Finding the numbers all programmed into it, I sent a text to Peyton, thanking him for such a gift.
I glanced up just in time for Dominic to snap a picture of me with his own phone, a pleased smile on his face.
“Gotta capture the first time I’ve seen you this happy,” he shrugged, not batting an eyelid at being caught. “Plus, I need a pretty girl in my phone to keep all the others away.”
I sat there, stunned. It felt like my entire face was on fire. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he’d taken my picture, or his words.
“We have so much work to do on your confidence, honey,” he said with a shake of his head. “We got time, though. I’ll…we will all show you how amazing you can be. I wish I’d have known you as a child, because I bet you were sweet.”
“She was the total opposite, or so I’ve heard,” Collin said. “But she was adorable from the pictures. Now is no different.”
I was not adorable. Adorable was for…well, for people not me.
Collin turned around, his light laughter following him. Dominic gave me a soft smile, one that caused a fluttering in my gut.
What the hell?
“Just between us, I think you’re adorable, amazing, sweet, and so many other things. But, for now, I’m just happy to see you happy, Scarlett.”
It was the second time in my life I’d been left speechless.
The next few days were quiet. Dominic had gone into town to get a video game system, and he set it up in the living room. Collin read on his tablet. Zevon was out of the house most of the time, and didn’t say why. Or maybe it was because I hadn’t asked.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what he was doing. One day, he came back home smelling like over-roasted skunk, and that smell just wouldn’t leave, it seemed. I couldn’t deal with it, so he wisely kept his space from me.
Although Zevon had brought me my own iPad, I didn’t mind being bored. I played on my phone on some mindless card game and dot game. It passed the time well enough.
Peyton and I texted back and forth a few times, but I felt bad if I kept bugging him more than once or twice a day. He had to have been busy. I wasn’t sure what everyone did, and I wasn’t quite ready to find out.
As I was looking through some free books on Amazon in the iPad, the phone began to ring. I jumped, not expecting anyone to be calling.
“Hello?”
“Good afternoon, Scarlett,” Caesar said on the other end of the phone. “Glad to see you using one of your gifts.”
“Uh…” I had no clue what to say to him. Being in the same room with him was tough enough, but talking on the phone was just plain out backward.
“The reason I’m calling,” he went on, “is because I got ahold of Mr. Banks. He’s willing to meet with you to give you the information on where the money from Lisa was left. Plus, he requests to see you with his own eyes to know that you are alive.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not safe for him to come to the house, so one of the boys will drive you to meet him around dinner time. He will also have that letter.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it out to your birthday celebration. I should have at least called.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it wasn’t. I should have thought about it beforehand. I wanted you safe, and that ended up coming first.”
“Ace told me,” I said around a lump in my throat. “I…I understand.”
“Still…” he trailed off. “Well, I’ll talk to you later, then?”
“Sure.”
With that, he hung up.
