“I, uh, was going to see if I could get a ride. I missed the bus and Dustin has already left, I think. I didn’t see him much today, and I don’t know where he goes after school,” she said, her cheeks turning pink as she looked at me.
“Yes, beautiful, you sure as hell can. I was just thinking I hated riding home alone,” Preston replied in that sugary-sweet tone that was meant to goad me. He was getting his revenge. Or he thought he was.
“No,” I said, walking over to Sienna to take her arm. “I’ll get Sienna home. You take Ellie home,” I told him, making sure he understood I wasn’t f**king around.
Preston understood. His smirk was more than pleased. He’d be f**king Ellie first after all. And after this I was pretty damn sure I’d never get a taste of Ellie Nova. But she wasn’t important enough to ignore Sienna for. If Sienna needed me, I couldn’t find it in me to tell her no. And I sure as f**k wasn’t letting Preston around her. Alone. Hell no.
Present day . . .
SIENNA
By Friday we had found our rhythm. Micah got up and dressed himself while I made breakfast, which consisted of a Pop-Tart and a glass of milk. That wasn’t going to win me Mom of the Year, but he liked Cookies & Creme Pop-Tarts, and I liked getting him to school on time. We did eat breakfast together. I ate my breakfast bar and drank some coffee while Micah chatted away happily.
I was not a morning person. I couldn’t even form words until I’d had at least thirty minutes of wake-up time and two cups of coffee. Micah, on the other hand, woke up singing. This morning he had told me his predictions for the upcoming basketball season. I’d had no idea what he was saying, but I nodded and sipped my caffeine.
Getting myself dressed took more time, but it gave Micah a chance to play with his toys and pick out what he wanted me to pack him for lunch. He liked having choices. Most days we didn’t have many choices, but he still wanted to pick it out.
He hadn’t been late once all week, and neither had I. My new job was Tuesday through Saturday. Micah went to after-school care until five every day. The counselor at his school had told me about it. The cost was determined by my income, so it was much more affordable than a day care.
An added bonus was that several of the kids from his class went to after-school care too. So he enjoyed getting to play with his new friends. If it weren’t for the fact that I had to see the Falcos’ house every day, then this would all be perfect. But seeing Dustin’s house continually reminded me of the rejection that Micah didn’t deserve from people whose blood he shared.
“Sienna . . . Roy?” a familiar voice said, breaking me out of my thoughts while I was sweeping up the hair from my last appointment. Lifting my head, I reminded myself that I was prepared for this. People were going to recognize me. Just because I had gone a week without being recognized (aside from Dewayne) didn’t mean it wasn’t going to happen eventually.
Amanda Hardy smiled at me as she tucked her long, shiny blond hair behind her ear. Her eyes sparkled with actual pleasure to see me. But then, that was Amanda. She’d been a year behind me in school, but her older brother, Marcus, was a close friend of Dewayne’s and I had gotten to know her through him. She had always been pretty, but she was gorgeous now. I hadn’t seen her since she was fifteen. The diamond on her left hand caught the sunlight. Not surprising that she was engaged. I imagine the guys around here had beaten down her door—that is, if they’d been able to get past Marcus.
I leaned the broom against my work station and walked over to where she stood at the receptionist desk. “Hello, Amanda,” I said.
She pulled her designer purse up on her arm and kept beaming at me like I was the lost ark and she’d found me. In my head I ran through the wealthy guys around here who could have afforded to put a ring on her finger. She was sweet, but she was also a princess. Always had been.
“I didn’t know you were back in town. And you’re working here? I can’t believe it. You were just gone. . . .” She stopped, and the sadness in her eyes reminded me that she had been close enough to the Falcos through Marcus that she remembered how painful that had been.
“My mother retired and moved to Florida. She gave me the house. I thought it was time I came home,” I explained. I had no idea what my parents had told people. I knew they hadn’t told them the truth. At least, I assumed they hadn’t. I feared they may have told other people what I’d heard my mother tell Dewayne. I hoped not.
Her pretty frown deepened, and the pity in her eyes put out the earlier twinkle. “I heard about your dad. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. I wasn’t sure what else to say. My anger at him was still there. He’d taken my son’s family away from him. The love Micah deserved had been stolen from him because of my father.
“Manda, how long did you say you’d . . .” The trademark blond hair that belonged to none other than Preston Drake was the first thing I noticed.
His eyes went from Amanda to me, and then they went wide in surprise. Preston was also one of Dewayne’s close friends. That group of four guys had owned Sea Breeze High their senior year. Most girls drooled over Preston—he’d been the heartbreaker. But not me. My fascination had been with Dewayne. Preston had done nothing for me.
“Holy shit! Is that you, Sienna?” Preston asked as he stepped inside and walked toward us.
Apparently, Dewayne hadn’t told anyone he’d seen me. I would not accept the fact that it hurt. He had proved already how much he didn’t care. I don’t know why I was surprised.
“Yes, it’s me,” I replied just as Preston’s arm wrapped around Amanda’s waist and he tugged her against him, then kissed her temple. No way. No freaking way. Marcus would kill him. Wouldn’t he? Preston had slept with most of Sea Breeze, and Marcus knew that better than anyone. How was he walking around and kissing on Marcus’s little sister?
Amanda giggled, and Preston’s grin grew.
“How are you alive?” I asked him as they both looked amused at the shock on my face.
“Oh, he beat my face in. But then he got over it and accepted it. We didn’t give him much choice,” Preston said.
I simply nodded, then looked back at Amanda. “So that ring is . . .”
