AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pull my phone out the second the bathroom door closes. Eliot’s phone goes right to voicemail. I hope that just means she’s in the shower and not pissed at me. I decide just to send a simple message.
Owen: Sorry. Rain check?
The mess that is my sister needs to be explained in person, not over a text message. Peeling my jeans off, I make a muddy pile on the floor. My mind whirls thinking about what I’m going to do with Tessa. She’s come in and out of my life since she was born based on my sister’s whims.
By the time I’ve washed all the mud down the drain, I’ve decided it’s time for Tessa to have a forever home, and if her mother won’t provide it, then I will.
“Hey, have you decided what pizza you want?” I ask when I walk back into the living room. Tessa is slumped on the couch watching television.
“Whatever you want, Uncle Owen.”
“So if I get anchovy and green pepper, you’re good with that?”
Her nose scrunches in disgust.
“Or artichoke and broccoli?”
“Gross.” She laughs. That’s the bright sunny girl I remember. “Can we just get pepperoni?”
“Pepperoni it is.”
“And soda?” she asks hopefully.
“And water or milk. I’m not that soft of a touch.”
She slouches back on the couch to continue her show, but I can see a smile fighting at the corner of her mouth. I’m worried about what’s happened in the year since I saw her last. Did any money go into feeding her, or did my sister use most of it to feed her habit? Did the boyfriend slap Tessa around, or worse?
I pull out the packet of papers while she’s occupied watching television. I have to do a double take at the second paper. It’s the form voluntarily giving up my sister’s maternal rights. I’ll still have to get a judge to issue a court order, but it’s a start.
I debate if I tell Tessa I’m going to begin adoption proceedings. No twelve-year-old should have to deal with being bounced through the court system. The judge might, however, require her to appear in court to answer questions.
As much as I don’t want to hurt her any more than her mother already has, this is a conversation that needs to happen now. With a sigh, I move to the couch.
fifteen
ELIOT
I don’t knowwhat to think. Yeah, I know he’s complicated and probably bad for me, but I can’t keep away. And the sex on the Jeep? Holy craptastic. Never have I had sex on the hood of any vehicle. I know that we’re just now getting to know each other, but you’d think the fact he has a daughter would have come up in conversation. Before he seduced me onto the hood preferably.
“So the rumors are true.” I try to ignore Austen’s voice.
“I told you she was Girls Gone Wild, Dansboro Crossing style.” Great, they’re both here. I spray the hose at the Jeep again, dislodging more mud. Cam’s only condition was that I return it clean.
“Rumor has it,” Brontë continues, “that you went mudding with a mysterious passenger and disappeared for half an hour. Like to expound on that?”
I ignore them both. Tossing the sprayer hose on the lawn, I head for my house. Unfortunately, they follow. Little sisters are such pests.
“You’re welcome,” Austen says, closing the door a few minutes later. “I turned off the water.”
Before I can even roll my eyes, Brontë pipes up.
“Don’t you think there are more important things right now than if Eliot depletes the town’s water supply? Like the rumor they were just gone long enough to thread that needle.”
“Just to set the record straight, my hose has an attachment on it that shuts off if I’m not pressing it. No one is getting dehydrated on my watch. And it was more like greasing the pole,” I snap back.
Looking up, I fully expect my sisters to be horrified with me. Instead, they both have giant, stupid grins on their faces. Then they let out some kind of keening noise that I guess is supposed to show their excitement.
“Dog!” Brontë yells, pointing at me.
