Missing (The Brannock Siblings Book 3) (2 page)

"Oh, come on. She's not that bad. She's hilarious. I
love spending time with her."

"Speaking of," Lily bit her bottom lip and twisted
her eyebrows in that way that warned Aiden she was about to give
another
favor. "Would you mind watching Aidy tomorrow morning? I've got a staff
meeting and I missed the last one so I can't miss it or I'll get written
up."

Aiden rolled her eyes. Her sister was too nice of a person.
"Why do you still feel like you have to beg me? Huh? You look so pathetic
when you do that so just… stop. You know I'll do it. What time will you be
dropping her off?"

Lily sighed with relief and finally…
finally!
... put
the dress back in the far corner of her closet. Aiden wanted to pump her fist
in the air once the deed was done, but she held it back.

"It will be about nine if that's okay. After the
meeting, I have to log in a few in-service hours, though, so can I pick her up
around two?"

That would cut into some serious
getting-ready-for-a-hot-date time, but she couldn't say no. She was the queen
of rushing so it was doable. Not like she needed a full four hours to get ready
anyway. She would just have to cut the self-medicating of her nerves down to
one glass of wine instead of two. She'd be good to go.

"No problem. Just call if you are going to be late. I
want to make sure I look good tomorrow night," she said and stood to
peruse the other clothes in Lily's closet.

"You wouldn't have to worry about that if you wore the
dress."

"Ha! It would make sure I wouldn't get another date. Or
it may ensure I don't even get the first one. He'd see me from a mile away,
turn tail and run."

Lily smacked her on the shoulder with a scoff, "I'll
have you know, that's the dress I was wearing on my first date with Brandon. He
loved it!"

Aiden shrugged, "My point exactly."

Lily laughed and started to shut the closet doors,
"Then you might as well forget borrowing anything of mine ever again. He
always said he liked the way I dressed."

It was nice to finally be able to talk to her about Brandon
without the consequence of some kind of break down. Her sister's ex-husband was
always a tall, handsome, suave troll. He never deserved her, but she gave him
everything. He was dangerous, exciting, and full of life and the bastard broke her
heart. They divorced shortly after little Aiden was born since he cheated on
Lily with a 5'10" bimbo tramp. Who, by the way, is a good two inches
taller than
him
without the heels she always wears. It was actually
quite hilarious to see them together because he looked so pathetic. It was hard
for Lily, though, because she was suddenly a single mother with a job that
required a large chunk of her time. A job she couldn't quit because she needed
the money.

The man rarely spent time with his daughter which was okay
with Aiden. That little girl didn't need him as a role model for a father. She
would be better off without him. Lily had refused any form of child support and
only took a small settlement once the divorce was final. Instead of living off
of that for a while, she put every penny in an account for Aidy for college and
she increased her hours at work.

Aiden moved from their hometown of Chicago to Detroit a year
later when she finally put her foot down and forced Lily to let her help.
They'd lived together until several months ago when Aiden found her apartment
and Lily started dating other guys. She didn't date often, but it was enough to
make Aiden feel like she was invading her sister's privacy.

"I feel sorry for Aidy. She's going to have to deal with
those bright red locks like I've had to. It's a pain in the ass sometimes, you
know? Colors are hard," she said, her shoulders slumping.

"Well, you both are beautiful and I love your red hair.
It's you. It matches your charming personality, too," Lily chuckled and
winked.

Aiden rolled her eyes and sprawled out on the bed.

"Speaking of charming, how's that delicious neighbor of
yours?"

"Ugh! Please, don't reference him at the same time as
using the word 'delicious'. He may be beautiful, but he's a total asshat. Just
last week he came pounding on my door demanding that I shut off Aidy's
music." She smiled, remembering the look on his face when he realized it
wasn't
her
music. "God, his face was priceless when I told him to
talk to Aidy."

Lily sprawled out next to her and studied her nails, "I
still don't understand how you two are enemies. He seems like such a sweet
guy."

