Bambi grins at his comment while Barbie gives me an annoyed frown. I think I’m supposed to take her side. Honestly, I’m willing to frown at the half-asleep man as much as she wants if that means she eases off my ass.
Outside, Bronco plays ringmaster with the four girls. Eventually, Carina fusses in the warming day, which I use as an excuse to join them.
“She wants to cry,” Sidonie tells me when Bronco hands over the baby.
“Everything is still new for her. Soon, she’ll know everyone. She’ll smile and talk and crawl and break things. It’ll be great.”
Sidonie and Desi reward me with smiles, but Summer just gives her dad the same frown Barbie was giving me earlier.
“Mom, look, a pool,” Desi says, pointing at a large, stone pool with an attached hot tub located behind a black, metal safety gate.
“We didn’t bring your swimsuit,” I say rather than admitting she doesn’t own one.
Bronco wraps an arm around Summer and messes with her hair while saying, “There’s a Walmart off the highway. I can send someone over to pick up a suit for Desi.”
“She can fit in mine,” Sidonie adds.
“But then you won’t have one,” I point out.
Sidonie and Desi giggle at how they hadn’t thought of that.
“I can go over and get one,” Summer offers.
“Are you planning to walk?” Bronco asks.
“Conor can drive me.”
Her cousin pretends not to hear us.
“What if we just wait until the next visit to swim?” I suggest.
Desi’s disappointment instantly makes me feel guilty.
Sidonie asks, “Next weekend?”
I look to Bronco to see if he’s okay with another visit so soon. He only smiles in a way that makes me think I’ll be on my own if I want to say no.
“Sure.”
Desi and Sidonie share a smile. My daughter then decides she’s been too quiet. She starts talking about how we don’t have a pool at the Victorian because Shelby thinks there might be bodies in the yard.
“The house is haunted,” she tells Sidonie, who looks at me for confirmation.
Smiling, I nod, which gets the girls giggling about ghosts. Carina whines in my arms.
“I think she’s hot,” I explain when Summer frowns at me as if I caused her little sister to become unhappy. “I’ll go inside where it’s cooler.”
Bronco's eyes do that thing where they both ask me to stay and also to strip naked. I can’t do either, but I’m sure he understands. No one wants a crying baby.
Inside the house, I find Mom checking her messages. “Are you bored?” I whisper while sitting next to her and wiping Carina’s sweaty face.
“No. The sisters keep telling me stories about people I don’t know, and events that I’m certain didn’t happen. How are you?”
I hear the true question behind the one she asks. Allowing a little smile, I whisper, “I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”
“Don’t be someone you’re not.”
Losing my smile, I ask, “What’s that mean?”
“You aren’t a safe person. You live on the edge. I see you pretending to play the role of a safe, boring lady, but that’s not you. Look around, Maude, these people aren’t the run-of-the-mill types either.”
I glance at Barbie and Bambi poking each other with used skewers. Rooster sits with his feet up, snoring without a care in the world. Bronco outside with his girls, goofing around with the dog. They’re not fancy people. Neither am I.
I’m also an impulsive dreamer. It’s why I ran off with Kenny at eighteen. And why I prefer the fantasy of being a dancer versus the reality of being a working slob. Right now, I want to pretend to be a normal suburban mom. However, my best friend is a weirdo who believes in ghosts. I didn’t get pregnant after finding a man and building a strong relationship. I saw a sexy biker and broke the rules by meeting up with him in my SUV.
That’s why I lean closer to my mom and whisper, “I want Bronco Parrish.”
My mom gives me a knowing nod. “Then, just be yourself and roll the dice.”
Smiling, I look at my baby cradled in my arms. Her dark eyes watch me. I don’t know how much she understands at such a young age. Does she know me yet? Probably not.
Carina hasn’t even shown much of a personality. I try to imagine her one day walking around this house and calling for her daddy. She’ll have three big sisters to watch out for her. No matter her personality, she’ll be spoiled. Bronco