When they leave, I lean against the wall outside of Mila’s room eavesdropping.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Accidents happen.”
I peek around the corner and see Serenity changing Mila into pajamas. She places her little hand on Serenity’s shoulder as she lifts her foot. “That’s a baby,” she says, pointing to the picture of her and me on the end stand.
“That baby is you,” she tells Mila. “And this is your brother.” Serenity leans over and taps her finger over my face.
Mila rests her chin on her hands in front of our picture, studying it as Serenity begins to change the bedding.
“There. All done,” she says moments later.
My sister rubs her eyes sleepily as Serenity tucks her back in bed, then she taps Serenity’s head. “Mommy.” She points to the picture of me and her. “Daddy?”
It’s obviously a question, one that makes Serenity uncomfortable, and I get it. It’s a crazy situation we findourselves in. I’m not sure how my sister even understands the concept of a mother and father after the life she’s lived. Unfortunately, she’s never had either.
“How about I read you a book?”
Mila nods sadly, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.
Serenity sighs, realizing Mila’s disappointment in not getting an answer. She sits on the edge of the bed and picks up the picture frame. Once again, she taps her finger over my face. “This is Chase. He is your brother, and he loves you very much. He wants Mila to have a clean, safe house to live in. He wants her to live here with him.”
I’m not sure if Mila understands any of this, but I applaud Serenity for the tone of her voice. It’s calming, and that’s all my sister really needs right now. Understanding will come later.
“And my name is Serenity, and I’m your brother’s friend.”
“And Mila’s.”
“Especially Mila’s,” Serenity says, her shoulders falling in relief.
She hands my sister a stuffed giraffe, then walks over to the bookshelf. Her eyes snag on mine. I point to Mila. She’s already fallen back to sleep.
She walks over to me and whispers, “Until the judge …”
I place my finger over her mouth. “You don’t have to explain. You were telling her the truth.”
“What if the judge doesn’t side with you?”
She doesn’t hide the panic on her face. Unless she’s the best actress I’ve ever seen, it seems genuine.
“He’ll be on our side,” I assure her.
Her eyes lift to mine, and I cup the side of her face. “I promise.” I lean over and press a light kiss to the corner of her mouth, my lips lingering longer than they should.
When I pull away, she sways toward me. I wrap my hands around her arms, keeping her upright. The way her brows pulltogether worries me for a moment, but when her fingers go to the place I kissed, I realize she felt it too.
“I … I need to pick up the dirty bedding.” She turns away from me to gather the sheets and then hurries down the hall to the laundry room.
As I wait for her to return, I look up the call log on my landline. There are no calls leaving the house. I know Carson and Cole went through her shit pretty good. We wanted to make sure she didn’t have anything to hurt herself with. But maybe she has a phone stashed in her car.
I check the video footage fast forwarding through all of the hours she was here by herself. She never once went outside.
There is the possibility she called him from the hospital. I send the twins a message, asking if they thought there was a chance this was the case. They both instantly reply that one of them had eyes on her the entire time except while she was in the restroom.
When Serenity doesn’t return, I go looking for her. She’s staring at something in her hand.
“Everything okay in here?” I ask. Suspicion niggles its way into my veins at the way her hand wraps tightly around whatever she was looking at.
“I … I have a confession to make,” she says, not looking at me.