He
used
to be sweet and for a minute there, Aiden was
sure he was going to ask her out. Then he had insulted her cookies and instead
of fessing up and telling the truth, he played it off as if he was on some kind
of girly diet. Served him right if he got as bad of diarrhea as he said he did.

"He told me my cookies tasted like packing peanuts and
when he was - and I quote - 'ready to die' he would 'keep me in mind'. He's a
total douche."

Lily covered her mouth with her hand, but Aiden didn't need
to look to know that she was actually smiling. She could feel her sister
shaking like a rickety rollercoaster with laughter.

After a moment, she gasped for air, "Oooh, oh my God.
That is the perfect description of your cookies. You are a terrible cook,
Aid."

"Shut up! I'm not
that
bad," she objected
sarcastically and shoved Lily until she was hanging off the bed.

The truth was, she
was
that bad of a cook.

Her sister couldn't stop laughing and was starting to turn a
shade of red Aiden had never seen before. "I totally have to talk to this
guy more."

"No! No one needs to talk to him. He's made my life
miserable enough. Plus, he's a cop. You know how I feel about that."

"Yeah, yeah. You're terrified of a man who lives life
dangerously. No excitement for you, right?"

"Not just that. You and Aidy are my life. A guy who
can't bring stability to our lives isn't worth it."

Lily sighed and shook her head, "We shouldn't be the
deciding factor, Aid. It's for
you
, not us."

Her cell phone chimed in her pocket and she shoved Lily one
more time for good measure before looking at the incoming text.

Dreamy: Can't wait to see you tomorrow night.

Okay, so she couldn't think of a good name to give him. The
way he talked to her
was
dreamy, though.

"Is that him?"

"Yep."

Lily chuckled, "You wanna know how I can tell? You get
this far away look in your eyes, like you're high or something and you're smile
looks like something out of a Disney movie."

Aiden sat up and read the text again before going on the
defense. "You're just jealous because I may get to have sex soon and your
vagina is full of cobwebs."

She climbed off the bed before Lily could attack her and
tried to text him back.

"Hey! I had sex five months ago, even though it
did
suck."

She shook her head and typed.      

Me: Same here. You want to talk tonight or build up the
anticipation?

She was barely out the bedroom door when a tiny little
missile came crashing into her legs.

"Aunty Aiden! Come look, I made a castle!"

Her niece was like the Energizer Bunny. She never stopped
except for when she was sleeping and she had an spitfire attitude like her
aunt, courtesy of helping to raise the little sweetheart. She pulled Aiden to
the living room and threw her arm out as if she was presenting something on
stage, her bright red curls bouncing and her freckles making that sweet face
even sweeter.

The living room had been completely rearranged. How the
little girl got the couch to move four feet from the wall was a mystery, but
she did. Every chair from the dining room was set up around it like towers and
there were pillows, sheets, and blankets spread over it.

"Holy wow! That really
does
look like a
castle," she gasped.

Lily was right behind her and started gushing over her
daughter's accomplishment. "Oh, Aidy. It's beautiful! All you need is your
gown and we can take a picture."

"Okay!" Her green eyes sparkled just before she
disappeared down the hall to her bedroom to go change.

Aiden walked around the creation and saw the details up
close. She even had a freaking drawbridge. "Incredible!"

"You think I should put her into some kind of special
school? She builds stuff like this all the time. You should see the stuff she
creates with those Legos you gave her for her birthday."

Her phone chimed and she read the text with a smile.

Dreamy: You kidding? We have to talk. I've had the whole
day off today and I'm dying of boredom.

Me: OK. Jeez, don't get your panties in a twist.

Dreamy:
J
I'm not even going to go there.

She giggled and covered her mouth, still staring down at her
phone and reading the message a couple more times like a lovesick fool.

