Page 92 of Tempting as Sin
It wasn’t a social worker. It was Lily and Clay. She couldn’t remember his real name. It was him, though. He was standing behind Lily, off of the porch. He had Chuck on a leash, and there was a new bike beside him. It was blue, like her old one, but shinier, and it was a kid’s bike. Her helmet was hanging off the handlebars.
There were three guys on the sidewalk, too. One of them was taking pictures, the same way the guy had done yesterday. The other one had a bigger camera, and the third one had one of those gray fuzzy microphones on sticks. Clay had said people followed him around and took his picture because he was famous. That was stupid, because he was already in the movies. You could just look at him there.
She wanted to run out to pet Chuck, but she wasn’t sure what was going on. “Do I get to go home?” she asked. Lily’s face got funny and sad, so she knew the answer, and she tried to swallow again, and still couldn’t.
“Go outside,” the lady said. “You’re letting out all the air conditioning.” So Bailey did. Clay let Chuck’s leash go, and he ran to her and started licking her legs. She dropped down onto the steps so she could hug him. He licked her face and wagged his tail really hard, and she tried not to cry, but it was hard.
Lily was crouching down, too, saying, “We brought you some books and some clothes, sweetie. And a new bike that’s the right size.” She was trying to smile, but she was crying at the same time. “And we’re going to get you out of here and back to my house until your grandma’s better. We’re working on it right now.”
“When?” Bailey asked. Her grandma wasn’t dead, then. She hugged Chuck tighter.
“It could be a month,” Lily said. “But I’m going to work night and day on it. Night andday.I promise.” Her voice changed. It got fierce, like when she told Chuck to sit. “I’m going to do whatever I have to do, so even if your grandma gets sick again, you can stay with me. I’m going to be a foster home. I’m going to beyourfoster home.”
Bailey felt like she was going to throw up. “Regular people aren’t foster homes, though,” she tried to tell Lily. “Hardly ever. Not regular people with gardens and bikes and things. I don’t think they let you.”
“They’re going to let me,” Lily said. “You’re going to come stay with me. I’m going to make it happen. What are you eating? How about clothes? What else do you need? Haven’t they given you anything else to wear? You were wearing that outfit last night. Did you have breakfast?”
Bailey heard the door slam behind her, and she stood up fast. The lady came out, and she looked mad. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Who are those guys? Is this some kind of investigation? I didn’t tell anybody they could take pictures of my house. And what are you talking about, taking her? What do you mean, what’s she eating? She’s eating fine. I have no investigations on my record. None. She just got here. How would I get her any clothes yet? I’m not a miracle worker, and I haven’t even gotten a check yet. You think doing this job is easy, with the kids I get? You try it, then. What am I supposed to do, buy every kid a whole wardrobe the second she gets here?”
Her voice had gotten louder and louder, and Bailey scooted down the steps and tried to be quiet until she stopped.
Lily looked mad, too. Bailey had never seen her be mad. Her voice was shaking when she said, “I’m saying you’d better be feeding her, and you’d better be taking good care of her, or youwillhave an investigation. And never mind. I brought her clothes.” She held out a big bag to Bailey, and Bailey wasn’t sure if she should take it or if it would make the lady madder, but she did.
The bag was heavy. There were three books in it, besides clothes. One of them was the first book of Harry Potter. Bailey had picked it out in the library yesterday, but she hadn’t had a chance to check it out. Another one was the reason the bag was heavy. It was just calledAnimals,but it was huge. You could tell it had lots of pictures and facts in it.
She didn’t look to see what the third book was, because the lady’s voice got even louder. “Get the hell out of here,” she said. “You can’t come on my property and make false accusations. I’m not talking to any news people, either. Get out.”
Clay—Rafe—said, “Hang on, now.” His voice was really calm and strong, like it had been in the movie last night, before he’d grown claws. “We’re all good here. No worries. We just came for a wee visit to bring Bailey her things, and now we’re going.”
“You’d better be going,” the lady said. “And get that dog off my grass. If he takes a dump out here, I’m calling the cops. Don’t think you’re coming back to check on me, either. The county checks on me plenty, and I pass every time. If you come back making accusations, I’m calling the cops.”
Lily didn’t look at her. She looked at Bailey and said, “You’re going to be at my house very soon. You’re going to be playing with Chuck, and you’re going to be making jam with me and learning to milk the goats. You’ll see.”
She and Rafe walked back to the car, and Chuck jumped in the back, but then he stuck his head out the window, and one paw, too, and panted, like he wanted to stay. But they drove away instead.
Lily said, “Well, I could have done that better. And the publicity isn’t going to help anything.” She was focusing on being right here, on trying not to spiral out of control. And the same two cars were following them.
She’d thought that yesterday would be the end of it. Instead, somebody had scented a story, and it was all starting up again. Yesterday’s photographer had been joined by a TV crew that had filmed the outside of the county building, and had only been stopped by the security guard from barging right in. They’d filmed the whole thing with Bailey, though. What would that do to Lily’s application?
You’d think that having a famous name—or being associated with one—would make everything easier. It wasn’t always true, especially not if it made you look like a lightweight whose whole life was a publicity stunt. Look at how she’d misunderstood Rafe at first. And if you were trying to take on the most important thing of all, responsibility for somebodyelse’slife… You needed to be serious for that. You needed to be somebody who could stick.
Rafe said, “Nah. You did fine.” Interrupting her thoughts, which was just as well.
“Rafe.” She had to laugh. “I did not do fine. All I did was upset her. Mrs. Whosit. I can’t even remember her name. It’s like my brain is imploding. And I should care that this has all turned into some kind of feature, and I can’t. I can’t care how anybody spins it, unless it keeps me from getting her. What if I did that myself, though, by not keeping my temper?”
He glanced over at her, then back at the road. “You didn’t do anything wrong, and there was nothing wrong with what you said, either. Whatever Mrs. Whosit said about it, she’s going to be just a wee bit worried now about how she treats Bailey, especially because itison film. When somebody explodes the way she did, it’s because you’ve hit them on their weak side.”
“I’m going to believe you,” she said, “because it feels better.”
He smiled. “Always wise. And however Bailey looked—and I know, it wasn’t good—she knows, too. You kept that hope alive. Where are we going, us and Chuck and the entourage? Back to Sinful?”
“Yes,” she said. “I have someplace I need to go. Somebody I need to see. We may as well drag our pals along.” She rubbed her forehead. Her aches were still there, but she couldn’t worry about them anymore. “I guess you haven’t heard from your agent yet. He probably knows what their angle is.”
“I expect it’s about what you think,” he said.“Are Lily and Rafe building a ready-made family together after all the heartache? Tonight onOpen Hollywood:their heartwarming story.”Lily had to laugh. He asked, “Do you want me to come, then?” As calm as ever, and his hands as sure on the wheel. “Or no?”
She could have told him to take his training run. She could have apologized for making him miss his riding lesson. He could still go do it. She’d bet Jo knew how to get rid of journalists on her property. It probably involved a shotgun again. She didn’t say any of that, though. “Yes,” she said instead. “I want you to come. Please.”
“You know,” he said after ten minutes or so, when they were on the highway and Lily was watching a bald eagle soaring high over the valley, riding the thermals, “there’s something you haven’t mentioned, and I feel compelled to mention it.”
