Page 1 of Hey, Daddy

I think my problem is I like to see how red my flag can get.

—Nastya’s secret thoughts

NASTYA

I grunted as I shoved the huge box into my car.

The giant box had started off on the cart that I used when I had big purchases that I needed help carrying—I did a whole lot of Amazon one-hour pickups that required this.

I’d rolled the cart to the back of the car and had used everything I had to get the damn thing into the back cargo area.

It’d taken me a couple of tries—because damn, it was awkward—but eventually I’d been able to manage it.

It was a nugget ice maker and I couldn’t wait to test it out.

“Hey,” an amused voice called out.

I grinned and made a dive through the open window of the car, throwing my arms around my sister.

“Hey!” I squeaked. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to go get diapers before I met you at the bar…” She paused. “You want to ride with me? I’ll come back and drop you off when I’m done.”

“Absolutely,” I said as I ran back to the X3, caught up my purse, closed the back hatch of my SUV with a distracted click of the button, and came hauling ass back to my sister.

God, it was still so crazy to say that.

My sister.

Well, not necessarily “my sister” as much as which sister.

When I was eight years old, we’d gone to the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to have a much-needed family vacation.

What we got was my baby sister, Marina—now known as Maven—getting abducted.

My parents spent the rest of their lives searching, never giving up.

Then one day two years ago, we’d all been having family dinner—we’d moved to Gatlinburg in hopes of maybe one day seeing her again—when we’d gotten the news that our sister had been found.

Maven smiled and said, “Get in the car, or we’ll be late.”

I did, getting into the passenger seat and buckling up.

I kicked a couple of naked Barbie dolls to the side and said, “Your car is so trashed right now.”

“I know.” She groaned. “I never realized how crazy it was to have children.”

Maven now had three. Lola, the love of my life, Brando, the sweetest boy I’d ever met, and Redford, the hellion.

“You should get your husband to get it detailed,” I instructed.

“He refuses because he doesn’t want the kids eating in the car.” She rolled her eyes. “Like I could stop that. I have two small kids, one of which is a toddler and doesn’t understand why he has to be cooped up in his car seat for an hour during school pickup and drop off, and he expects me to keep the kids entertained without, might I add, an iPad?” She snorted. “Mr. ‘I don’t intend to raise iPad kids’ wants me to entertain these kids without technology or food? Yeah, right.”

“I do agree with the iPad kid thing.” I shuddered. “I saw a kid in Target throw a fit a little bit ago because her mom wouldn’t let her have her phone when the kid’s iPad died. Threw the biggest fit, and the woman buys her all kinds of toys to get her to shut up.”

“I understand the necessity of it, which was why I agreed with the no iPad thing, but not the no food thing,” she agreed as she hooked a left and turned into the bar parking lot we were meeting Milena at.

Milena’s SUV was already in the parking lot, so we headed inside and found her in a corner booth at the back of the room.

---