Ignite (6 page)

AFTER I PROMISED Kenzie I would try to come on her ski trip, I took Emma and her ice cream home. Two bowls chocolate ice cream, three episodes of
SpongeBob
, and the entirety of
Grease
later, Emma was passed out on the sofa. I wasn’t sure if this amount of sleep was normal for a four-year-old, but if it helped her cope, I would let her sleep as much as she needed to.

Jed called to check in, and after I made myself some lunch, I found myself out cold next to Emma.

I woke to a door slamming, which I had quickly learned meant one thing in this house. Callie. She stomped in the door followed closely by Chase.

Immediately, I sat up to check my phone. It was past four in the afternoon. Shoot.

“Chase! I’m so sorry!” I said as I jumped up from the couch. I felt like I had already failed the little guy and it was only day one.

“It’s okay.” He shrugged.

“No, it’s not.” Callie said sternly as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You clearly don’t care about us. I don’t know why you’re even here.”

Tell me how you really feel.

“Callie,” I started, “You know that’s not true.” In the back of my mind, I realized that I agreed with her about the part why I was here, but I couldn’t tell her that. Not until I found somewhere else for them to go, or someone else to take care of them. Someone much better suited than me.

“Whatever,” she said, slamming the pantry door. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

She stalked up the stairway.

“I can take care of myself. I really hope you’re not here when I come back, just so you know.”

I stared at her with my hands on my hips, open-mouthed as she slammed her bedroom door shut. Thankfully, Emma was still asleep, although I wasn’t sure how. Chase was in the kitchen nonchalantly looking around.

“Want a snack? We have lots of ice cream,” I offered.

“Sure,” he said, sitting down at the table without looking up from whatever game he was playing on his Nintendo.

“I’m really sorry, buddy,” I told him as I scooped him a giant bowl of rocky road. “It won’t happen again.”

He just shrugged his shoulders. Was that the only gesture he was capable of?

“Thanks,” he said weakly as I handed him the bowl.

“So,” I asked as I sat across from him. “How was your day at school?”

“Good, same as always,” he said in between bites of ice cream.

Clearly, he was a man of few words. At least he didn’t hate me as much as Callie did.

“What did you learn about?”

“Space,” he said. “Planets.”

“Oh I love planets!” I told him a little bit too enthusiastically. I really did love space. “Pluto is my favorite!”

He looked at me like I was crazy.

“Pluto’s not a planet.”

“Oh right,” I had clearly forgotten they weren’t teaching that one anymore.

Or cursive.

“Well, it used to be. Let me know when you’re ready for dinner.”

He nodded and went back to his ice cream.

The doorbell rang and I looked at Chase expectantly.

“Do you know who that could be?” I raised my eyebrows.

I wasn’t used to answering doorbells this often.

“It’s probably UPS or something,” he mumbled, wiping ice cream off his lip with his sleeve.

I got up from my chair and walked slowly to the door, hoping to make as little noise as possible in case it was one of Linda’s friends coming by. I wasn’t sure I could deal with that just yet. Or ever, really. I didn’t feel like it was mine to handle, and the kids didn’t need it either.

As I came around the corner, I saw Callie bouncing down the stairs. She didn’t know I was there, and she was much less smug than she had been around me, proving that part of her animosity was over-exaggerated for my benefit.

“Jenny!” she exclaimed as she swung open the door, immediately ushering her friend in as she hugged her.

I stood there and crossed my arms.

As Callie turned to bring Jenny upstairs, she saw me and her smile faded. She gave me a sneer and gestured to Jenny, who was looking between us.

“Come on, Jenny,” she said as she started back up the stairway.

Jenny gave me a weak smile and an even weaker wave as she followed Callie. Of course, Jenny probably just remembered me as the girl who fell flat on her face for Dean.

I shook my head and reached over to shut the front door, but it wouldn’t close. I pushed harder, only to be met with resistance. A knock on the door startled me, and I opened it ever so slightly to see a hand trying to push it open.

My gut reaction was to slam it shut as quickly as possible.

The knock came again.

I gingerly opened it, feeling stupid that I had just shut it in someone’s face, but I couldn’t help that I was jumpy.

For the second time in twenty-four hours, I felt like fainting in the doorway.

“Lauren,” Dean said somewhat sarcastically. That stupid grin was back on his face. “Thanks for that. Can I come in?”

I just stood there.

“Why are you here?” I asked, recrossing my arms. I didn’t feel like letting him walk all over me.

He smiled his ever-dazzling smile, clearly taken aback that I was questioning him.

“I came to make good on some promises,” he said nonchalantly. “Will you just let me in and stop pretending like I’m going to rob you or something?”

“I’m not sure,” I told him, my wits returning. “Do you know the secret code?”

He laughed.

“How about…” he said as he tapped his chin dramatically. “Rocky Road.”

“Wow, good guess,” I told him. “But no cigar.”

He stepped up into the doorway so that he was standing way too close to me.

“Good try,” he said, leaning down closer to my ear. “But I know that’s their favorite flavor.”

I relented and took a step back, not so much as to let him in, but just so I could clear my head. I had never been one of those girls to lose focus because of a guy, but he seemed to be able to charm just about anyone. Something about him scared me. It wasn’t a lack of safety, just that I didn’t feel in control when he was around.

