“Lighten up, man! I’m taking her on a goddamn vacation! And I can’t keep you from following us, but you’d better keep your distance or I’ll be calling my lawyer!”
Great, Lief thought. He can talk to my lawyer. “I won’t get in the way unless she needs me.”
“She isn’t going to need you. Stay out of my face while I vacation with my family!”
Courtney waited inside the door until Stu turned to her and told her where she was to sleep. Turned out she got the guest room—bed and everything.
“Want anything to eat?” he asked her.
“No, thank you,” she said. She pulled her suitcase to the bedroom and closed the door behind her. The house was fairly quiet; no greetings from the stepwitch or the boys, which suited her just fine. She checked her iPhone for messages and shot a text to Amber. Haven’t been beaten or fed to the dogs yet. Off to a good start!
Amber wrote her right back. Don’t be so dramatic! Try to have some fun!
“Shows what you know,” she said aloud.
She didn’t even open her suitcase; she was a little afraid to get comfortable, to let her guard down. She put in her earbuds and listened to some music from the phone. Every now and then she’d hear one of the boys shout or run down the hall, but she was left strictly alone. Maybe they’d just let her tag along, enjoy a little of Disney on her own. Lief had given her money and the emergency credit card—one that he had in her name in case she ever ran into a worst-case scenario and needed cab fare or even a plane ticket. If Stu and Sherry just left her alone, maybe she would enjoy a little trip to Orlando.
Late that night she texted Lief. “I’m sleeping in a bed and no one has bothered me.”
He texted back immediately; he hadn’t been asleep either. “Just do your best and let me know if you need me.”
She decided she was going to give it her best. Maybe when this was over Lief would be really proud of her and that would be the end of this back and forth crap. She didn’t want to ever go through this again! With her earbuds in her ears, she fell asleep listening to the music stored on her iPhone; she slept in her clothes. She didn’t leave her room once, not even for the bathroom. Sunlight was brightening the room when she woke up; the battery in her iPhone was dead from having it on all night. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She’d slept on top of the covers, not even burrowing into the bed. She rooted around in her bag for her recharger and plugged in the phone before even walking out of her room to the hallway bath.
There was an awful lot of activity in the house, but she thought that was probably normal. When she finally made her way to the kitchen, she saw there was luggage by the front door.
“Well, sleepyhead,” Sherry said cheerfully. “I was just about to wake you. You must have been awful tired to sleep so late.”
“What time is it?” she asked. She didn’t wear a watch; her iPhone was almost permanently attached to the palm of her hand. That was her time source.
“My gosh, it’s after seven, and we have an early start today! I hope you didn’t completely unpack! We need you and your suitcase ready in fifteen minutes!”
Courtney frowned. “For what?”
“For our trip, silly!” And then Sherry grinned.
“We’re not leaving till tomorrow,” Courtney said.
“Last-minute change of plans, pumpkin,” Stu said as he came into the room, holding his coffee cup. “It’s all good—we’ll get there a day early.”
They were awful dressed up for a travel day. Sherry was wearing a designer sweat suit—it might’ve been silk—gold sandals and lots of jewelry. Her red hair was teased and spiky, her fingernails long and coral, her toenails matched. Stu looked pretty slick himself, for a short bald guy. “You told my dad the twentieth.”
Stu immediately frowned. “Okay, now, that really hurts. I’m your dad, pumpkin. I know the guy’s important to you, but could you cut me some slack here? I’m taking you on a first-class vacation. I want you to enjoy yourself and your family. Can you let me be the dad?”
“You told Lief the twentieth,” she persisted, thinking what is this pumpkin shit?
“Last-minute great deal on tickets, that’s all,” he said, standing up to his full