Page 35 of Love Me Not

I got out, shooting Marci a look.

“I’ll let you know if we decide to go,” I said.She nodded and motioned for me to go after Bella.

I rushed up the steps and into the house, but she was nowhere to be seen.I walked slowly into the living room, trying to see if she was hiding out anywhere, but still nothing.Getting a bit worried now, I beelined to her room, hovering outside when I found the door closed.

Maybe another nanny would just barge in, but not me.She had to come to me.I wouldn’t invade her privacy.

I should text Lux.But I stopped myself.I was supposed to be the person Bella trusted and the nanny Lux relied on.

I could figure this out myself.And I wanted them to trust me enough to.

“Bella?Are you in there?”There was no response.“Take your time.If you’d like, I’ll be waiting outside for you.I bought us some paint stuff!Maybe we could do it together?”

Silence.I’ll check back later.

I made good on my promise and headed outside, where I had left the canvas and painting supplies set up for us.Gina had also placed some lemonade and Bella’s after-school snacks on the table.

I sat down and started to prep the paint and brushes.I knew at some point Bella would come out; I just didn't know when, so I wanted to make sure everything was ready for her.I had gotten us both some paint-by-numbers-type flower easels that should be easy enough without too much of a headache.

Before I was done readying her paintbrushes, I heard her shuffle her way to the sliding glass door.

She didn’t say anything, so I let her look over what I was doing.

“We can eat first or eat while we paint.What do you say?”I asked without looking at her.

“I can do both.”

I nodded.“Sure thing.Take a seat, little lady.”

I finally looked at her when she was walking up.The frown was etched into her face, making her look so much like her aunt.Technically, she should be doing her homework first, but she had just come from a full day at school—obviously not a good one—and I was giving her an escape.

Besides, homework would still be there later.Maybe it was because I didn't end up going to college, but I didn’t put too much emphasis on getting it done at a certain time.As long as it was done, that was all that mattered.

“It’s paint-by-number flowers,” I said.“I’m not a good painter, so I thought this would be easy enough for me.I heard you do it on your iPad, so maybe you can give me some pointers.”

I placed the food on a stool closer to her seat and easel so she could grab it when she wanted.She silently maneuvered herself onto the seat, her eyes scanning over the colors.

“Purple, please.”

I sent her a smile and dabbed a good bit of purple on the plate for her.She was looking over the numbers on the canvas, but I could tell that she was mapping it in her mind instead of trying to follow the actual assigned colors.I liked it.

She hesitantly grabbed some finger food before using the other hand to pick up a brush, dipping it in the paint.

“Do you like to paint?”I asked and followed suit, picking purple and matching it to the numbers.It was supposed to be pink, but I agreed with her that purple was prettier.

“It’s okay,” she muttered.

“I’ve never been that crafty,” I admitted.“I wanted to be, but I always messed it up, and my drawings never came out right.”

“I like watercolor,” she murmured, smearing her purple a bit too far.“It’s pretty.”

She let out a huff when she saw it went outside the lines, glaring at it as if that could correct it.

“It’s okay,” I whispered.“We can fix it later.”

She nodded and dipped her brush again, moving on to another purple section.This time, she tried to slow down her movements, but her wrist flicked out ever so slightly.

“The paint’s too thick,” she growled when she got it wrong again.

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