Page 25 of Raelynn's Little Repeat Day
Sadie was almost out of breath when she caught up to them. Daddy watched her curiously, but Raelynn knew exactly what was coming.
“A bunch of us are going to the park by the pond after lunch. They have some awesome tree swings there. Wanna come?” Sadie looked at Daddy and added, “If it’s okay with your Daddy, of course.”
Raelynn turned her best puppy dog eyes on her Daddy. She needed him to say yes. If he didn’t, this wasn’t going to work. “Please, Daddy, can I?”
Daddy looked at Sadie, then at Raelynn, and back at Sadie as if he didn’t trust them. His instincts had always been good, they’d also been improved by his years at the Ranch, but she hoped he’d relent anyway. She was beginning to think he was going to say no or ask a question they really didn’t want asked, but her face falling must have convinced him or something because finally he said, “Okay, but only for an hour, since you woke up too early this morning. You’ll be getting a nap today.”
Raelynn bounced up and down as she celebrated her success. “Thank you! Thank you, Daddy!” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight as she told him, “You’re the bestest Daddy ever!”
Sadie waved and headed back toward her Daddy, probably headed for her own lunch. Step one was complete. On to phase two.
Les
He hada bad feeling about it, but he’d already agreed to park time. The amount of excitement Rae-Rae showed over being allowed to go was a bit overboard, which he knew from extensive experience probably meant something was up. The problem was that his experience was from twenty years ago. She’d changed. It wasn’t so hard to imagine that her Little had as well.
Was she this excited because she’d been deprived of Little time before coming here, from the joy of finding new friends, or because she was up to something naughty? Les figured time would tell and searched the armoire in their room. If itwaswhat he suspected, he’d be needing some of the tools the Ranch provided.
Rae-Rae had just gone to the park to visit her friends and Les had an hour to kill while he waited. Maybe he could use some of these even if shedidn’tget into any trouble. There was nothing that said he couldn’t use some as a reward, right?
Les doubled his efforts, choosing implements that would help him whether he was rewarding his good girl or disciplining his naughty one. Either was a win for him.
Raelynn
“Shhhhh,”Sadie used her key card to unlock the door labeledStaff Only.She cracked it a bit before turning to Hayleigh and asking, “You got it, right?”
Hayleigh held up the item in question, “I swear it was one of those James Bond computer file moments. There I am in the office trying to be patient for this download and I heard Daddy coming toward the office. He was on the phone so I was listening to him talk, getting closer and closer...”
Raelynn gasped, “What happened?”
“Well, Daddy got all the way to the door, and this still had thirty seconds to download. I just knew I was gonna get caught. But then, whoever was on the phone said something that had Daddy walking away and saying he’d be there soon. By the time he called me to the living room to let me know he had to run out, I’d gotten this and hidden it in my room.”
“Wow, thatwasa close call!”
Hayleigh turned to Sadie and answered, “I don’t think my heart stopped racing for two dang hours. But I got it, so let’s do this!”
“Wren?” Sadie asked.
“Good to go. I don’t have a Jane Bond story for you, though.”
The girls all chuckled at her change of gender as Sadie opened the door, stuck her head in and looked down both ends of the hall before motioning the other girls in with her.
CHAPTER 21
Raelynn
The girls creptdown the hall as Sadie kept a close watch, making sure they weren’t spotted. Sadie alone wouldn’t be a problem, since she was allowed access, but Raelynn, in particular, was a guest and getting caught back here would ruin the whole plan.
It seemed to take forever to cover the short distance to the media control room, but finally, Sadie opened the door and let all the girls in. Once they were inside, the girls wasted no time. As Sadie and Hayleigh did their part, Raelynn and Wren worked together to cover every screen in the room. Scotch tape soon held images of Taylor Swift on every screen present. Computer screens, monitors, everything. As soon as they declared themselves done, Sadie pressed a button and the girls ran for the exit.
Les
He knew it.The moment the announcement system blared to life with music every person not buried under a rock recognized, Les knew his girl had something to do with it. He raced from his room at a pace even faster than that of Taylor Swift singingShake it Off.Before he’d made it to the end of the hall, a second round of the song was playing. It played at a volume that caused his ears to hurt. The system was designed for emergency announcements, not to play music, and was set to a level designed to be sure everyone heard what was being said.
Les was a bit surprised that the floor didn’t shake or the foundation of the Ranch’s main resort didn’t rumble. It spoke to the construction quality that even that loud bass couldn’t shake anything. Nothing except nerves, that is.
Les rounded the corner to the staff entrance just as a third round of the obnoxiously catchy song began to play. That damn chorus was going to be going through his head for months! When he entered the staffing hallway, he found Master Derek already at the door to the media room. He rushed to catch up and was just in time to enter just after him with Travis and Chef Connor right behind him.
Les took a look around and had to hide a chuckle seeing the famous artist staring back at him from every angle including from the security camera. It was seeing Taylor up high that had his chuckles dying in his throat. How had they reached that? Looking around again, he found a rickety ladder that had surely seen better days propped in a corner. It did not look safe at all.He went over to inspect it closer and found rust on some of the hinges.
