Perhaps he’d see the woman who had occupied his thoughts since last night…
Chapter Five
Kendrick drove the Guard’s van over to Athena’s place in West Hollywood with Isaiah riding shotgun.
Normally, he would have taken a smaller vehicle, but the mansion’s four Littles—Iris, Cami, Lana, and Annika—wanted to tag along to play.
Arriving, Kendrick said, “You girls heard your Daddies. Y’all have fun, but behave today.”
“Yes, Uncle Kendrick,” they all said as they ran toward the front gate.
The black iron gate was set into an arch that stood in the center of the white stucco wall that bracketed in the property. Beyond that gate, The Nursery looked like a lot of other Southern California homes, with white stucco walls and a red tile roof. The grass was lush and green, while the flowers in the bed on either side of the arched wooden front door were colorful and immaculate.
Kendrick had heard that the old house had, like the Guard’s mansion, at one time belonged to a silent movie star. Such was not uncommon for historic homes in that area. Those old movie stars were the ones who’d built the area up.
Auntie Athena—a full-figured, slightly vampish-looking woman—was standing on the front steps, awaiting their arrival. She must have been alerted to their presence, thanks to the multiple security cameras that were positioned inconspicuously around the property.
“My goodness! You cuties get over here and give your Auntie a hug right now!” Athena commanded.
The girls happily obeyed, running into the woman’s open arms.
“Hi, Auntie! Are you still making Christmas cookies today?” Iris asked.
“Yep. Getting ready to now,” Athena answered. “And we have frosting, sprinkles, and candy to put on top of them. Come on inside. Some of the other Littles are just about to start.” Athena stopped before heading in through the front yard and cast a serious glance back over her shoulder. “But just a word of warning: Tonya is here.”
Kendrick wasn’t sure who Tonya was, but based on the stiffened posture and looks of disgust from the Littles, she certainly wasn’t one of their friends.
“Who is that again?” Isaiah asked, voicing what Kendrick was wondering. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place her.”
Auntie Athena turned fully around to face the group once more. “Remember the bratty—eh, I meanchallengingLittle—who caused some trouble around Halloween?”
Kendrick opened his eyes wide and nodded. “Yeah! She was being snobby to everyone. So the girls here pulled a Halloween prank on her.”
“That’s right,” Athena said. “And Tonya responded by going to the mansion and throwing eggs at the girls.”
That had been a very eventful Halloween night, and in all the commotion, it turned out the egging was the least of the trouble. But now Kendrick remembered it all.
“I thought she got kicked out of here,” he noted, recalling some of the conversations he’d had with Athena in the past.
“She apologized to everyone. Including them.” Her eyes fell on Iris. “The Littles voted to give her one more shot.”
Iris and the others nodded.
“She’s snobby,” Iris admitted. “But we don’t want a couple of bad decisions to banish her forever.”
Kendrick smiled. “That’s sweet, honey.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance.”
“That’s a good way of looking at things.”
“I agree,” Athena said. “But don’t let her bully you all. If she starts any trouble, let me know. Understand?”
A chorus of Littles rang out. “Yes, Ma’am.”
The group filed into the house. Inside, Kendrick found a tastefully decorated and very clean space. However, there were some telltale signs that this was no ordinary Hollywood mansion.
A few adult-sized colorful plastic easels were in one of the front parlors with art supplies orderly arranged around them. White sheets were spread out beneath them, ready to catch any paint that fell.
