“You could since you seem so keen on it.”
“Then who’s going to take care of Lanie?” she asked.
“Umm, me.”
“I think it would be better if you took it to her,” she said.
“What exactly are you trying to do here Tanya?” I asked, my voice laced with annoyance.
“You should take her your chili. That stuff is the best. I’ve already got some venison that has fully defrosted in the fridge.”
“I’m not taking chili to Amanda,” I said.
“Please?”
I whipped my head around at the sound of Lanie’s voice as she stood in the hallway holding her blanket.
“What are you doing up?” I asked.
“Go see Amana! Please?” she said, not quite able to pronounce Amanda’s name correctly.
“Sweetheart, Amanda isn’t feeling well,” I said.
“Food! Amana!”
“I think she’s onto something,” Tanya said.
I eyed her darkly before I sighed. Lanie was looking up at me with her puppy dog eyes and giving me that little pouty lip. Tears were welling in her tired eyes as she ran over and wrapped her arm around my leg. She nuzzled her nose into me, wiping away the snot from her fake tears as she snuggled into my jeans.
“Please?” she asked lightly.
I knew I couldn’t refuse a heartfelt plea like that. Hell, I couldn’t refuse Lanie much at all. Over the past year, I’d watched Lanie grow. I’d watched her blossom into a little social butterfly, and part of me hoped she would always stay that way. Just because I enjoyed being reclusive didn’t mean she had to be as well. But that meant I would have to support and even encourage her interacting with others.
I guess we’d have to start with my new neighbor.
“Okay,” I said as I looked down at her. “But you have to take a nap. No nap, we don’t go over.”
“Yay!”
Lanie went dashing back down the hallway as Tanya followed her quickly. I could hear the two girls giggling as she bedded Lanie back down, and I sighed as I listened to the sound. She looked like her father in every sense of the word, but when she laughed, she sounded like her mother.
Holy hell, how I missed my sister.
I started working on my chili as Tanya picked up the cabin. She worked around me, her grin lurking in the corner of my eye. I had no idea what she was up to or why she was so hellbent on making this happen, but I knew there was a plan formulating in that brain of hers. It was what she did when she was bored. She could come up with the craziest of activities for her and Lanie to participate in.
And when she was stumped with Lanie, she always tried to meddle with me.
Usually, it was her coaxing me to take a night off. Go into town, get a drink, maybe meet someone and get a hotel room. She’d offer her services watching Lanie for free so I had no excuse, but I would always turn her down. She would try to get me to interact with people and get back out there, so to speak, but I would balk and tell her I wasn’t interested.
So, why hadn’t I done that now?
The chili was cooked, Lanie was awake, and Tanya was about to leave for the night. She offered to keep Lanie one last time before I sent her away, then I packed up the chili and held Lanie’s hand. We walked up to Amanda’s cabin, and I was shocked to see the lights on.
Electricity was running through the rundown cabin, and it hadn’t burst into flames yet.
We walked up the rickety porch, and I could see the splinters popping up from the wood. It was a shame that this cabin hadn’t been treated with better care. The types of wood this home had been built with were sturdy. By the looks of it, the porch could still be salvaged. It needed to be sanded out, treated, and sealed, but if there were no foundational issues, it could be saved.
I shook the thought from my head as Lanie knocked her little fist against the door.