The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,275

my homework?’

‘Rosa honey, you know the rules. Now sit down at the table quietly and get on with your sums.’

‘No!’ Rosa stamped her foot and pouted. ‘I wanna watch Mister Rogers!’

‘Well, you can’t and that’s that. Sit down now.’

‘I won’t!’

‘Rosa, you know what will happen if you carry on like this; you’ll be put in your room and there’ll be no dinner until you come out and sit at the table to do your homework.’

‘But I wanna watch Mister Rogers,’ she whined.

‘Right, let’s take you to your room, shall we?’ Cecily took the child’s hand firmly and marched her down the corridor. Opening the door and steering the squirming child inside, she sat her down on the bed. ‘So what’s it to be? Sitting in here by yourself, or doing your homework and then having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in front of the TV?’

‘I wanna watch Mister Rogers now!’

Cecily walked to the door, closed it behind her and then locked it, bracing herself for the screams of protest that would begin immediately from the bedroom. Walking back to the kitchen, she looked at Bill and sighed.

‘Sorry about the noise, I mentioned she’s a handful right now.’

‘Yes, I can hear that,’ Bill said as the screams rippled at an ear-piercing level through the walls.

‘She’ll calm down in a minute, she normally does,’ said Cecily with more confidence than she felt. Sometimes the screaming could go on for hours. ‘I bought you some beer on the way back home, by the way. It’s cooling in the refrigerator.’

‘Thank you.’ He went to the refrigerator to pull a bottle out. ‘You have got your hands full, haven’t you?’ Bill said as the screams continued.

‘I guess I do, but it was either me taking care of her, or Stella having to stop everything she’d worked for to bring Rosa up herself. I’m sure she’ll meet another man one day, and the three of them will take off to live their own lives.’

‘Really? I doubt any chap would be keen to take on a child who can make that kind of racket.’

‘Rosa is very sweet underneath it all, she just likes things her own way right now,’ Cecily replied, suddenly defensive. ‘I made some beef casserole while you were sleeping, I remembered it was one of your favourites.’

‘Beef casserole . . .’ Bill sniffed the air. ‘Good Lord, that takes me back. When I’m at home, I live on tinned food, I’m afraid.’

‘That can’t be helping your health, can it now?’ Cecily said as she went to the oven to check on the casserole. ‘It’s ready. Would you like some?’

‘Frankly, I’m completely ravenous and could swallow an entire Boran cow down in one.’

Eventually, the hollering from the bedroom quietened. As Bill ate his casserole, Cecily went to let Rosa out of her room.

‘Are you ready to do your homework now?’ she asked her.

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘And what will you say to our poor old guest, who’s come all the way from Africa just to hear you screaming?’ Cecily asked as she took Rosa’s hand and led her back to the kitchen.

‘I will say I’m very sorry, Granny,’ said Rosa. ‘I’m very sorry, sir,’ she said as she sat down at the table and Cecily put down the school books in front of her. ‘When’s Momma coming home?’ she asked as she took a pencil out of her case.

‘At the weekend, honey.’

‘Have you met my momma, Bill?’ she asked him. ‘She’s real pretty and real clever and has a very important job, which is why she isn’t here right now,’ Rosa said as she painstakingly copied out some numbers, her pencil digging hard into the paper.

‘I have, as a matter of fact, young lady. I first met her when she was a tiny baby, didn’t I, Cecily?’

‘You did Bill, yes,’ confirmed Cecily.

‘She was born in Africa, you know,’ Rosa said.

‘I do know, because when she was younger, she used to live in my house. In our house,’ Bill checked himself, glancing at Cecily.

‘Your house is in Africa?’

‘It is, yes.’

‘Do you get to see any lions?’

‘Oh, I do indeed, lots of them.’

‘Momma loves lions, doesn’t she, Granny?’

‘She does, yes.’

‘I’d like to see Africa one day.’

‘I’m sure you will, young lady.’

‘Now, Rosa, enough chatter, get on with your homework.’

Having wrangled two bedtime stories out of Cecily, then insisting Bill came to say goodnight and that he tell her a story about all the wild animals he’d seen in Africa, Rosa eventually went to sleep. Cecily poured herself a glass of