“We have no objection to the emergency application but request a timely review to determine continuing custody of the minor in question.”
The phrase contains so much gibberish I don’t know what they’re saying.
“Noted. The order of this court is that Lilac Tanner be appointed as Sierra Furnham’s temporary guardian, with a review of the matter to be held no later than twenty-eight days from the granting of this order. Court adjourned.”
I clutch at Aaron’s arm. “That’s me. He’s giving her to me, isn’t he?”
“No one’s giving her to anyone.”
I blink at him slowly.
“But yes, you’ve been granted custody. Temporary.”
“I can take her home?” I glance over to the case worker. “Can I collect her tonight?”
She nods, scrunching her face in such a way that I can’t tell if she’s happy or appalled. Possibly both.
“I can take her home.”
Zach pulls me to my feet, and I throw my arms around his neck, forgetting for a moment that I shouldn’t. Forgetting everything but the pulse of connection that strings between me and my baby sister.
His body doesn’t even react to the intrusion, except to hug me back. “Grab the address and we’ll go get her.”
I nod eagerly and scamper towards the case worker, unable to contain my joy.
Returning, I shake Aaron’s hand. “Thank you so much for doing this. After our discussion, I really believed you thought I was the worst influence in the world for my sister, so I’m grateful you fought for me today.”
“Oh,” the lawyer says, arching one impeccably sculpted eyebrow. “I do think you’re a terrible influence and expect this will end in tragedy. But I also like to get paid.”
Zach has to steer me by the shoulders until my legs recover from the shock.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
LILAC
Sierra’s facepinched when I first brought her into Zach’s home, as gobsmacked by the palatial house as I had been when I first visited. “Don’t worry,” I’d muttered to her. “You’ll get used to it soon enough.”
A week later, she shows no signs of that.
Leonard Cameron assigned a wing of the house to me and my sister. As an inside joke or game, he apportioned it on the opposite side to Zach’s room. Not that the distance did anything to keep us apart. In the days since her arrival, we’ve become a family unit of our own.
A good thing because I intend to leave this suffocating mansion the moment the court makes the interim appointment permanent.
Zeta, the Camerons’ housekeeper, also doubles for nanny duty. Not because I asked her, but out of a genuine fondness for spending time with Sierra. Sometimes, I feel like pushing her away to stop the woman monopolising her time.
But it’s also good to have someone to rely on when I don’t know what I’m doing. A condition that applies far more often than I expected.
“Your lunch,” I tell Sierra after breakfast, handing her the food prepared by someone else, paid for by someone else, and selected by someone else. “Did you want to do something fun tonight? We could go to the movies or hire something to stream?”
The home entertainment centre is so large it could practically double as a commercial movie theatre.
“Can I invite some friends?”
“Sure,” I say, relieved at the idea. Nothing I do seems to be enough to make up for my sister’s recent loss and I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to plug the gap. “That sounds nice. There’s room for a few to stay over.”
But at that, she wrinkles her nose. “No, thanks.”
“Don’t you like sleepovers?”
