“You still owe me twenty dollars,” she said, matter of fact. “If that deal you made with your brother still counts, and it won’t be fair if it doesn’t.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly in thought, but she narrowed hers right back in challenge. I sighed. “Fine. I owe you twenty dollars. What are you doing awake this early?”
She crossed her arms, not moving from where she’d parked herself in the doorway. “What areyoudoing awake?”
“I’m going for a run before it gets too hot,” I said, hoping honesty would inspire the same thing in her. “Your turn.”
“I woke up.”
“Yeah, so did I, butwhydid you wake up so early? Don’t you want to sleep in a bit?”
She gave me another shrug, and in that moment, I realized that this kid was going to be my downfall. We stared at each other across the kitchen in complete silence, both openly assessing the other, and it suddenly hit me that my relationship with Adeline wasn’t going to be the most complicated part of this arrangement.
Forging some kind of mutual friendship despite our history was going to be the least of my problems. The greatest challenge was going to be Lu.
Yeah, I need to do something about this.I blew out a breath, wracking my brain for a way to get this child to at least tolerate me. That would be a good start.
“Your scooter is still in the back of the Rolls,” I said when I remembered seeing it there. “Do you want to ride it with me while I run?”
Naturally, the suggestion was met with instant suspicion. “I’m faster than you.”
I snorted softly. “Do you want to bet? Twenty dollars?”
She arched one tiny eyebrow, still glaring at me with a genuinely impressive amount of hostility for someone wearing strawberry-print pajamas. Then she suddenly turned toward the stairs. “I’m going to put my shoes on.”
Okay. Maybe there’s some hope for us after all.
CHAPTER 24
ADELINE
Iwas up at seven like usual, but not because I wanted to be. Jennifer’s voice broke into my subconscious like a sledgehammer, instantly yanking me out of a particularly pleasant dream with the last news I wanted to hear.
“Mommy,” she whispered loudly, right beside my face. “Lu is missing.”
I bolted upright instantly, blinking hard as my eyes adjusted to the light, but still seeing a completely serious, worried expression on her face. “What do you mean she’smissing?”
“She’s gone,” Jennifer replied gravely. “Her bed is empty and I can’t find her anywhere.”
I swung my legs sideways so fast that I got twisted up in the sheets. Jennifer scrambled back on the massive bed. Distant birdsong drifted in through the windows, the sky outside already bright blue.
For just a second before I stood, I looked around, hoping Lu might just walk out of the bathroom or something, but when she didn’t, I hurried out of bed and crossed the hall. Jennifer trailed behind me, dramatically narrating her view of this whole scene like she was hosting a podcast on missing children.
“She could be anywhere,” she said. “I looked upstairs and downstairs, but she’s not watching TV and she’s not reading in the library either.”
“There’s a library?” I shook my head. “You know what, never mind. She’s probably just hiding under a bed.”
That would be classic Lu behavior, five years old and completely committed to turning all my hair gray before I turned thirty-five. I strode into the bedroom where she’d been sleeping first, but as advertised, it was empty, the blankets on the bed kicked halfway to the floor and no one hiding underneath it. I checked the bathroom too, but she wasn’t there.
“Lu?” I called.
A flicker of panic raced through me when there was no answer. The house was enormous and I didn’t even know how far the property itself actually stretched. If she had gone outside or was wandering around, I had absolutely no idea where to even start looking.
As Jennifer and I strode out of the bedroom, however, I noticed that Bear was missing too. He’d insisted on sleeping in the hallway between the girls’ rooms last night, but he wasn’t on the bed Zach had put there for him anymore.
My eyes narrowed in thought. I turned sharply, walking down the hall to knock on Zach’s door. I waited for a second, but when he didn’t respond, I gave it a light push and it opened. His bed was empty too and relief swept through me at the sight.
My nerves were still buzzing, but with Zach and Bear missing as well, there was a good chance Lu was with them. I glanced at Jennifer, who’d glued herself to my side. I tipped my head toward the stairs.
