Chapter 28
MICAH
“No, the big ones,” Lucy tells Heath, pointing over to the selection of markers. “We’re trying to work smarter here, not harder.”
Heath extends his feet, reaching his arm as far as it’ll go to try to reach the markers down the supply aisle, but falls short. “I can’t reach.”
“Then climb.”
“Lucy,” I chuckle, knowing I should take it seriously that my kid could bust his ass if he listened to everything she said, but I know my sister wouldn’t allow it. “Geezus.”
“We used to do it all the time.”
“Yeah,” I agree, plucking the markers off the metal rack and handing them to my kid. “But we were dumb as hell.”
“Well, Heath’s going to be dumb,”—she stretches her arm and ruffles his hair—“aren’t you, bud?”
“No,” he replies tersely. “I’m smart.”
“Of course you are,” Lucy backtracks. “You didn’t get that from your Daddy.”
“C’mon,” I proceed, guiding my son toward the cashier. “You guys got all the things you needed to make posters for the game. Let’s get home and start makin’ them.”
All three of us make it to the front, quick to get in line, when I look up and see her.
Sienna Vesper, in this rusty red dress that hits mid-thigh and a v-neck that hits way too low.
“Miss Vesper!” Heath exclaims excitedly, obviously missing her since he hasn’t seen her in two weeks. “I got markers and poster board!”
Okay, this sucks.
Lucy suddenly loops her arm with mine, being a silent piece of comfort for me because this—this is hard.
I’ve done my best to stay away.
But this is one of those things where fate is playing a cruel game of let’s rip your heart out one more time, and I’m not ready to play.
Sienna appears like she’s going to faint, trying her best to plaster a casual smile on her face, but it falls flat. I don’t know how to get my kid out of here without rushing him out and making it look obvious.
And more awkward.
Plus, we have to buy our own stuff, and I wasn’t looking to make my son and sister part of a grab-and-ditch today.
“That’s great,” Sienna finally says. “Are you enjoying your summer?”
“Yes,” Heath says, falling back into a bit of his shyness. “We’re…making signs for the baseball game tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s right,” she says, dropping to her haunches to get eye-level with my son, making it easier to ignore me. “Did y’all pick a new mascot out yet?”
“No. That’s tomorrow.”
“Cool.”
“Are you coming?”
Shit.
I pat Heath’s back softly. “I’m sure Miss Vesper is busy, bud.”
My son ignores me. “You have to come.”
There’s no doubt in my mind that Sienna is trying to think of any excuse possible to use to get out of this, but then my sister steps in and doesn’t help.
At all.
“We’d love to have you,” she says. “It’d be nice for Heath to catch up.”
I nudge Lucy’s back to stop fucking around because it’s not funny. “Like I said, I’m sure Miss Vesper has plans.”
“What kind of plans can you have when you’re just buying shampoo?” my sister presses, stealing a glance at what Sienna left near the register. “It shouldn’t take her all night to wash her hair, right?”
“We’re getting pizza!” Heath quips. “And pepperoni!”
“My favorite,” Sienna mutters. “But, I—”
“Perfect,” Lucy beams. “Did you need the address? Dinner is at six.”
“Lucy,” I mutter with a growl.
Heath begins jumping up and down, and I’m about to lose my shit. “Yay, you’re coming! I can show you my bunny!”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Sienna concedes evenly. “I have some things I need to do—”
“Well, girl, if you’re going to be making posters for tomorrow’s game, we’ve got you covered.”
Sienna finally looks up at my sister, and she appears like she’s about to snap her head off. “I wasn’t going to the game.”
“You’re not?” Heath utters, his voice a bit weak and definitely disappointed. “But…the whole…town is going to be there.”
“Not the whole town,” I correct him. “There’s no way the field could fit everyone.”
“But she has to come,” Heath argues, receiving Sienna’s attention again. “It’s for our school.”
She bobs her head. “I know, but there will be other games.”
“Yeah, bud,” I add to end this unnecessary conversation once and for all. “She can hit the next one.”
My son, the stubborn little shit that he is, does not budge. “But I want her to go to this one.”
“Well, if she’s busy,” my sister replies, crossing her arms along her chest and lifting her shoulders dismissively. “Then she’s busy, buddy. Let her buy her shampoo and go home.”
“I had plans,” Sienna defends, appearing a bit torn that she’s breaking my kid’s heart and tearing up her own because coming to a game would mean seeing me. “But I’ll make a sign next time—”
“But this one is important,” Heath retorts tersely, getting upset that he’s not getting his way.
Which is wild because, for a kid who was quiet all year, he sure has a lot to say about his teacher.
“Maybe she doesn’t know anything about baseball,” Lucy says. “It’d be boring for her.”
“I know baseball,” Sienna mutters.
“Besides, buddy”—Lucy pats Heath’s shoulder—“more pizza for us.”
“But I have to show her my bunny.”
“She doesn’t want to see your bunny today.”
“But she has to.”
Lucy is making this worse, and I’m about to throttle her.
“Okay,” I cut in. “How about we go—”
“Miss Vesper is really busy,” Lucy rebukes like an asshole. “We’ve already taken enough of her previous time.”
Sienna rises to her feet and faces my sister head-on. And, if I didn’t know any better, she’d hit Lucy. “You sure don’t know a lot about me.”
“I gather enough.”
“Did you? Because I’ve never seen you before.”
“Used to live here.”
“Sounds like a lot of folks didn’t want you back.”
My brows furrow as Lucy releases a mirthless chuckle. “Well, you know, Micah and I used to get into a lot of trouble together.”
“Really?” Sienna’s body tenses and her cheeks pinken. “So you’re a liability.”
“Depends who you ask.”
Sienna lets out a small, uninterested tsk. “Seems as though I don’t need to.”
“Well, you like to follow the rules, right?”
The tension between them now feels electric and about to explode, and I can’t let that happen.
“Lucy, let’s go,” I order. “We’ve got a lot to do.”
My sister, the little shit she is, knows how to piss people off all day. And, with her next words, now I understand what she’s doing.
How women play their games and cut with words.
“No problem,” Lucy says nonchalantly. “I’m sure we’ll be up late again anyway.”
Oh hell no.
First of all, it’s fucking disgusting. My sister is trying to pose as a potential love interest because Sienna doesn’t know that I have one. We never got that far to get through the family tree and who was out there for both of us.
And, second, it’s causing more issues.
“I never got your name,” Sienna poses before we can go.
“Lucy.”
“And you’d be?”
“Relevant.”
Okay, that’s enough.
“It was nice seeing you, Miss Vesper,” I impart, pulling Heath into my body so he stops his pity party. “We’ll see you around. Have a good night.”
Sienna doesn’t stop her staring contest with my sister, obviously annoyed that she came to the grocery store and got more than what she bargained for.
And, for a minute, she doesn’t even acknowledge what I said.
The thing is, she’s in the way, and we can’t check out until she does because the store only has one lane open.
“Yeah,” Sienna finally says. “You will. I’ll see you tomorrow at the game.”