Chapter 9
Dot was asleep on Callie’s chest, meaning she had to resist the urge to get up and double check that everything was clean and ready for the rest of her family’s arrival.
Normally, with less than an hour to go before Ariel and the kids got there, she would’ve been running around the house with a duster and scented room spray, but that wasn’t an option.
Mostly, Callie was grateful to be forced into taking another break.
She’d spent the entire afternoon moving furniture, scrubbing the floors, and bouncing a fussy baby on her hip.
This was the first time Dot had been in the house without her mother for more than an hour or so, and it seemed to have given her a bit of anxiety.
Sasha was home now, but she’d gone to take a quick shower and Callie didn’t object.
Callie was also close to dozing off, but she was brought back to the waking world by the sound of David’s footsteps coming from the kitchen. He’d started to prepare dinner, and she could smell garlic and butter in the air. Her mouth watered. She’d missed lunch.
“Hey,” David whispered, coming around to the end of the couch. “Remind me again, Micah’s allergic to nuts, but he can have milk, right? Just a little bit?”
Callie nodded. “Yeah, a little is fine. I think he just can’t have a lot of dairy at once. But it’s not like he’s allergic to it, he’ll just have a stomachache.”
“Got it. I’m making some pasta for him and Becca in case they don’t want any of the chicken. Are they still as picky as they used to be?”
“As far as I know.”
“Well, every kid loves mac and cheese, right?” he said with a hopeful smile. “That was always a favorite with our kids. The more processed and aggressively orange in color, the better.”
“Micah likes mac and cheese,” Callie confirmed.
“I remember making him some the last time they were here, and he wouldn’t eat a grilled cheese because I made it on wheat bread instead of white.
Becca though, I don’t know what to do with that girl.
My guess is she won’t eat anything since she’ll be fussy from the car ride.
But it’s a valiant effort, nonetheless.”
“Yeah, I figured it was worth a try,” he said with a shrug. “Worst case scenario, I picked up some granola bars and fruit snacks from the store. I just want there to be options, so Ariel doesn’t feel like she has to make anything extra.”
Callie smiled. “Good thinking. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.” She tried to shift just a little bit without bothering Dot when she realized her arm had fallen asleep. But when she adjusted ever so slightly, the baby stirred awake. “Oh, no, shh. It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
Dot peeled her eyes open and made a few soft noises. Callie ran her hand lovingly down the back of the baby’s head, but when Dot looked up at her and realized she wasn’t her mom, she scrunched her face and began to cry.
“Okay, okay,” Callie muttered, getting up from the couch. “Let’s go find your mama.”
David smiled as they passed. “She’s probably hungry. I’ll warm up a bottle for her.”
“Thanks. Is Sasha upstairs?”
“Probably? I haven’t seen her since I got home from the store though, so I don’t know.”
Callie first looked for Sasha in Mallory’s old bedroom, but she wasn’t in there. The bathroom in the hallway was empty too. Frowning, she tried to recall if Sasha had said anything about going for a walk or running errands after showering. No—not that Callie remembered.
“Huh.”
Dot wasn’t crying anymore and looked about with a confused expression, as if wondering where her mother had gone as well.
“It’s okay, we’ll find her,” Callie said, tickling the baby under her chin.
“She’s probably hanging out with Mallory in the office or something.
” Of course, that was the last place Callie would’ve expected to find Sasha, but she couldn’t think of where else the young woman had gone.
She went back to the top of the stairs but paused when she heard a shuffling sort of sound coming from the other end of the hallway.
The door to the master bedroom was open, even though Callie knew for a fact she’d shut the door after she’d finished cleaning the room in preparation for Ariel and the kids to stay in there.
She hadn’t wanted anyone going in and disrupting her perfectly made bed or spotless master bath.
Callie tiptoed towards the open door. Dot had fallen silent, which meant it was that much easier for Callie to sneak up to the bedroom and peer through around the corner without being noticed.
However, Callie couldn’t manage to stifle a gasp when she saw Sasha sitting on the floor, riffling through the boxes of important documents Callie kept stashed under the bed.
“What are you doing?”
Sasha’s head snapped up and she stared wide-eyed at Callie, her face dripping with guilt. Jumping to her feet, she waved her hands defensively. “Listen—I can explain.”