Page 72 of Is It Casual Now?

“What was that before the concert? I thought you weregoing to take her out back and ream her a new one. I haven’t seen you that upset in a very long time.” Tori pressed a hand to Siena’s arm. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened.” Why was that always her go-to answer lately? And why was everyone prying? She really needed to get herself under control. Siena clenched her fists at her sides. “Jamie was supposed to interview Bunny and Piper. She didn’t show up.”

“Really?” Tori frowned. “That doesn’t seem like her.”

“It’s not like her.” Siena looked over the dissipating crowd, making eye contact with Jamie as she started to clean up the decorations from the stage. Oh, the joys of being the stage help. That was one job that Siena had never enjoyed.

She couldn’t tear her gaze away as Jamie went to work.

“Siena.” Tori cleared her throat.

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to get Harley?”

“Oh, right.” Siena looked around to find the auditorium mostly empty. She immediately walked out and went down the hall toward Harley’s classroom. When she stepped inside, she was greeted with a very excited six-year-old. God, she loved this kid through and through.

“Hey baby! You were amazing!” Siena scooped Harley up in her arms and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the top of her head. “I loved it.”

“Were you surprised?”

“I was. You did such a good job keeping the songs a secret.” Siena kissed her again and then put her down onto the ground. “Mama and Miranda are waiting for you. They want to see you before they leave.”

“Okay!” Harley ran over to give Jessie a hug goodbye and then skipped back to Siena. Siena gave Jessie a sad little wave, but said nothing as she walked out of the classroom with Harley’s hand in hers.

They made it to the front doors of the school where Miranda and Tori and a now very awake Rebel were waiting. Harley ran straight up to them. Siena let them talk a while as she looked around. Jamie came toward them, her jacket on and her hands shoved in it. Instead of turning toward Jessie’s classroom, she scooted around Siena and Tori and started straight for the door, giving Siena a sideways glance as she went.

Oh, she was doing this intentionally. She was going to walk out without saying a damn word.

“Harley, we’ve got to get going. Say goodbye.” Siena didn’t drop her gaze to her daughter. Instead she kept her eyes on Jamie’s retreating back. She wasn’t going to let Jamie go without a conversation. Because she was afraid that if they didn’t talk now then they’d never talk again.

With Harley’s hand in hers, Siena walked outside, trying to catch sight of which direction Jamie had walked off in. It took her a second, but she finally saw her at the corner. “Come on, Harley.”

Siena walked swiftly with Harley in tow as they went. She was going to have this conversation. She wanted an answer. She needed to know why Jamie had just given up so easily. Was this some kind of game to her? She obviously hadn’t been dead in a ditch, but had she been in a ditch?

“Mommy, can we slow down?”

“In a minute.” Siena looked both ways before racing across the street and catching right up to Jamie. “Were you just going to leave without talking?”

Jamie spun around, her hair flying around before it settled back down against her shoulders. She looked absolutely confused before she glanced down at Harley. “You’re with your family.”

“I told you that we needed to talk.”

“We did talk,” Jamie answered, holding her ground.

Siena shook her head slowly. “No, we didn’t. You walked away from me.”

Jamie once again looked down at Harley. Siena kept Harley’s hand firmly in hers. “We can talk about this some other time.”

“No, we can’t. It has to be now.” Siena straightened her shoulders. “Why didn’t you show up for the interview?”

Jamie pursed her lips and then shook her head. “Like I said before, Siena, it doesn’t matter. It never mattered to you. My career, my job, what I do for my livelihood doesn’t matter to you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Mommy, that’s a bad word.”

“I know it is, Harley,” Siena hissed and then cringed. Her tone was way too harsh with Harley. She’d have to apologize for that later and explain that she wasn’t mad at Harley.

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