Pretty Dangerous (7 page)

“You’d think so wouldn’t you.” Adrienne put
the photo down and looked at MiMi with a slight frown. “I’m sure
you have to be exhausted. Why don’t you get some rest for a couple
of days? Sage is fine here.”

“I got rest on the flight, so I’m good.
Besides, I’m used to being a tired single mommy,” MiMi said with a
smile.

“But Sage loves her room. I’m paying my
housekeeper extra to look after her while I work during the day.
It’s perfect really. I’m right down the hall in my home office if
Estella needs me. Then when Brayden gets home we have quality
time.” Adrienne gave a contented sigh.

MiMi’s smile faded. “I appreciate you looking
after Sage for me. Honestly, I missed the little terror. I can’t
wait to give her a big hug, a warm bath and tuck her in like
always.”

Adrienne stood up abruptly. “I really don’t
see what’s the rush, but since you insist.”

Before MiMi could reply, her nephew called
from upstairs. “Hello Aunt MiMi. Climb aboard my spaceship.”

“On my way, captain,” MiMi yelled back. She
looked at Adrienne who shrugged.

“His father lets him read those science
fiction comics for children. One Sunday they watched Star Trek
movies all day.” Adrienne wore a sour expression.

“You should be thrilled. He must not spend
all his time working.” MiMi wondered at the strange vibes her
sister seemed to radiate.

“Humph.” Adrienne brushed past MiMi as a
signal she had no interest in expounding on the subject. “Like I
said, Sage is in her room. She loves it in there. Brayden, have you
been checking on your little cousin?”

“Yes, mommy. She’s hugging those dumb dolls
again. I tried to get her to hold my spaceship, but she just tossed
it on the floor.”

When they reached the top of the stairs, MiMi
wrapped both arms around his slender frame. She kissed the top of
his head. “She’s a baby, sweetie.”

“Nope, she’s a girl like at school. They
don’t do cool stuff like boys. Except mygirlfriend Allison. She
likes to watch space movies.” Brayden grinned widely.

“Brayden, Allison is your friend. We talked
about the meaning of the word girlfriend,” Adrienne said
crisply.

“Yes, mommy.” Brayden’s tone sounded
obedient, but his eyes twinkled when MiMi winked at him.

“Mommy’s here to take you home, Sage.” MiMi
couldn’t wait any longer.

She strode past her sister and down the hall.
Sage was in a bedroom near the master suite. A white painted safety
gate came up waist high to keep the toddler from wandering out and
onto the stairs. Sage sat on the floor in front of a playhouse that
she could crawl inside easily. MiMi gasped. Soft light green and
pale pink decorated the room. The curtains matched the trundle bed
coverlet. A lovely oriental carpet with jewel tones covered half
the hardwood floor. Expensive toys had been artfully arranged
around the room. Several large dolls sat in an open toy box. A
voice startled MiMi out of her state of astonishment.

“Hello Miss Landry, so nice to see you.”
Estella, Adrienne’s housekeeper, beamed at her. “Look, darling
girl.”

Sage looked up and gave a squeal before
Estella could finish. “Mommy!”

Estella laughed as she lifted the gate. “She
was just asking about you.”

“Mommy.” Sage raced across the room and into
MiMi’s arms.

“We’re going home, sweet stuff,” MiMi said.
She dusted kisses all over the round soft face as tears rolled down
her own. “Mommy missed you so much.”

“Mommy home.” Sage grabbed onto the front of
MiMi’s blouse tightly.

“Well I’m going home, Mrs. Fortenberry.
Welcome back.” Estella gave MiMi a maternal pat on the back.

“Thank you so much for helping take care of
her, Estella. I know you had to work extra.”

“It was a joy looking after her. Reminds me
of when my children were young. My youngest is fourteen now.”
Estella sighed. “Thank goodness this is the fourth and last time I
deal with a teenager.”

“You’re still young enough for another one.”
MiMi kissed Sage’s smooth cheek again.

“Ha! My husband knows better than to even
suggest such a thing. Goodnight ladies. Bye Brayden.” Estella waved
to them as she headed for the stairs.

“Bye, Mrs. Estella,” Brayden yelled back. He
started to dash off to his room, then doubled back. He hugged MiMi
and Sage at the same time. “Bye.”

“Bye little man,” MiMi said and kissed his
cheek. She went into the room still holding Sage. “Aunt Adrienne
says you’ve been such a good girl. Let’s get you packed up.”