"Dear Lord, it's starting to get disgusting," Lily
grimaced. "I'm going to have to meet this guy. He's totally turned my
little sister into a giggling bundle of… something girly. Shit, I wish I could
think of witty things like you do." She crossed her arms and turned toward
the kitchen.

"First of all, I'm not a giggling bundle of girly
stuff, he's just so funny. Second, no. I don't think you should put Aidy into a
special school. Not unless
she
wants it. Let her enjoy her childhood
with all the other kids."

Aiden grabbed her purse and tossed her phone inside.
"I've gotta go. Still have to find something to wear for tomorrow night.
Shit, I'm so nervous."

Lily was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and
licked her fingers as she stated, quite sarcastically, "Good luck. With
hair like that, maybe you better just go naked. Win for both of you."

She slipped on her sandals and flipped her sister off with
an innocent smile. "I don't have unicorn vomit in my closet, so I'm sure
I'll find
something
. See you in the morning, Lil."

Her sister was giggling and now licking the knife clean.
"Bye, Aid. Love you and thanks again."

"Love you, too. Bye, Aidy!" she shouted. "See
you tomorrow!"

"Bye Aunty!" came a breathless shout from her
bedroom. She could tell the little devil was going all out on the dress up.
Shoes were flying out the bedroom door and the sound of bead necklaces was
surprisingly clear.

She hurried out the door before she could get talked into
helping clean up. When she got to the stairs, she took a deep breath and tried
to calm her nerves. It had been forever since she'd gone out with a man. She didn't
have time to meet people since she used all her extra time to watch little
Aiden. She worked from home, if you could call it working. She mostly just
painted like a mad woman and had a good eye for photography. It was good money
as long as she could sell a few pieces at a time and she was trying to save
some money to buy space for a studio so she could get out of her stuffy
apartment once in a while and have a place for all the canvases that were
stacked everywhere.

She loved art, always had. Since she was a little girl, she
had used whatever she could to draw or color. The best gift ever given to her
was still the acrylic paint set her parents got her for her sixth birthday.

Thinking about painting made her remember that she needed to
stop and get some supplies. She couldn't wait to have space and stock up on
everything so she didn't have to come into town all the time. She hailed a cab
outside of Lily's apartment complex and climbed in. She could walk the few
blocks if she wanted, but she was too keyed up and didn't want to think about
her date anymore than she had to.

It had taken a long time for her to agree to meet the guy in
person. Online dating was just too scary, but it was nice to have someone to
talk to that she was compatible with. She'd had too many awful dates to keep
count, but she knew this one would be successful as long as she didn't turn
into a fumbling idiot and could find
something
to wear that wouldn't
make her look like Annie.

Dreamy never asked for a description and she never asked for
one either. That wasn't what this whole thing was about. He had told her that
it was too hard for him to go out and meet people lately because of his job. He
worked a lot of nights and didn't have the time or the inclination any longer
to go to a bar or a club. He did admit to her that he had been a playboy most
of his life and made her swear on her first born child that she wouldn't reveal
that he wasn't anymore so it would never get back to his brother.

He could make her laugh more than anyone ever could. It was
refreshing. Sure, she still had more to find out about him, but for the most
part, he was exactly what she was looking for. Stable, funny, and responsible.
She just hoped she was what
he
had been looking for. She conveniently
left out the fact that she was a horrible cook, he didn't need to find that out
unless things got a little more serious and
'serious'
was her lack of
cooking skills.

Gus wasn't wrong. Her cookies tasted awful and the only
thing she managed to make that didn't perk up his nostrils was toast. Unless
she got distracted and burned it. She lived off of cereal and microwave dinners
with the occasional pizza. Aidy didn't mind and more often than not, she would
take her little niece out to eat. Hell, Aidy could probably make anything
better than her.

It had nothing to do with never being taught either. Her
mother had spent countless hours trying to show her how to boil water without
destroying the pan and Lily had made it a point to pick out recipes to teach
her that were impossible to mess up.