Page 10 of Totally Off Limits

“No. I want Jasser.”

Layne laughed, his blue eyes sparkling. “Jasper can’t carry you inside, kiddo. His arms don’t work that way.”

Mia frowned as if Layne was clueless. Sierra thought, he definitely was, but for other reasons entirely. Meanwhile, Mia kept her hand on the dog’s neck. “Let’s go,” she said—and the dog walked beside her, all but choked in her arms.

“All those years of obedience school,” Sierra said as dryly as possible, stepping beside her daughter and the dog as they made their way toward the steps leading to the front door.

“Jasper didn’t go to—” Layne started before stopping himself, quickly recognizing that Sierra was just being a smart ass. On the other side of the dog and child, he asked, “Mia, do you like roast beef?”

The little girl looked up at him, a slight frown marring her brow. “Woast beef?”

“Rrr. Roast beef.”

“Roast beef.”

“Yeah, do you like it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Grandma made that and mashed potatoes and gravy. I know you like mashed potatoes.” Mia nodded as Layne continued. “And rolls and broccoli, I think. Don’t quote me.”

“I hope Jasper likes roast beef. If Mia doesn’t like it, he’ll get her share.” Because Mia loved to share with the dog. Even though she no longer dropped food from her tray like she had during her terrible twos, she loved that dog so much, she would have given him her entire plate without batting an eyelash. The dog recognized his name and glanced up at Sierra—but he wasn’t about to leave Mia’s side. When they got to the steps, Sierra said, “Give me your hand, baby.”

Mia wasn’t happy about it, but she let go of hugging Jasper, allowing one hand to rest on his neck. The other she placed in Sierra’s hand for the trek up the marble steps, white with brown swirls. The stairs didn’t seem slick at all, but Sierra had slid on them a time or two as a teenager and really didn’t want Mia falling and cracking her head or her new teeth on them. Once they got inside, she’d let the child roam free. Because Mia spent every Monday through Friday at grandma’s house, she knew where she could go and what areas were off limits.

As Layne held the ornate glass door open for them, Sierra let Jasper and Mia go first—and as soon as Mia was on the tile, she let go of her hand. While the tile could also be slippery on occasion, she had more of a chance to break a fall with her arms.

If only she’d let the dog go.

Layne rang the doorbell before following them inside, and chimes rang throughout the house. Sierra furrowed her brow a bit, not that it would do a damn bit of good. Layne didn’t give a shit how she felt.

Mia knew exactly where to go as she wound her way toward the kitchen at the back of the majestic home.

How had Sierraeverfelt comfortable here?

She knew exactly how. Her old bedroom upstairs had been her fortress. Unlike the rest of the house with its elegant touches—gold and crystal, full-grain leather and fine art—her bedroom had become her haven. In there, she’d hung posters of her favorite rock bands and she’d played music, read books, written in her diary. She’d hid from the rest of the world—or, more accurately, the rest of her family—in the safety of her own space, basically biding her time. Her second year in college, she’d managed to get a work study job and planned on moving out.

At the end of that school year during summer break, she’d changed her mind because her life had drastically changed. Suddenly single and pregnant, she decided almost immediately to keep Mickey’s baby. She also chose to take the spring semester off, promising her parents she’d get back to it once the baby was born. Mia arrived shortly before Valentine’s Day, and Sierra had never been so in love before. At first, Sierra expected her parents to treat Mia the same way they had her, but they didn’t. Mia was the apple of their eye, almost even more beloved than the triplets, and the child could do no wrong. Sierra was grateful, because her mother gladly watched her when Sierra started classes again that fall to finish up her degree.

But all their behavior did was make her wonder what the hell was wrong with her that she couldn’t escape their criticism, not even for a second.

Truthfully, it was more her mother than her father—but his silence made him complicit.

As if getting into character on stage, Sierra forced herself to smile. Layne was already ahead of her, darting after Mia and Jasper, so her transformation wouldn’t be noticeable. The entrance hall opened up near the rear of the house, displaying the pretentious but beautiful dining room and, to the right, the entrance to the kitchen.

“Smells good in here,” Sierra said, locating Mia and the dog near Rebecca Hayden, her mother. The woman wore an apron, but Sierra knew better, even though Layne and maybe others in the family didn’t—and she only knew because she’d inherited her lack of cooking skills from their mother. Their part-time cook had likely prepared all the food the day before or perhaps even on Friday, telling her mother how to heat it all back up. Still, Sierra hadn’t lied when she’d mentioned the palatable aromas wafting from the kitchen.

Sierra often wondered what her mother did all day but, of course, she knew the woman cared for her child full-time. She didn’t have to cook or clean and she didn’t work. Instead, she planned the occasional party or charitable function for WCC. Sierra genuinely had no idea how her parents could afford their lifestyle, although she knew some of it. Her grandfather on her mother’s side had passed a few months before the family had purchased this home, so she knew that was part of where the money had come from. And she had no idea how much this place cost, but it was hard to imagine that her father’s salary as president of a community college and residuals on textbooks he’d written decades earlier could afford this lavish a lifestyle.

More than that, itfeltphony. Perhaps that was the biggest issue Sierra had with the family, aside from the fact that they treated her like an outsider.

Maybe shewas.

“It’s almost time to eat. I’ll have you and Layne help me carry the food to the dining room.”

While her mother picked up Mia and kissed her on the cheek, Sierra asked, “You want me to just start taking these bowls here?”

“Yes. Layne, take the platter there, please.”

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