or unaware of—the gunk in his hair, he tapped the center of her chest. “It’s a very cool guitar.”

“Ooooh.” Her little mouth gaped as she nodded.

“Hello, Charlotte. How are you today?” Tia leaned over and waved.

“I’m good, fank you.”

The door opened and in strolled Flint, Sutton, and Slip.

“Hey.” Slip struggled to carry a huge brown teddy bear that was almost as big as he was. “We’re here, so let’s get this party started.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened at the sight of the bear. She crawled back to me and clutched my arm. I hoped Barney didn’t have a size complex.

Slip sat on the ottoman in front of Charlotte and spoke in the softest tone I’d ever heard come out of his mouth. “Hi. I’m Slip. And this big guy is Cuddles.” He pointed to the bear beside him. “He needs a home. Would you like to look after him?”

Charlotte clutched Barney and her llama against her chest and shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes as if she were terrified.

“Hey. It’s okay.” I rubbed her arm. “Don’t worry about Cuddles. I’ll look after him for now.”

“Fuck.” Slip ruffled his hands through his long hair. “Sorry. I thought the bear was cool.”

“Maybe if you’re a giant.” Sutton clipped the back of his head. “I told you it was too big.” She sat down next to Slip and gave Charlotte a gift bag of goodies—some clothes, a hairbrush, glittery hair clips and a doll. They were much better received.

Then I turned to Flint. He’d been standing back, hovering behind Sutton.

My stomach sank through the floor. Charlotte crawled onto my lap and turned to face him. She pointed. “Fhint.”

What? My breath shot from my lungs. How did she know who he was? “Yes. That’s Flint.”

“Whoa.” His eyes glazed over as he drifted toward us and sank onto the seat beside me. “She’s a mini you. Hi, Charlotte. How do you know my name?”

“Mommy showed me pictures. And videos. You sing and play moo-sic.” But she looked at me and my friends. “Where’s one more?”

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