“Knew it,” he said, brushing past me. I shut the door and followed him to the kitchen as if it was something we did every day.

“What’s up, Chase?” he said, holding out his hand for a fist bump. “Save any ice cream for me?”

Chase smiled and nodded, pointing toward the fridge.

“Lauren can get you some,” he said.

Dean and I exchanged looks. It was probably the most Chase had said on his own since I had arrived.

“That would be super nice of her, buddy,” Dean said as he reached over to ruffle his hair. “But I think I can do one better.”

He winked at me as he took two bowls down from the counter. Somehow I felt offended, because he knew where they were, and I had to search almost every cupboard before finding the right one. Then, he pulled the ice cream from the fridge and scooped Rocky Road into both of them before replacing it. He even pulled spoons out from the drawer in front of him fluidly before handing one to me.

“Thanks,” I said, still shocked that he had just waltzed in and made himself at home.

He leaned up against the dishwasher and ate his ice cream like he did it all the time.

I took a few bites and put my bowl on the counter so I could go check on Emma. She was still sleeping soundly, and I tucked the blanket around her where it had fallen off.

“Lauren, I’m going upstairs to do my planet homework,” Chase told me from across the room. He got up and put his bowl on the counter next to the sink.

“Let me know if you need any help,” I offered, and he gave me a little smile. He surprised me that he was so responsible for his age. Any kid I knew would rather watch hours of TV than do their homework right after school.

I pretended like I was distracted with Emma, but watched out of the corner of my eye as Dean put all three dishes away in the dishwasher without saying a word, being the domestic god that he was. Then he came into the living room and plopped himself down on the couch next to Emma.

I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I refused to fall for his charming act yet again.

“Dean,” I said as sternly as I could in a soft voice so as not to wake Emma.

“Lauren,” he challenged, smiling at me coyly before I could even say anything else.

“Seriously,” I said a little louder. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” he said calmly. “I’m here to convince you to come on the ski trip.”

“Exactly how are you planning on doing that?” I asked skeptically. I had known from the start that I wasn’t going. I only told Kenzie I would think about it so I wouldn’t have to tell her no in person.

“I’m not going to leave until you agree to come.”

He grabbed the remote to check the guide on the TV.

I scoffed.

“Okay, good luck with that.”

He stretched casually and changed the channel.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my little guest room. I didn’t think I could stand being in the same room with him. I already felt trapped, and the majority of the people in the house at the moment seemed to hate me. I wasn’t cut out to be a parent, or a guardian, or whatever anyone wanted to call it. I just wanted to go home, go back to school, and forget that any of this ever happened. Except that now, especially after what happened with Emma, I didn’t think my conscience was going to let me do that.

I fell onto the bed face-first and wanted to scream. I had just met Dean yesterday and he was already so adamant that I come on this stupid ski trip. It didn’t make any sense.

I got out my phone to call Kenzie or Jed, but couldn’t decide who to call first. I sighed and lay there, closing my eyes just to escape my new reality.

There was a knock on the door. I opened my eyes, expecting light to still be streaming in through the open window, but found myself in a pitch-black room instead. Immediately, I panicked.

Where was I?

Why was it so dark?

I used my phone to find the door handle and flung the door open so that I could see where I was.

There was a little boy standing at the door.

“Hey Lauren,” he said, holding up a folder. “Can you help me with this? Dean says I should ask you.”

Dean? What time was it? I was so incredibly disoriented.

“Sure, hold on,” I told him, as I took the folder out of his hands. I rubbed my eyes, dragged my fingers through my obnoxiously red hair, and walked to the kitchen. It was already nine o’clock.

“Oh god,” I said under my breath. “Chase, I’m so sorry. Did you eat dinner?”

Chase nodded.

“Yeah!” he exclaimed. “Dean and I made pizza!”

I put the folder on the counter.
So much pizza, so little time.

“You and Dean?”

Chase nodded again excitedly.

“I see.”

This was turning out to be a quick lesson in what not to do when you find out you’ve been given children as an early Christmas present.

I looked around to see Dean still sitting nonchalantly on the couch. I walked over to see that Emma was no longer sleeping, but sitting in his lap playing with a little plastic horse.

“Yay!” Emma said when she saw me. Then she leaned up and whispered not so quietly into Dean’s ear. “She’s awake!”

Dean turned and smiled coyly at me.

“Well, looks like Sleeping Beauty has finally decided to wake up,” he said.

I scoffed again. I didn’t know how to react to his constant flirting mixed with subtle insults.

“Sorry,” I said flatly as I shook my head. “I’m not sure how that happened.”

“No worries,” he said turning back to Emma. “I told you I was here for the long haul.”

“What are you talking about?” I picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

“I’m staying here until you agree to come,” he said.

I threw my hands in the air.

“So if I say I’ll come on the trip, You’ll leave?”

“Yes, but you have to actually keep your word on that one. I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.”

Great, he knew I was planning to run. I could be gone before the weekend, anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

“Hmm,” he said. “I don’t know if I believe you. Maybe we should pinky promise.”