“Let’s get home, pretty girl.” Eli presses a kiss to my lips, then shoves off the bed, on a mission to help me find something large enough to fit him.
Chapter 8
Eli
“Sibby!”Tucker bursts through the front door on a mission to find his favorite girl. Sibyl watches him at the body shop after school most days. There’s even a little desk at Massy Auto Body where she keeps things for their crafts. When he has homework, she gets it done with him. Even on the days when I can get away early, he still asks to go and see his Sibby.
I don’t know how I would have survived without the Massys for the last four years. Tucker calls Sibyl’s dad Papa, and her brother has always been Uncle Kel. The thought strikes me like lightning—he’s never once called her Auntie. Yet he calls both Hazel and her sister, Victoria, Auntie.
I wait in the doorway between the kitchen and the living area, watching my boy get spun around in circles as Sibyl wraps him up in hugs and kisses. “How’s my favorite boy?”
“Dad went on a date today.” Tucker grins.
“Oh, did he?” One dark eyebrow shoots up her forehead. “Did he tell you about it?”
“Nope, but he’s gonna get me a mama. All my friends have mamas.” Tucker’s head cants to the side, and two little lines crease his forehead as he takes in Sibyl. “You don’t have a mama, do you?”
“I don’t. Uncle Kel and I grew up with just Papa.”
“Weren’t you sad not having a mama?”
“Sometimes.” Sibyl kneels to get on his level. “Sometimes it was hard to see everyone else with two parents. But Papa loved us like your daddy loves you. It was more than enough for us. We have the best daddies, don’t we?”
“Yes!” Tucker pumps his fist into the air.
“I’m making your favorite for supper, Bud.” She winks at him, ruffling his hair as she stands.
“Dad! Sibby’s making A’sghetti.”
“Is she?”
“Mhm!”
“Well, why don’t you go put your bag on the hook and wash up so we can eat?”
“Daddy said you’re staying for dinner.” Tucker says it like a statement, not a question. Sibyl grins at him, starry-eyed.
“Yeah, Buddy. I’m staying.” Her gaze swings to mine. There’s something more in that statement—more than just supper. She wants to stay, and I want her here.
“Okay, I’ll be right back!” Little feet tear out of the kitchen and I take my time to prowl toward her. My hands are itching to touch her. The half an hour it took to extricate Tucker from Kellan was too much time away from her.
“He doesn’t call you Auntie,” I whisper, my forehead dropping onto hers.
“He does not,” she whispers back, brown eyes shimmering up at me.
“Has he ever?”
She shakes her head. A slow smile spreads across her lips. “No, I’m just Sibby.”
I slide my hand down her jaw, wishing her hair were down so I could slip my fingers through it again. “There is nojustwhen it comes to you.”
I press a tender kiss to her lips, jumping back when Tucker crashes down the stairs, heading toward our direction.
“A’sghetti!” he screams, slamming his little body into Sibyl’s legs.
She bursts out laughing, scooping him up to burrow her face into his neck. I’m dumbstruck, watching the two of them. I’ve been so busy, trying to make sure Tucker has everything he needs, I never realized the person he needed most has always been here—patiently tending to our needs.
I’m the fool who never recognized her for what she was.
