“Could we go out looking for her?” Iris asked, her voice sounding hopeful.
“That’s sweet, honey. But Los Angeles is a big town,” her Daddy said. “I’m not sure where we could even start.”
“She was around the nursery,” Lana pointed out. “Perhaps she lives somewhere around there.”
Matteo thought it over for a moment. “I’m not sure shelivesanywhere. I get the impression she’s somewhat transient. But it’s as good a place to start as any.”
“Hey, we can pack bags of food and toiletries and stuff,” Iris suggested. “And then drive around. If we find her, we’ll have something to give her.”
The other two Littles seemed excited by the prospect.
“You cuties sure are sweet,” Matteo said.
He kept smiling, but he didn’t exactly share their enthusiasm. Finding her would be next to impossible. They’d need a lot of luck.
Or perhaps fate, he reminded himself. Maybe the Littles were right. If the mysterious young woman was his Little, then it was meant to be and destiny would help him find her again.
He said a silent prayer as he started to eat. Though he still wasn’t very hungry, he might be out late looking for his cutie. It was best he had some nourishment to keep up his strength.
Because he was a man on a mission now. And he’d find his Little no matter what it took.
Chapter Four
That night, the chaos of Hollywood Boulevard was in full swing as Annika huddled just off the fabled, busy street in an alleyway between a pair of old buildings.
Thankfully, the two walls protected her a bit from the wind. But it was still chilly. Los Angeles didn’t see the crazy dip in temps that some locations did, but this time of year—in late November—the average nighttime low was bout forty-eight degrees or so.
Enough to cause Annika to shiver without a jacket.
She made a mental note to try and find a place to secure a coat tomorrow. Perhaps a church clothes closet or mission had some they were handing out.
Right now, she’d just have to tough it out in the makeshift shelter she’d constructed. There were wooden crates she’d found behind the nearby dumpster that she’d arranged to give her a roof over her head, at least. And she was fairly hidden—a fact she was grateful for.
Those streets could be scary. Not everyone was bad, of course. In fact, most people were kind and decent. Just trying to get by like her.
But dangerous predators roamed the city. She knew that firsthand.
Just thinking about it traced a chill up her spine, and it had nothing to do with the November air. She closed her eyes, hugged her stuffie, and imagined what it would be like to have a Daddy holding and protecting her.
In her fantasy, Daddy was none other than the man who’d caught her earlier.
She giggled. How lucky had she been? He just happened to be walking by at that exact moment! Or had it been something else?
A realization settled over her and she sighed. The hot guy was one of the rotating security guards at the nursery. He wasn’t the main one—that was a giant man named Trevon who was the strongest human she’d ever laid eyes on. She could always tell when he was nearby, too, when spying. If she didn’t see him, she could hear him. His voice was deep and booming.
There was a group of security guards that rotated, though, helping Trevon. She’d pieced that together after a few days of spying. While she didn’t know their names, she’d seen them enough times to know what they were up to.
The guard must have been patrolling that day. In fact, he’d probably suspected someone was on the wall, spying. Had some of the other Littles noticed her and went to tell?
She couldn’t blame them. They had no way of knowing she was harmless. And a place like Auntie Athena’s was supposed to be private.
But now that they were on to her, it meant they’d be watching for her to come back.
Dang it. She’d have to stay away. At least for a little while. She’d figured as much earlier, when she was running away, but realizing it again now was enough to make her cry.
Dwelling on it wouldn’t do any good. So, she closed her eyes again and tried to think of something happier.
Like Thanksgiving.
