Page 62 of Broken

Mia and Tess arrived late at night. The drive was long, so we all went to bed with the promise to regroup over breakfast. Aine slept in my room with me, and I gave her a small room with Mia and Tess.

It had been years since I shared a room with my little ladybug. She decided at the age of six that she was too big to sleep in her mom's room. So, she stopped climbing into bed with me in the middle of the night. It was a bittersweet moment. It was nice to have her in the room with me. I felt a little less alone in the dark.

The next morning, over pancakes and coffee, Aine got to meet her aunts and we made plans for the week. I decided to finish off the vacation that I gave up last week. Danielle offered to do whatever work had to be done for me. That woman needed a vacation more than anyone else I knew, but she said there was time to rest when she died.

Noah had been calling Mia over breakfast, but she turned her phone off, claiming that girl time was more important. There wasn't much I needed to talk to him about, I signed all the papers for the sale of the house remotely, and all that was left was escrow. That was one small relief for me.

The three of us decided to do absolutely nothing today. We packed a small ice chest with some wine, some soda, and some water bottles, and decided to spend the rest of the day at the pool.

"So, what's up with your friend Danielle?" Tess looked past her sister to me.

"Why? Interested?" I raised my eyebrow at Tess. She made no secret about being gay, but this was the first time I'd seen anything resembling interest from her.

"Well, she's hot, but she seems a little high maintenance to me." The pot just called the kettle black.

Mia sat up, shaking so hard with laughter that she almost spilled her wine all over herself. "You mean, she's higher maintenance than you, right?"

I was so glad she said it, so I didn't have to. Tess might have fangs, and she definitely bites, but she was, under all the hard edges, a pretty little princess. Heaven forbid another woman to be more needy and girly than her.

"I'm not high maintenance."

"Yes, you are." Mia and I said in unison. We all laughed, even though Tess attempted a sad pout, which didn't work because she found herself as comical as we did.

A high-pitched squeal came from the other end of the pool. A boy, from another apartment, splashed Aine and Riley, who were lounging on their own seats on the other end of the pool.

"Oh, hell no." Tess sat her wine glass down on the ground under her chaise and stalked to the side of the pool. I gave Mia a concerned look, Tess was a hothead. I didn't think she would hurt a kid, but I also didn't think I saw her bond with a child the way she did Aine.

"Umm..." Mia was just as shocked and clueless as I was. All we could do was watch and pray she didn't drag the kid out of the pool.

Tess completely ignored the kid in the pool and walked over to the girls. We watched as she whispered something to them, and then the three of them walked over to the edge of the pool, closest to the boy.

Mia and I sat up, I grabbed my phone and hit record as quickly as I could. I knew what Tess planned and I was so fucking proud at the moment.

This kid was totally oblivious as to what the girls were doing until a loud "Cannonball" came from three different voices, as Tess and both girls cannonballed into the pool, sending the biggest splash of water in the boy's face.

I sent the video to Danielle, and almost immediately she sent me a text back cheering the girls on.

Watching Tess with Aine brought me back to one of the happier memories of growing up in Lakewood.

It was Labor Day weekend, right before Noah's senior year. We had all piled into his car and drove out to the lake. Daisy had forced us to take Tess along with us. Looking back, I'm so glad she was with us that day.

We had been sunning on the dock while the guys swam. They thought it would be hilarious to start splashing us with water while we weren't paying attention. Before we could retaliate, Tess came barreling down the dock and jumped in the lake right in front of the guys, screaming 'Cannon ball' as she went through the air. Yeah, Mia and I got a little wet, but she soaked Noah Kai, and Cal.

"I love your sister." I smiled at Mia. The expression on her face told me she had been thinking about the same memory a second ago.

"Eh. You're not her type. You're high maintenance too." Mia winked at me, and we both doubled over laughing.

thirty-six

Sinclair

Theweekpassedquickly.We spent most of our time poolside, relaxing, and catching up. Mia and Tess took Aine shopping, and to do touristy things. They took the aerial tram up to Mt. San Jacinto, and they even went to see the Cabazon Dinosaurs. My daughter got the full 'Auntie experience' as she described to me one night before bed.

Riley's mom called, they planned a camping trip and invited Aine to join them. I shocked myself for agreeing to let her go. It had more to do with Aine begging me, because of course Riley called her before I had a chance to think about it.

I didn't even ask her if she talked to Kai at all. I didn't want to put her in the middle of our drama.

He still called me daily, and texted, begging me to call him. I ignored all of it. I had no desire to talk to Kai unless it was about Aine, and he had her number, so he could call her if he wanted to talk to her.

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