Adrienne followed close behind. She started
picking the few toys scattered around on the floor. “Like I said,
you’re rushing for no reason. Sage has a routine. She should be
settling in for a story and winding down for bed. My Lord, it’s
almost eight o’clock at night.”

“What time did she have her nap? I hope it
wasn’t too long after lunch. That does keep her up late.” MiMi put
Sage down in the play pen to free both hands.

“I know what time she needs a nap. Are you
saying I can’t care for her properly? I’m not the one who went off
for a whole month,” Adrienne muttered.

“I didn’t leave for so long on purpose. And
no, I wasn’t criticizing you. I just asked a question. You sound
more like mother every day.” MiMi held a stack of Sage’s underwear.
“I don’t see her overnight bag.”

“Oh, that thing you brought wasn’t big
enough. I had to buy her more clothes, so I got a bigger one.”
Adrienne went to a closet, pulled out a fancy large pink bag with
Sage’s name on it.

“The bag I brought was just fine. You didn’t
have to spend so much money.” MiMi marched to the closet. Sage’s
old bag, a green and yellow plaid cloth duffle, was stuffed into a
corner. “What are you going to do with the room? I’m sure you won’t
have guest stay in here and sleep in a toddler bed.”

Adrienne ignored MiMi’s comment about the
pink bag. She continued to stuff clothes and baby items into it.
“I’ll leave it as is. Sage will probably need a safe place again
with the friends you hang out with.”

MiMi stomped out of the closet. “My friends
have given me more support in the last three years than anyone has
in my life. They flew to the Dominican Republic. Now tell me, which
one of my family members showed up?”

“Excuse me? You’d still be in jail if Daddy
hadn’t paid for your defense attorney and those hefty fines. What a
silly mistake.” Adrienne gave a huff of disapproval.

“Roderick is the one who made the damn
mistake,” MiMi hissed. She glanced over at Sage, who was
preoccupied with her new favorite doll.

“So now you’re using profanity in front of
the baby,” Adrienne said with a frown.

“My family’s idea of ‘Mr. Right’ got me
arrested, and I’m the one you criticize?” MiMi clapped a palm on
her chest. Her sister only wanted to see MiMi as the problem.

“Your friends may find this kind of behavior
just fine, but not in my house around my children,” Adrienne shot
back, pointing a manicured fingernail at MiMi.

“You mean your child. Sage is my daughter,
and we’re going home.” MiMi spun around and grabbed the bag. With
the shoulder strap on, she picked up Sage. “Come on, sweetie pie.
Tonight you’ll be in your own bed. All this pink is starting to
look like stomach medicine.”

“Mommy, mommy,” Sage said in a toddler
sing-song voice.

“Yes, mommy is here, and she’s not going
anywhere for a long, long time.”

MiMi glared at her sister for full five
seconds. Adrienne glared back but kept silent. With a last look
around to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, MiMi went down the
stairs. Adrienne followed. She made baby talk to Sage, but kept her
distance. Adrienne stopped at the last step of the stairs.

“Wait a minute. Take one of her new dolls.
She’ll probably fret without it. I can get it.” Adrienne half
turned.

“Don’t bother. She has lots of toys at home.”
MiMi slid back the locks on the fancy front door.

“Okay, but slow down.” Adrienne sighed as she
came down to the foyer. “I’m sorry for saying those things to you a
minute ago. I was out of my lane.”

“Very much so.” MiMi faced her sister. She
didn’t trust herself to say more.

“Let’s get along for the sake of the
children. Sage’s toys can stay here for her next visit with Aunt
Adrienne. Isn’t that right precious?” Adrienne came close and
smoothed Sage’s thick soft curls. Sage yawned and put her head on
MiMi’s shoulder.

“I won’t need a babysitter for a while, so
you might consider donating that stuff to the children’s unit at
Our Lady of the Lake.”

“Now you’re being vindictive,” Adrienne said.
Her voice had the quiet, flat tone of suppressed anger.

“No, I’m being a mother. As you pointed out,
I’ve been apart from my child too long. I appreciate the offer to
help out though,” MiMi added, her tone empty of warmth or
gratitude.

“I see.” Adrienne brushed her perfectly
styled hair.

“Goodnight.”

