Page 87 of Tied Up in Riches
Mira turns too, nearly pulling her braid from Marcus’ hand. He tries to quickly band the elastic over the end before she squirms away from him and stands but fails. With a chuckle, he tosses the hair tie on the coffee table in defeat.
“Hiiii,” she says as she runs toward me, halting right before she crashes.
Before I have a chance to speak, the front door clicks open again. “Hello!” the man’s voice bellows, and with a kick of his foot against the wood, the door opens further revealing Dean.
“Uncle Dean!” the girl yells, forgetting completely about me as she hurtles toward him, the strands at the end of her untied braid unraveling slightly. He barely has time to set down the ice cream on the entryway table before sweeping her into his arms and spinning her in a circle.
“How’s my favorite girl?”
She giggles. “I’m not your favorite girl. That’s Aunt Maci.”
“You were my girl first,” he says, kissing her on top of her head before gently setting her feet back on the ground.
“Oh yeah. First is way better,” she points out confidently, then turns to check out the ice cream.
Dean glances up to me at the end of the hall. Marcus has made his way to me, standing a step back. “Who is ready for a sleepover?” He looks back at Mira.
“Me, me, me!” she screams, trying to pry the top off the ice cream carton with her little hands.
“How was today?” Dean asks, referring to the meeting Marcus had with the warehouse about speeding and multiplying production.
“Good,” Marcus says, exhausted.
I watch Dean take us both in. “You two look like you could use a nap.” He turns to Mira, bending to her level. “Mira.” The girl’s focus stays on the pint of ice cream she’s managed to get the top off on her own. “Mira,” Dean repeats.
“Yes?” She turns toward him as she digs her finger into the top layer of bright blue dessert.
“What do you think about coming with me? We can have a sleepover with Aunt Maci instead.” “Can we invite baby Canaan too?” she asks.
“She’s with him right now.”
“And we can bring the ice cream? And my butterfly clips?” She looks at him with wide eyes.
“Duh. It’s not a sleepover without them.”
“Yay!” She squeals. “Is Marcus coming too?”
“I was thinking we could let your brother take a nap with Brooke. They’re really tired. What do you think?”
The mention of my name reminds her she hasn’t actually met me yet, and she reluctantly abandons the ice cream to make her way to me. “Hi, I’m Mira.”
I bend to her level. “It’s nice to meet you, Mira. I’m Brooke.”
She throws her arms around my neck, squeezing me tight. I wrap my arms around her tiny waist, hugging her until she pulls back. “I don’t have to take naps anymore.” I laugh at the irony of naps being acceptable for the ages that don’t appreciate them. “Do you want me to leave you some butterfly clips? Marcus is really good at doing hair after it gets all messed up from sleeping.”
The boys both chuckle, but I keep it together. “That’s okay. You can bring them to Maci. Thank you, though.”
Her eyes widen at my mention of my friend. “Do YOU know my Aunt Maci?!”
“I sure do. I met her in Thailand. Do you know where that is?”
“Is that by Spain? Uncle Dean and Aunt Maci brought me back presents from there.”
I laugh. “No. Why don’t you ask her to show you pictures when you get there?” Part of me wants to hang out with her, get to know her. I know she’s important to Marcus, but more of me just wants a quiet house alone with him. By his lack of objection, I’m guessing he wants the same.
“I will! It’s nice to meet you, Brooke. I hope you have a fun sleepover.” With that, she tugs on Dean’s hand. “Let’s goooooooo. Bye, Marcus.” She waves at her brother with her free hand.
Marcus leaves the room, coming back only a moment later with a small My Little Pony backpack and hands it off to Dean.