Chapter 29

29

Brianna now knew she absolutely hated kids. If she didn't want a kid to pass her legacy on to someday, she would go to the doctor and get all of her parts taken out and make it a forever decision. Immediately.

After the past week or so, she was absolutely certain of it.

People who had kids were totally insane.

Leena was nothing but trouble. She made messes, she cried at night when Brianna was trying to sleep, and she was just in the way all the time. She'd even climbed into Brianna's bed the night before, saying she'd had a nightmare. She'd been crying, like she was afraid or something.

Bethany had always let Brianna climb into her bed when they had been younger. That was what older sisters did. Brianna had let Leena sleep with her. For one night.

Never again. Never again. Kids kicked.

Jack had even said he wasn't coming around until the kid was gone too. Said he was never going to sign on to do the daddy thing. Especially after spending one day with Leena.

Leena was driving her insane. Ruining Brianna's life and everything.

She was always asking what Brianna was doing, or if Brianna would take her somewhere. Take her to do something.

Why would Brianna take her anywhere? She didn't want to be seen with the kid. The mere idea was insane. Leena would end up climbing a roof or running into traffic. She'd totally embarrass Brianna out there, or something.

"Can I go outside?"

"No. Leave me alone."

"But why?"

"Someone might see you and I don't want to explain who you are."

"Why?"

Why was the brat's favorite question. Why did Brianna do this, why did Brianna do that, why did Brianna not like her, why wasn't Brianna married, why didn't Brianna have kids? Followed by when . When could she go outside, when could she eat, when could Brianna play a game with her—when was her daddy coming back.

That was one of her favorite questions.

Leena wanted to know when her daddy was coming back for her almost constantly.

Well, how was Brianna supposed to know?

They lived less than three blocks from each other, but Brianna would sometimes go two or three weeks without Timothy stopping by to check on her. He mostly just texted her to see if she was doing what he expected her to be doing.

The kid and her stupid questions were starting to drive Brianna crazy. The nanny had quit yesterday. She had said Leena was just too much trouble for her to work there anymore. Brianna had even offered to double her salary. That stupid woman had said no thanks—and now Brianna had to take care of Leena all by herself.

"You don't have to tell people you are my sister if you don't want to. I don't want you to. I don't like you. You're mean, and you are really ugly too."

Brianna almost smacked her. But…her stepfather had always smacked Brianna when she'd annoyed him. Brianna had never forgotten how that had felt. Besides, it wasn't true anyway. Brianna wasn't mean, and she definitely wasn't ugly or anything.

And the girl was really little. Too little to be hit and smacked and spanked, right? Didn't kids her age get like timeouts or grounded now instead of being spanked like Brianna always had?

"Just…" Dark brown eyes were looking at her, waiting. Brianna felt herself wavering. She checked the clock—she still had two hours before Jack would even be off work. He'd promised to come over tonight, after all.

As long as Leena was in her room and out of the way the whole time. Jack did not like kids. Or, well, maybe he just didn't like Leena .

It had taken Brianna practically whining to get him to agree to come over. Brianna wasn't going to mess it up. She had already fed Leena lunch that Brianna had ordered from her favorite restaurant. Brianna had even set it up for a pizza to be delivered for the kid to eat for dinner while she ate with Jack. Everything was ready.

What else was she going to do while she waited? Brianna didn't have a clue.

Normally she would sit in her parlor and plan how and what she was going to do to Jack when she finally had him with her, or think about all the things she wanted to talk to him about that she'd saved up for days to tell him, or imagine what it would feel like when he held her at night.

She couldn't exactly do that today or anything.

She mostly just did that when she was bored anyway.

Bored. She got bored around her house all the time. Maybe… "Are you bored or something?"

It took a moment, but Leena nodded. "Yes. You don't have any toys here. Or TV. And the nanny is gone so I can't play games with anybody. You won't play with me."

Talk about accusatory. The kid was glaring like Brianna was a criminal or something.

"Of course, I don't. Televisions are for common people. I don't watch television." Only in her bedroom at night. She hated the look of televisions. She didn't want one uglifying her home. "Grab your jacket."

It was kind of cold out, and the kid had been sick, right? She'd need her coat, so she didn't get sick again and Brianna have to take her to a pediatrician or anything. How would she even explain that? Did she even know an actual pediatrician besides that Coleson-Greene woman, anyway?

"Why? Where are we going? Are we going somewhere? Like for real?"

