Page 128 of Fierce-Dane

“And we get to give them back after we wind them up,” Diane said. “Even better.”

37

CUTE COUPLE

“This is my room,” Shiloh said hours later. “Sloane painted it for me and then we hung up things and decorated it together.”

Sloane smiled as Shiloh showed her room off to Tiffani. She knew it was modest compared to the two rooms that Tiffani had, but for Shiloh it was the best thing ever.

She didn’t want Shiloh to feel as if she didn’t measure up or have enough, but there was only so much she could provide her sister.

“I like the puffy rainbows and clouds,” Tiffani said, moving over and reaching up to touch some of it on the wall.

“Sloane made that for me,” Shiloh said.

“She did?” Tiffani asked. “Those are pretty.”

“Thank you,” Sloane said. “I like to make things when I’ve got time.”

“Can you show me how to do it?” Tiffani asked.

“I can,” she said. “Shiloh likes doing crafts. We’ve set up a craft room in the other bedroom. Shiloh can show it to you if you want while I finish packing.”

She’d thought the crafts were a good way for the two of them to spend time and bond together. Shiloh’s bedroom wasn’t big enough to store it all so Sloane gave up some of her office in the spare room for the storage and a little table, but most times they moved everything to the dining room table.

She heard the giggles in the room next door and then grabbed the clothes Shiloh picked out for tomorrow and went to her room to pack her things and get their bathroom items.

Dane had told her to keep things at his house, but she didn’t feel right doing that knowing the kids could see them.

She didn’t think it was her way of putting the brakes on but more like making sure he was ready to deal with more questions.

“We are ready,” Shiloh said as the two girls came out of the room and ran down the stairs in front of her.

Dane and Tyler had stayed downstairs and were in the living room. Tyler was talking about the rock wall on the swing set that Royce had built. She was positive the one in Dane’s backyard would have some work done to it soon.

“What’s for dinner tonight?” Tiffani asked. “I’m hungry.”

They’d had snacks and lunch at Chloe and Royce’s, then cake and ice cream. It hadn’t been that long, but the kids hadn’t sat still once.

Sloane looked at her watch and saw it was six. She’d checked in with the salon twice today. She didn’t normally take a full Saturday off, but she wanted to be there for Dane and meet the rest of his family.

She hardly took time for herself, and though it felt as if she was taking a lot of time off lately to deal with personal matters, she’d already reminded herself as the owner of the business, she could do that.

She’d even decided to offer Heather a management position and give her more pay.

Heather would still be working with clients more than anything, but she’d be opening or closing more so that Sloane could have a bit of a break. In time she might give Heather the task of scheduling the girls too. Once their schedules were set monthly, then appointments could be filled. She tried to keep people on the same days so that regulars could make those appointments, but it didn’t always work that way.

“Me too,” Shiloh said.

She was going to joke about the fact Shiloh ate a ton and couldn’t be hungry unless she had a hollow leg but didn’t want to embarrass the child with a silly joke.

It’s not like Shiloh had gained more than a few pounds so maybe she was going through a growth spurt as Dane suggested.

“What do you want to eat?” Sloane asked. “I can cook dinner, depending on what Dane has in the house.”

The kids were all looking back and forth as if no one wanted to be the one to make a suggestion. “Shiloh has never had tacos,” Tyler said. “Can we have tacos? I was talking about them because I love them.”

“Tacos do sound good,” Dane said. “Why don’t we stop at the store on the way home and get everything we need? Shiloh should get to experience tacos, don’t you think, Sloane?”