MiMi was out the door and at her car before
Adrienne could respond. She dropped the bag and opened the door.
Her hands shook as she fumbled with the getting Sage properly
secured into the car seat. MiMi rebuffed Adrienne’s offers to help.
Finally getting the now cranky toddler strapped in, MiMi closed the
door and tossed the bag into the back of her SUV. Minutes later
they were on the road away from the beautiful upscale neighborhood.
MiMi took in deep breaths to stave off the anxiety attack
building.

Lucky for MiMi, the daycare hadn’t filled
Sage’s slot. So she sat across from her boss the next day. Ten
minutes in to her talk with the lanky blonde, and MiMi knew she had
plenty to worry about.

Fashion Sense had grown from a string of
specialty women’s boutiques with only two stores to a major chain.
Along the way they’d expanded to clothes and accessories for men
and children. The merchandise at Fashion Sense was pricey enough to
satisfy new money shoppers. The economy of Baton Rouge continued to
go strong, attracting well paid white collar jobs. The people who
filled them wanted to have distinctive everything. Fashion Sense
catered to their mild sense of snobbery.

Kerry Newton stood six feet tall in
stockings. A former model, she affected the same stylized movements
from her days on the runway. She’d never become an international
sensation. Still, she spun descriptions of her modeling fame as
though she had. Now she was the regional manager of buyers at
fifteen department stores in four states. She held a cordless phone
against her left ear, and gazed through the window of the third
floor office.

“Listen, honey, I’m so over hearing excuses
from everyone. You tell the saleswoman that we don’t want a
substitute. We signed a contract for the Bellows line of home
fashions. We’ve planned an entire marketing push around it. Now get
it done.” Kerry hit the button ending the call and thumped the
phone onto her desk. “All I ask is for people to do the job I hired
them to do. Is that too much?”

MiMi knew enough not to reply to her
rhetorical question. Besides, under the circumstances, MiMi was
sure Kerry included her in that complaint. Kerry’s assistant, Tyler
Grant, bustled in, swished papers in front of her, and waited. The
young man avoided eye contact with MiMi, just as Kerry had done
since MiMi stepped through her door. No doubt he, like other
employees, wanted to know if MiMi was in or out first. None of them
had the guts to risk being on Kerry’s wrong side. So much for
worker solidarity, MiMi thought sourly.

“Lilly wants you to call her,” Tyler said. He
cast a furtive glance at MiMi. Five minutes later he hustled out to
implement Kerry’s terse instructions.

“Now,” Kerry said. She sighed and looked at
MiMi as if she were one more hurdle she had to jump. “You know
we’re already heavy into preparing for the fall season. We’re
working like crazy to finish the store catalogs.”

“I gave Tyler a full notebook on the hot
colors and looks before I left,” MiMi said.

Kerry went on as though MiMi hadn’t spoken.
“Even in this digital age a lot of our customer base of baby
boomers still like the paper catalog. Our web team is putting in
overtime to roll out the online version.”

MiMi broke in before she could go on. “I met
with Elle and the team two weeks before my vacation. They have a
complete list from the manufacturers. My contacts at Wilson’s,
Barberry’s, and other houses sent me their fall fashions. Elle says
y’all met on them.”

After a few beats, Kerry leaned both elbows
on her cluttered desk. “You were gone over a month when it was
supposed to be just a few days. That’s a problem.”

“I couldn’t control complications with my
flight and then my friend getting sick. But Elle assures me all the
stuff I left meant no hiccups in the planning.”

“I thought your friend got sick first, which
forced to you change flights and that’s when you ran into
problems,” Kerry replied. One pencil thin, brow arched to within an
inch of its life, lifted.

“Yeah, the point is I checked with the team
before I made it home. Elle said they didn’t miss a beat. I can
pick right up because everything I did was spot on. The look this
season will be earth tones mixed with bold colors.” MiMi tapped the
open workbook she’d spread on Kerry’s desk.

“Right, but the thing is Tyler stepped in to
help. He’s been invaluable to me, doing way more than just being my
go-fer. He’s getting his degree in a few weeks.” Kerry rocked her
leatherette executive chair back and forth.

“Good for him. Now he can work his way up
from the display floor just like I did for the past six years.
That’s after I got my bachelor’s.”

MiMi pushed down the growing anger
threatening to explode into a tirade. She almost added that Kerry
had been hired after her. For all her hard work, MiMi had been
overlooked again. Kerry’s expression tightened. She, too, had only
an associate’s degree. Rumors hinted she’d had a romance with one
of the top executives when she was still a model.