Brianna looked at her closely. The snot was finally gone. The kid didn't look high from the cold medicine or anything now like she had the time Brianna had given her too much of it or anything. Brianna had ordered clothing for her that was appropriate for her standing in the community. She'd made the kid take a shower too. Leena was clean enough to take out in public.

The kid had come with one pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, and two school uniforms. For three weeks. Well, that hadn't been good enough.

Not for Brianna's little sister anyway. Leena couldn't go around Hughes Heights looking like an orphan. With the dark hair and eyes and everything, someone might think she was a Coleson or something.

The mere idea disgusted Brianna to even think about.

There was a park nearby. Brianna had played there as a child. Brianna and Powell. Powell would usually be there every night when they were little kids, since Powell had lived right next to the park and everything. Brianna would go there looking for Powell almost every night too.

Sometimes Powell was the only one who Brianna would have to play with when they were kids. She hadn't ever forgotten that.

Brianna had been a little lonely, but her stepfather had insisted that she only play with the right kids, from the right families. That had been very important for her development. She had always had just the right friends.

Brandt and Powell were the nicest ones.

Brianna had almost forgotten that. What it was like to be lonely as a kid. Banks and Bethany had had far more friends than she had ever had. They had been allowed to, she hadn't. Her stepfather had said she had knocks against her in that regard, since she wasn't his and everything.

It was just after four. There were other children around this neighborhood somewhere. Schools got out around three-thirty, right? Brianna saw them all the time, cluttering up the streets. Yelling and running around, chasing balls of some sort. Or riding bikes. That kind of thing.

That Hughes Heights was a family neighborhood was one of the things they pointed out to prospective homeowners, after all. A safe, family neighborhood.

Filled with the right kind of people.

Well, except for the Colesons anyway. They were the Hughes Heights' exceptions to quality, after all.

And…the park was right next to the Barratts' home. She could see if Mac or Alex or Brandt were there. Or Powell. She'd really prefer Powell. Sometimes, Brianna just needed to be with another woman. One who didn't really feel threatened by Brianna or anything.

Powell's mother might be there. She would know what to do with a kid to keep her entertained. Brianna was angry with Timothy for just dropping this kid off on her, no denying that. She was also kind of angry with Jack too.

He'd been a total butthead to her since she'd gotten stuck with her little sister. Maybe Powell would have some ideas on how to deal with Jack. Powell knew a bunch of the Major Crimes guys really well.

She just wished she could vent to someone about Timothy too. But that wasn't going to happen.

She wasn't certain she bought the idea that he was busy. Yes, he was an anesthesiologist who worked for Claireson Pharm in research and development now that he didn't work for County any longer. He'd worked part time for Claireson for decades, as a consultant. But since Banks's death, Timothy had quit his position at the hospital and just worked for Claireson. Timothy was very busy.

But Timothy surely had time for his daughter?

Then again, he hadn't had any time for Brianna until after her stepfather had died. It was almost like Timothy hadn't wanted to fight against him. Not even for Brianna.

Or maybe Timothy just didn't want his offspring when they were children? Children were a lot of work, after all. Leena definitely was.

That was probably it.

No real surprise. No man had ever really wanted to fight for Brianna. They just didn't. Even Jack. He'd punched Joey after he'd found the two of them fooling around together that night, but that was all. Then he had looked at her and…laughed. Promised he'd punish her later and everything. Joey was dead now. He'd been killed by that Kimball guy. Brianna still didn't know how she felt about that. "Come on, brat. I'll take you to the park. But if you tell anyone that I am your older sister and not…" Brianna thought for a moment. "I am your godmother, okay? That's what we'll tell people. You are Leena…what is your last name again?"

Leena told her. It wasn't Timothy's last name, so that was good. Brianna didn't know why it wasn't Timothy's, but, that worked, right? "Okay, I am your godmother, you are Leena whatever. Your mom is my friend from years ago. You are staying with me over spring break because…"

"She's on her honeymoon with a really hot guy and you got stuck with her brat kid?" She grinned at Brianna.

Brianna couldn't help herself. She laughed. The kid could be kind of funny, even if she was really little. "Something like that. You have one hour to play while I sit there and pretend to actually like you."

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you!"

The kid threw her arms around Brianna's waist and hugged her. Brianna surprised herself when she hugged Leena right back.

Maybe having a little sister wasn't that bad, after all.