“My dad didn’t even look up from his phone to make sure I left with mom. Like I said, easy.” She’s walking the careful line between trying to prove her own genius and trying to make us believe they didn’t truly forget about her.
“But I saw you come down with them.” I slam my lips shut, but the only one who picks up on my slip of the tongue is Maya, who narrows her eyes until it seems to hurt her head, and she pinches her eyes closed, rubbing her temples.
And, okay,Ididn’t see Arabella leave, but Rosie did. She’d never make that kind of mistake. But how did she miss Maya? I guess she only met her a few times back then. She wouldn’t remember her the way I did. I’ve got a lot ofquestions for that woman when she decides to answer my messages. Maybe she knew exactly who “Penny” was and that’s why she is now avoiding me.
“I walked down with my mom,” Arabella says. “I told her dad wanted me to be dropped off at the bookstore for my first Christmas gift. She handed me a hundred dollars. Then I called an Uber and came back.”
“Bella! That’s so dangerous,” Maya interjects.
“Which part?”
“All of it, but mostly getting in a car with a stranger by yourself. You told me that your parents left youhere.”
“Here… in the city,” Arabella says likeduh. “I’m safe now, aren’t I?”
Maya looks pointedly at me.
’Tis the question.
“And that’s when I called you,” Arabella says to Maya, rounding out her story. “I bought four books. My own family for Christmas.”
“You boughtThe Hunger Games,” Maya says, deadpan.
“That’s what it feels like around here.” Bella shrugs. “BTW, I’m totally team Gale; he’s a hottie. Prim annoys me. She cries too much for a twelve-year-old. I’m nine, and I never cry.”
I can see Maya fighting many battles in her head. “It’s okay to cry,” she says.
Not the topic I thought she’d address.
Arabella laughs. “Sure. If you’re a baby. Anyway, now I’ve got Penny, and you.” She looks at me. “What’s your name again?”
I swallow. “Call me Derek.”
“You could pass for my dad.”
I breathe in wrong and air gets stuck halfway in and halfway out. I make a snorting sound to clear it. I’mwayyounger than her dad.
Maya snorts and covers her mouth with her hand.
“So, let’s set up the tree!” Arabella finishes. There’s the typical childlike excitement in her eyes, ready for a holiday worth remembering. She expects me, the man who broke into her home to steal a two-million-dollar painting, to fulfill her dreams.
I feel bad for the child—real and true pity.
Seeing how I’m still waitingfor Rosie to respond to my messages and get control of the security feeds again so I can leave without being seen, I don’t have much else to do.
“Lead the way.”
Sixteen feet of flocked fake pine later, I regret all my decisions thus far in life. When Liam offered me this job opportunity, he said I’d get to right wrongs. After what was done to me and Rosie, it appealed to me more than any other occupation I could pursue.
He said nothing about being a slave to a nine-year-old dictator.
“A little more to the left,” the dictator herself orders.
“You move it, then,” I grumble but do her bidding, anyway. It’s been like this for the last hour. I’m 90 percent certain Maya is fine but has been playing up the “concussion” card like a pro and hasn’t moved from her spot on the couch. Not in the stiff and stuffy formal living room, but in the more relaxing family room with a fireplace and a TV. Bella insisted Christmas would be better here. The whole time Maya has been offering unhelpful suggestions like “That spot of branches needs to be fluffed more” and “Is the top tilted too far to the right?” I’m glad she’s having fun at my expense. I suppose I deserve it, but one man can only take so much holiday hostility from these ladies.
“Now the ornaments!” Arabella says excitedly.
I cringe inwardly, but she doesn’t ask for my help before ripping open the box of ornaments and diving straight to the bottom. I sit on my designated chair to watch as she shoves aside the fancy glass bulbs and instead gets out a hideous snowman. Next comes a green macaroni picture frame and a hand-sewn stocking. With impressive care, she places each one on the tree.
