Page 26 of Racing Hearts

When Sierra looked back at her sister, Sienna had a shit-eating grin on her face. “Wow. She’s even prettier in person, isn’t she?”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Sierra lied.

“Are you sure about that?” Sienna gestured toward her face. “Because, you’ve got a little drool right there.”

Sierra quickly wiped beside her mouth. “That’s not… it’s from…”

Her sister burst into laughter. “I was messing with you, but thanks for that. You proved my point.”

Sierra didn’t know exactly whatpointSienna was trying to prove and she didn’t want to know. “I have to go talk to my coach, but I’ll go over to the bleachers to say hi to everyone once I’m done.”

“Have fun.” Sienna’s tone and the smirk on her face told Sierra she wasn’t telling her to have fun talking to their coach.

“Whatever,” Sierra mumbled before walking away. Whatever her sister thought she saw between her and Ellie was complete and utter bullshit. There wasnothingbetween them. Not even friendship.

Sierra joined the rest of the 400 runners that were gathered around her coach. “Wow. I’m in awe of every single one of you girls,” the coach told them. “I just wanted to let you know that. Fin Squared—the two of you dominated that top heat. You were racing against a bunch of D2 athletes and left them all in your dust. Juniper and Kate—you two did amazing from your heat as well. Those times are faster than any of you have ever run at the first meet of the season. Now, get some water and relax until it’s time to start warming up for the 200.”

Sierra nodded, then headed toward the bleachers where her family was sitting. For a moment, she was tempted to turn around and congratulate Ellie on a great race, but she was sure Juniper was glued to her side and didn’t want to deal with her dirty looks.

A wide grin spread across Sierra’s face when she spotted her family sitting in the bleachers. Looking at them all sitting together, no one would guess they were family. Sierra’s mom had long auburn hair and hazel eyes, while her mama’s hair was dark brown. Her eyes were blue like Sierra and Sienna, but the shade was so different, it was obvious they hadn’t gotten them from her. Harrison had lighter brown hair that was so curly, he still hadn’t figured out how to style it even at age twenty-eight. Then there was her Uncle Mateo and Aunt Candace. Her uncle’s head was currently shaved, which her mom had joked was because it was the only way for him to hide how gray it was. He couldn’t hide the gray from his long brown beard, which Sierra’s aunt refused to let him get rid of. People often figured Sierra’s Aunt Candace was her and Sienna’s mom since she had the matching blonde hair and blue eyes, but just like the rest of them, there was no blood relation. Sierra’s family was the literal poster-family for foster care and adoption, and she felt so blessed that this bunch had been brought together.

Her mom was the first one to notice her and she jumped up from her seat and waved her arms like a crazy woman. The rest of her family soon joined in, and if Sierra was the type to be embarrassed of her family, they definitely would have embarrassed her at that moment. No matter how they acted, though, Sierra couldn’t possibly be embarrassed. She was happy to be surrounded by so much love since she knew that wasn’t the case for everyone who was put up for adoption at a young age.

“That was amazing!” her mama said as she wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Don’t get too close,” Sienna warned. “She smells like garbage that’s been left out in the sun.”

Sierra’s mama pulled out of the hug and playfully slapped Sienna’s arm. “Be nice to your sister.”

Sienna shrugged. “I’m just being honest. All of you are much too nice for that.”

Aunt Candace put an arm around Sierra and squeezed her in close. “I’m not nice at all, and I think she smells fine.”

Her uncle Mateo raised his hand. “I can definitely confirm that she’s not nice.”

After recovering from being slapped in the stomach by his wife, he gave Sierra a hug as well, followed by her mom and brother.

“How’s my favorite little bean doing?” Sierra asked her brother.

She was surprised he came all the way to her meet, given that his wife was currently eight months pregnant and could pop at any time. “Little bean and his mommy are doing great. Mel is spending the day with her bestie, so she doesn’t even miss me. With that being said, I will have to leave as soon as your last race ends. With the way her hormones are, she can change moods very fast.”

Uncle Mateo pointed to Harrison. “We came with him, so we’ll be leaving at the same time. I’ve been trying to convince your moms that you all should head out tonight too. They are calling for a big storm tomorrow.”

Sierra’s mom rolled her eyes. “I’m sure the last thing Sierra wants to do after her first college track meet is ride in the car for four and a half hours. I’m sure we’ll be fine if we leave first thing in the morning.”

“Plus, it’s all bullshit,” her mama added. “It hasn’t snowed in December for years. I don’t believe that we’re suddenly going to get some big blizzard.”

“Suit yourselves,” Aunt Candace said as she wrapped her arm around Uncle Mateo. “We’ll be happy to say ‘We told you so’ when you’re stuck here tomorrow.”

Sierra didn’t care if she got stuck somewhere. All that mattered was she was with her favorite people in the whole world and finally felt at home again.

Chapter 13

Ellie

Ellie wasn’t bothered when she took fourth place in the 200 and Sierra took second. She had always been weaker in the 200, so she didn’t care about it nearly as much as she cared about the 400 or the relay.

What did bother her was the fact that she still hadn’t had the chance to congratulate Sierra on what a good day she was having. Between cheering on her teammates, making sure her best friend was okay, and spending time with her family, there was no time to talk to Sierra. It didn’t help that she had a whole fan club at the meet, and she was spending most of her time with them.

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