Page 27 of Nothing Heals Me Like You Do

“I’m visiting that set in a few weeks,” Sienna’s mom said. “And I won’t have forgotten by then.”

“Promise me.” Sienna made sure to look her mother square in the eye. “That you won’t go all embarrassingly mother hen on me. If you don’t promise, I’ll make sure you won’t be granted access to the set.”

“I’m Maxine Brewster. Who’s going to stop me?” Her mom grinned. This was her way of saying she agreed, and that she wouldn’t confront Justine about this if and when she met her.

“Thank fuck,” Sienna said. “Sometimes, I think you forget I’m thirty-six years old.”

“Language, please.” Her mother winked at Sienna. “But if you do want to talk about it, I’m always here. You know that.”

Chapter14

“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Darrel said. Justine hadn’t noticed them coming up to her. “I told you this movie would be a blessing for the shelter.” They were both looking at Sienna, who was surrounded by six people who all wanted a piece of her.

Justine ignored what Darrel had just said about Sienna, although she wholeheartedly agreed.

“It’s astounding what meeting someone who has been in a few movies can do to people. Look at Ashleigh. She’s a different person around Sienna.”

“They’re all starstruck. It’s so cute.”

“Sounds like you’re a little starstruck as well, D.” Justine glanced at her co-worker from the corner of her eye. They were positively beaming.

“It never hurts to glam this place up a bit. And that’s what Sienna does. It’s hard to explain.”

“I think for these kids she’s like a canvas on which they can project their biggest dreams,” Justine mused. “Despite Sienna’s obvious privilege.”

“It probably means something different to everyone.” They bumped their arm against Justine’s. “Good job getting her here.”

“Where’s your other new best friend, Alexis Dalton?” Justine asked.

“She texted that rehearsals are running late. She has a big part to play, after all, and she has to properly prepare.” Darrel delighted in this a bit too much to Justine’s liking, although she fully understood. The shelter was not a glam place—as they’d put it—and to have Sienna, and later Alexis, spend a few hours here hanging out with some of the kids momentarily changed the vibe from bleak to sparkling. It was as though Sienna added a vivid splash of color to its beige walls just by being here—a bit like a Raffo Shah painting. Thinking of Raffo made Justine’s mind wander to last weekend—to when Sienna wanted to show Justine her other Raffo painting. And show her she had. An inadvertent smile spread on her lips.

“You like her, don’t you?” Darrel said. “I can tell. Your body language’s different, so don’t even bother denying it.”

Justine thought a change of subject was the best course of action. “Didn’t you have a hot date with Alexis Dalton over the weekend to gossip about me?”

“Gossip? Moi?” Darrel clutched their hand to their chest. “Besides, I only have good things to say about you.”

“Like when you told Sienna and Alexis that I’m a real piece of work.” Justine arched up her eyebrows and looked Darrel straight in the face.

“In a good way, obviously, boss.” They winked at her. The thing with these shelter kids who’d managed to change their lives, kids like Darrel had been, was that once they’d made it to the other side of all the rejection and pain, they were stronger and more resilient than most—and there wasn’t much left that could unnerve them. Least of all a half-hearted scolding from Justine.

“Why am I such a piece of work, according to you?” Justine was actually curious.

“Where to even begin?” Darrel returned her gaze. “You built this place from scratch. You fight for kids whose parents have given up on them. You take zero shit from anyone. You’re tough, because you’ve had to be. But as one of the shelter’s most valued employees and someone who has worked with you for years, I know you have a heart of the purest gold underneath all your posturing and fronting.”

“Jesus, D. I wasn’t asking for a psychological assessment of my personality.” Warmth blossomed in Justine’s chest nonetheless. But Darrel was a success story and even though other kids had gone on to do extraordinary things after knocking on the shelter’s door—like Raffo and Min-ji—they were the exception. For every kid the shelter could help, there were several who couldn’t cope, because every single person handles being kicked out by their family differently. Compared to life on the street, staying at the shelter might be a definite improvement, but it was never how a teenager’s life and development was supposed to go. No matter how hard she tried, Justine couldn’t save them all. That was what frustrated her the most, what kept her up at night, and what kept her going most of all. And what kept her screwing up most of her personal relationships—not that she cared a great deal about that. That was probably what Darrel really meant when they’d claimed she was ‘a piece of work’.

Her gaze was drawn to Sienna again. Justine had work to do, some of it urgent enough that she should have finished it days ago, but she found it hard to tear herself away from this room that Sienna brightened up so spectacularly. So she stood, side-by-side with Darrel, looking at Sienna a little while longer.

“Knock, knock.” Sienna appeared in the doorway of Justine’s makeshift office, which was more like a broom closet with just enough room for a tiny table on which she could rest her frantically-whirring old laptop.

Again, a smile spread on Justine’s face. If Sienna had that effect on the kids, Justine could hardly blame herself for not being immune to Sienna’s abundant charms.

“Hey. They loved you. I can’t thank you enough for doing that.”

Sienna scrunched up her lips. “I can think of a way.” She held up her hands. “Not that I need to be thanked. Seriously, these kids are great. They’re already asking when I’m coming back.”

“Are you?”

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