Page 34 of Racing Hearts

“That’s so cool!” Ellie said.

“Our moms are both super passionate about foster care since they both grew up in the system. Our mom was eventually adopted, but our mama never was.” Sierra wanted to keep talking about it, because Ellie was hanging on her every word. Even though she shouldn’t, she liked the feeling of having Ellie’s undivided attention.

Unfortunately, her sister cut in, stealing Ellie’s attention away. “Which brings me back to how I know for a fact that mama was wild.” Sienna broke into full theatrical mode, the same way she always did when she told a story. Her eyes were wide, and her hands moved all around as she spoke. “I bought a copy of the memoir she wrote about her life, because I was curious. Once I got to her twenties, I had to stop. It was even too much for me to handle, which you know is saying a lot. She—”

Sierra put up a hand to stop her sister. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“Aw, come on. Really?” Sienna asked. “Don’t ruin the fun.”

“Sometimes it’s better to let stuff be,” Ellie said. “I think it’s for the bestnotto know some stuff about our parents. I learned that the hard way.”

Sienna sat up straighter. “Oh, tell me more.”

Much to Sierra’s surprise, Ellie walked over to the bed and sat down close beside her, making it hard for Sierra to breathe. “When I was in middle school, I thought it would be funto snoop through my moms’ room. I was wrong. I found these lists…”

Ellie’s voice drifted off, but Sierra could tell by the intrigue written all over her sister’s face that Sienna wouldn’t let her get away with not giving them more details. She wasn’t wrong. “And…” Sienna prompted after a few seconds.

Ellie cringed. “The first one was a sex syllabus, all about having sex with women. My mom’s name was listed as theprofessor.” Ellie made a gagging motion. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, the other one was afucket list.”

“A fucket list?” Sienna laughed. “Like a bucket list of sex?”

Ellie nodded, her face twisting into a look of disgust. “Yep. I dropped those papers like they were on fire and never snooped around again. I could barely look at my moms for the next week.”

Sienna wiggled back and forth on the bed as she broke into a fit of giggles. “Okay. You’re right. That’s awful. Maybe I should set the book on fire. Just to be safe.”

Ellie laughed along with Sienna. “It’s probably for the best, honestly.”

Sierra watched the women on both sides of her and wondered why it was so easy for them. Every conversation between Sierra and Ellie was charged and awkward and normally went to shit within a few minutes. Sienna and Ellie barely knew each other, and they were already talking as if they were old friends.

Sienna caught Sierra’s eye and studied her for a moment before doing a dramatic stretch and yawn. “You know what? I could use a little rest. Do you two mind going somewhere else to talk so I can take a nap? My ankle is killing me.”

It was obvious to Sierra what Sienna was up to, but the way Ellie looked down toward Sienna’s ankle with concernwritten all over her face, told Sierra she hadn’t caught on. “Are you okay? Do you need my mom to come take another look at it?”

Sienna waved her hand. “I’m fine. I just need some peace and quiet.”

“Of course.” Ellie nodded and stood from the bed. As soon as she was standing, her eyes moved right to Sierra. “Do you want to rest too? If not, I can give you a tour of the house.”

For some reason, getting a tour of Ellie’s house that was led by Ellie seemed like the greatest thing in the world at that moment. There was nothing Sierra wanted to do more. But, that sent warning bells off in her head. She needed to be careful. Ellie seemed harmless, and it was obvious she wanted to make things right between them, but no one had made Sierra feel this way since Teresa. She and Teresa had a much better start, and everything still went to complete shit for them. Sierra couldn’t let another pretty face tear her world apart.

“I think I could actually use a nap, too. Thank you, though.”

The disappointment was obvious on Ellie’s face, and it made Sierra want to tell her she had changed her mind. Instead, she let Ellie leave without another word.

Sienna didn’t say anything as she crawled underneath the comforter and Sierra did the same. Sienna rolled onto her side, and after a minute of complete silence, Sierra figured she must have actually fallen asleep.

Sierra figured Sienna was having a dream when she heard her mumble something under her breath. That was until she registered the words her sister had said. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

Instead of actually napping, Sierra stared up at the ceiling and wondered if her sister was right.

Chapter 17

Ellie

When Ellie woke up the next day, she was happy to find that the snow hadn’t let up at all. She took out her phone and discovered that they had over a foot already and even more was expected. There was a warning out that people shouldn’t be on the roads unless they absolutely had to be.

Ellie looked out of her window toward the driveway. Even if Sierra’s moms decided to try to drive in this for whatever reason, they would have to dig their car out first, which looked like it would take hours.

Ellie was still struggling to figure Sierra out. Any time she felt like they might be making some progress, Sierra pulled away from her. It happened after they got to the house yesterday and then again after dinner when everyone stayed awake to play board games, but Sierra went to bed. Ellie knew it was an excuse to get away since she had already napped for hours before dinner. Sure, the track meet was tiring, but it wasn’tthattiring.

---