“Preston Drake is getting hitched. Hard to believe, isn’t it?” she said in a teasing tone, then pinched Preston’s waist.
“Watch it, sexy,” he said, gazing down at her like she was the most precious thing on the face of the earth.
Had I ever had a guy look at me like that?
No.
I hadn’t. The only love I knew was the love of a boy. He’d never had a chance to become a man. I had no idea what being loved by a man felt like. And until this moment I would have said I didn’t care, but watching these two, I wondered if I would ever know that feeling.
“It’s good to see you. Glad you’re back in town,” Preston said, then turned his attention back to Amanda. “Call when you’re done. I’ll come back and pick you up, yeah?”
She nodded. He kissed her fast and hard, then headed for the door.
The silly grin on Amanda’s face as she watched him go just brought home the fact that I didn’t know that kind of love and I probably never would. Didn’t matter, though. I had Micah. He was so much more.
“Sorry. He’s clingy today because I’ve been gone for two days, wedding gown shopping in Manhattan with Sadie, a friend of mine.”
I nodded like I understood, but “shopping” and “Manhattan” were foreign words to me. I bought stuff at the local Walmart.
“Do you have an appointment with someone?” I asked. I didn’t want to be rude, but I still hadn’t taken my lunch break and it was already three.
“Yes, with Hillary at three fifteen,” she replied.
Hillary was the owner. She had trained in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris. The fact that she had even hired me was a miracle. I was good at what I did, I knew that, but I wasn’t trained like she was.
“I’m here,” Hillary called out as she walked from the back room. Her long red hair was not at all natural. but it was exotic. Add to that her crystal-blue eyes, her eyelash extensions, and the collagen in her lips, and she was a head turner.
Amanda waved at her, then smiled at me. “I’m so glad you’re back. We need to get together sometime. Maybe go out one night.”
I wouldn’t be going out at night. Leaving Micah wasn’t an option. I nodded instead because I didn’t feel like telling her about Micah yet. She would ask questions I didn’t want to answer yet. Besides, anyone who knew Dustin and took one look at Micah would know.”
DEWAYNE
The condos were going to be finished on time. One less worry on my mind. After the tropical storm that came through in July, I was afraid it was going to put us off a month or so. Investors were getting nervous, and all that came to rest on my shoulders. Fucking idiots should have considered the fact that weather slows shit down before promising buyers that the place would be ready before Christmas. Dumbasses.
Pulling off my hard hat, I stepped out onto the parking lot from the building and headed for my truck. I was done for the day. The crew was rolling and didn’t need me. I’d been out here since five this morning. Squinting against the sun, I was able to make out Preston leaning up against my truck with a smirk on his face. Why was he here? He never showed up at my work sites.
“Just dropped Manda off to get her hair done,” Preston said, looking at me pointedly.
I had no f**king idea what this was about, so I just stood silently and waited for there to be a point to this.
I saw the moment when it finally dawned on him that I had no clue what he was talking about. He pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “You might want to stop by. Say hello,” he said. “Sienna is back.”
I should have known. Each day that passed without my mother calling to yell at me for not telling her that the new neighbor was Sienna, I breathed a sigh of relief. But it was only a matter of time before people in town saw her. And what the hell was she doing at Hillary’s salon? That place was expensive, and from the look of Sienna’s car, she didn’t need to be paying high prices for her damn hair. What about the kid?
“She have her kid with her?” I asked, trying to make the disgust in my voice not too obvious.
“Kid? What? Fuck! She’s got a kid? She married?”
She didn’t have her kid with her. Fan-fuckin’-tastic. She’d left the little boy at home alone. What the hell kind of a mother was she?
“And you knew she was back? With a kid? Why haven’t you said anything?”
“She moved into her parents’ house. I met her kid when I went over there to check out the neighbors for my parents. Didn’t think it was important that she was back. She was a part of Dustin’s life, not mine,” I replied, then jerked open the truck door.
“Liar. Fucking full-of-shit liar. You watched over that girl for years. Hell, when she was a freshman, you acted like her damn guard dog. When she was sent away, it fu**ed with your head. You were grieving Dustin, and then she was gone and you grieved for her too. I would have thought you’d care that she was back. Unless she’s married and that’s why you’re pissed.”
Pretending like I hadn’t been super invested in Sienna and her happiness back then was pointless. My friends knew the truth, even if my brother hadn’t noticed. “She’s not married,” I replied, and climbed into the truck. “But the girl I cared about is gone. A cold bitch is in her place. And if she’s getting her hair done at Hillary’s, then she’s a selfish bitch. The piece-of-shit car she drives isn’t safe for her boy to ride in.”
I started to close the door, but Preston grabbed it. “Whoa, man, what’s your deal? She’s got you acting like an ass, and you’re not an ass. Sienna is working at Hillary’s, not getting her hair done.”
Maybe I was an ass.
“Oh,” I replied, wishing I hadn’t snapped in front of Preston.
“Yeah, oh. Sienna didn’t seem like a bitch at all. She seemed nice. . . . She was Sienna.”
No, she wasn’t. She was a mother, and she was f**king hiding something.
And if she was working, where the hell was Micah?
“I’m tired. I need a beer and then my bed. I’ll see you later,” I told him.
“Live Bay tomorrow night?” he asked.
Live Bay was the club in town were we all used to drink and pick up women. Now it was just me picking up women. The rest of those assholes were hitched or as good as hitched. “Yeah. I’ll see you there,” I told him as I closed the door. Then I headed to my parents’.