Soon, she’s drinking greedily from the bottle, sucking down the sweet milk we’ve had imported straight from the farm on our friends’ island. At some point, I’ll have to tell her the truth about the “cows” who provide her milk.
But that’s a conversation for later. For now, my babygirl is content in her Auntie’s arms.
And all is right with our world.
CHAPTER 13
JOSIE
So far, my plan to trick Daddy into believing I’m happy being his baby and he doesn’t need to watch me like a hawk every second of the day is not having much success. But when I’d come up with that plan, I hadn’t anticipated being bombarded with embarrassing gifts the moment I woke up.
Now that the shock of the morning has worn off a bit, though, my mind is in overdrive. Oddly enough, being force-fed a bottle by my former best friend is almost soothing, and it gives me an opportunity to relax.
And plan.
The overall plan is straightforward, though not without pitfalls. Once I’m in town, it should be easy enough to find someone willing to help me, assuming they aren’t all in cahoots with my new “family”. But the odds that they’ve managed to convince an entire town to play along with their sick little games seemswildlylow, so for now I’m going to assume I’ll be able to find someone to help.
My biggest obstacle, really, is getting into town in the first place. Not only do I need to get Daddy to stop hovering andwatching my every move, I have to figure out where they keep their vehicles—I’m assuming with seven of them, they have multiple—identify Eli’s vehicle, sneak out of the house without anyone noticing, hide in the backseat or trunk, and make it to town without Eli catching on.
Easy-peasy.
Ugh.
As I’m trying to work through the steps of my plan in my mind, Gray pulls the bottle free of my mouth and smiles down at me. “Someone was thirsty,” she says, in that high-pitched, sort of sing-song voice people use with actual babies. Irritation pricks at my skin but I force it back.
Just go along with it. Get them to let their guard down.
I nod, unable to form actual words to agree, but apparently my words aren’t necessary. The nod is enough, and Gray’s smile widens.
“I know this is hard, sweetheart,” she murmurs, bouncing me lightly in her arms. “But it’s going to be okay. You’re going to be so happy here, with us. You’ll see.”
Again, all I can do is nod because if I open my mouth I’m very certain the words that will spill free won’t help my cause in the least.
Luckily for me, I’m rescued from further interactions with my ex-best friend when a set of strong, familiar arms scoop me up. Daddy carries me back to his seat, where he proceeds to feed me breakfast while his family laughs and carries on around us.
The food is delicious, just as it was the night before, and I’m relieved to find myself actually eager for more despite the humiliating events of the morning. I’ll need my strength, after all, if I’m going to run.
After breakfast, everyone goes their separate ways, except for Daddy and Axel. Hoisting Lanie out of her highchair—thankgodDaddy let me sit on his lap—Axel settles her on his hip. “All right, little ones. Why don’t we go find a game to play?”
“I wanna go outside!” Lanie whines, her bottom lip puffing out in an impressive pout.
Outside. Where the cars are.
Perfect.
“Me too!” I join in, giving Daddy the biggest, saddest puppy-dog eyes I can manage. “Please, Daddy, can we?”
Daddy hesitates, but I can sense he’s about to give in. As much as he’s changed in the time we’ve been apart, he still has some tells. Like the way his mouth twists when he’s seriously considering giving me whatever it is I’ve been begging for.
Then he sighs, and I know we’ve won. “All right. Let’s see if your Auntie Gray will let us borrow some of her snow gear.”
Fortunately, Gray is all too happy to let me borrow her clothes, another thing that hasn’t changed in twenty years, and I have to fight back tears as the memories crowd me.
Unfortunately, she insists on coming outside to play with us. Which means there’s one more person for me to try and evade as I map out the rest of my escape plan.
Dammit.
The one bright spot in all this is Lanie. From the moment we all step outside, she demands the attention of all the adults, pulling them into a game of some sort as they all traipse through the snow. Half a dozen snowmen dot the yard, some looking worse for wear than others as if they’ve melted and reformed a few times during Lanie’s stay.
