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“Oh yeah, sure.” Sounds of Siena’s feet sloshing around against wet pavement competed with her words.
A moment of silence and then another jerk from Rebel as she threw herself closer to the car where Harley chatted with pouting lips almost pushed through the window gap. The two made quite the pair as they continued to play through the crack in the window.
Siena stopped in front of Miranda, her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. She eyed Miranda up and down, judging her completely. This was what Miranda had been worried about. Now the rain coming down wouldn’t just be from the sky. It’d be from the hellfire that Siena was about to unleash.
“Look, I know I shouldn’t say anything, and I have no idea what actually happened, but it’s obvious something has. Tori was very cagey the other night. So I get it if you don’t want to call Tori.” Siena lowered her voice, as if the girls couldn’t hear her. They were probably too distracted anyway. “But she has heaps of contacts through her job that might be able to help with whatever issue is happening with Rebel’s enrollment. Or I can go inside and beat Aili up for you. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Miranda blanched. She shook her head, nearly losing her grip on Rebel as she tried to climb through the window. She remained speechless. This woman who had sized her up and obviously decided she was not good enough for Tori now stood there encouraging Miranda to call her? Offered to step in and do something for her? For what purpose? There had to be a catch.
“First time?” A droplet of water ran down Miranda’s chin, dropping to her chest and running between her breasts. They really needed to get out of the rain.
Siena sighed. “Yeah, did Tori tell you about dating Aili?”
“Briefly.”
“Right, I bet she gave you the nice version of the story, that Aili introduced her to me after they were done dating?”
“Yes.” Where was Siena going with this? And what did it matter?
Siena snorted and scuffed her shoe against the pavement. “Yeah, that’s the nice version all right. We were all kind of dating at the same time. It’s true that Aili introduced us, but I didn’t realize they were a thing—a non-exclusive thing to be very clear, no cheating involved—when I made my move on Tori. Let’s just say I won, and Aili was not a happy camper, as you can expect, and in the end none of us won.”
“Oh.” Miranda tightened her grip on Rebel. “So um…what was the purpose of this story?”
“That I can still beat Aili up for you if you need me to.” Siena winked. “Not really, but I’ll have your back if you need.”
“No, it’s nothing you can help with.” Not unless Siena could magically get Tierney to sign a single sheet of paper.
“Okay. Well, still, give Tori a call. I know it’ll be awkward, but she does have a lot of contacts and might be able to help you out with whatever the problem is.”
“Unless she can change laws at the snap of her fingers, unlikely.”
“Miranda.” Siena had a bite in her tone. She glanced at the girls and lowered her voice again. “Call her. I’ve got Harley tonight, so she’s got the time.”
Miranda nodded and pulled Rebel back to her own car, calling a goodbye to Harley as she did. She wasn’t sure what to say to Siena’s final statement, but she put Rebel into her seat. Miranda fussed around while getting Rebel buckled, and by the time she stood back up, Siena was already in her car, window rolled up, and backing out slowly. When she saw the taillights of Siena’s car behind her through the rearview mirror, she slumped in her seat and let out a large breath of air. But she still gripped the wheel a little too tightly.
Looking for the taillights that were now gone, she flicked the rearview mirror so she could see Rebel as she drew with sticky fingers on the window.
“What do you think, Rebel, should we call Tori and see if she can help with our little dilemma?”
Miranda busied herself with starting the car and getting them to her parents’ house for dinner that night. As she pulled into the driveway, she sighed, unable to fight the urge to find out exactly what Siena was talking about and even more importantly what exactly Tori had confessed to her ex-wife.
She hated herself just a little as she pulled up the contacts list on her phone and tapped Tori’s name. The car’s speakers kicked in, and with each ring, Miranda’s heart beat a little faster.
“Hello?” Tori’s voice sounded less sure than Miranda had ever heard it. Had she done that to her? No, this wasn’t Miranda’s fault. She was reading too much into an unsteady word, which could have just as easily been nothing more than the car’s reception. It was raining after all.
“Hi.” Miranda hesitated for a moment, and then, fingers gripping the steering wheel hard enough for her knuckles to turn white, she pushed on like she would have with anyone else. “I was hoping we might be able to catch up tonight. I’m having some problems with Rebel’s enrollment, and it was suggested to me you might know someone who could possibly help.”
“Oh, I can’t tonight.” Tori rushed out. “I have Harley with me, and I’ve promised her some one-on-one Mommy and Harley time.”
Miranda froze. Never before had Tori lied to her, at least not that she knew of. But this was a blatant outright lie. Anger swirled in her stomach, and she tensed at the very thought. She had trusted Tori, and now she was breaking that connection between them. Maybe she had misunderstood. “You have Harley?”
“Yes.” Tori’s voice held a coldness Miranda had never heard. It shouldn’t bother her. She had never lied or misled Tori about what she believed or her intentions. It was Tori’s issue if she couldn’t handle the reality of them having a one-night stand. But that didn’t mean everything else had to fall away, did it?
Miranda looked up in the rearview mirror and met Rebel’s eyes. Rebel smiled and waved, a small giggle filling the car. On the one hand, she couldn’t believe that Tori had flat-out lied to her, and on the other…the other what? Miranda hadn’t given her any reason to, had she?
“I guess I’ll see you around then.” Before Tori could respond, Miranda hung up.
She ran her tongue across her teeth as she stared at her parents’ house. What was she even doing? She hated this. That night had been more than just sex, but that didn’t mean they had to hate each other when it ended either. And she’d never told Tori it would be more. In fact, she made it very clear that it wouldn’t be more.
