“So, Alex, why did you come all the way from Virginia to open up this place?” Eli asked.
Alex started to answer, but Fox’s attention was drawn to the other side of the yard, where two little girls were running around. Sienna was stomping around after the girls, her face twisted in what Fox assumed was a monster’s grimace.
Fox couldn’t help but smile a little at her silliness. There were two cameras roving around, but they were focused on the BBQ pit and Audrey, who was currently talking with her mom.
Was Sienna actually having fun with these girls because she wanted to? Fox doubted it. His guess was that she was hoping her little show would catch the attention of the camera crew, and she’d be able to showcase her “human” side.
The two girls ran to their dad, with Sienna close behind. She was still making the monster face, and now Fox could hear the sound effects that went along with it.
He chuckled a little, and the sound drew Sienna’s attention.
She stopped next to Fox, hands on her hips. “Are you laughing at my terrifying toothless tarantula monster?”
He bit his lip, but a smile still tugged at his lips. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“I’ll have you know it’s terrifying.”
She looked so serious that Fox let out another involuntary chuckle.
“Sheisscary,” said the littlest girl. She turned to Oliver. “Daddy tell the scary monster to go away.”
Oliver looked up from his conversation with Alex, confused, then caught Sienna’s eye and smiled. “Don’t worry sweetie, it’s almost time for us to go. I was just telling Uncle Alex that it’s time to start setting up for tonight’s competition. You can come help, if you want.”
The little girl jumped up and down with excitement. “Yay! I love getting to do grownup work with you.”
Oliver laughed. “I doubt what we’re about to do counts as ‘grownup work,’ but I’d love to have you tag along.” He led his daughters away, and Alex followed.
Since Eli had wandered off at some point to stand by Audrey, that left Fox and Sienna alone.
Seeing everything Oliver and Alex had built gave Fox a strange unsettled feeling. They were the same age as he was, yet he’d barely done anything worthwhile so far in his life. And here Eli was, with a job he loved, about to start his family. It stirred something unfamiliar and a little scary in Fox.
“You must be relieved,” Fox said to Sienna, in an effort to get his mind off of whatever random emotions the higher altitude must be giving him.
Sienna raised an eyebrow. “Relieved?”
“You don’t have to put on that show for the girls and the cameras anymore.”
“Of course it was a show, I’m an actor.” A crease formed between her brows. “But believe it or not, I was doing that to make them laugh, not for the cameras.”
Now Fox raised an eyebrow. “Well, I guess that’s probably true. You did look pretty ridiculous. It was a nice change from that perfect mask you wear all the time.”
“It’s not a mask, and I’m not trying to be perfect. I just want to be my best.”
“Not your best is okay sometimes, you know.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “No, it’s not.”
“I’m far from perfect most of the time,” he said. “But I like to think I’m okay.”
She bit her lip and looked up at him through lowered lids. A shoulder lifted in a shrug. “You’re not terrible.”
He cleared his throat, ignoring the strange pull in his chest. “If you’re buttering me up just to get me to play some of Audrey’s music at the wedding, it’s not happening.”
Sienna uncrossed her arms and put them back on her hips. “You just had to rub it in, didn’t you? You beat us by thirty seconds. I demand a recount.”
Fox grinned. The thrill of winning against Sienna overpowered whatever weird feelings he’d just had. It must have been the spicy BBQ sauce getting to his stomach. Definitely not her. “Look, I’m not even scowling, I’m so happy.”
“Happy because you get to play stuff like Bryan Adams and Savage Garden instead of that new-fangled noise the youth of today call music?”
