Page 125 of Double Daddies
“No. Not that one. Your datebook from your purse.”
She meets my eyes then, her mouth open, her expression turns indignant. “I mean, I will, but what’s with the interrogation, Ben?”
“Maybe I just need some practice,” I say wryly.
Cami makes a face at me and takes another bite of sausage, chewing thoughtfully. She’s waiting for me to give up, but she’s out of luck. I can wait with the best of them.
“Did you hear what he said, Camille? Datebook, please.” Ryle makes “please” sound an awfully lot likenow.
She jolts toward Ryle, her eyes wide and betrayed. “Could I just?—”
“No,” we answer in unison.
“But—”
“Listen to your Daddies, Little girl,” Ryle cuts her off.
Cami gets up with a huff, and once her back is turned, we trade amused looks. That amusement fades the moment she drops the datebook on the table in front of me. I can tell with the way she’s shifting foot to foot and her growing agitation what I will find.
“Do I need to open this, or would you like to tell me what happened?”
She doesn’t answer except to drop her eyes to the ground.
“Why would you lie?”
“I didn’t lie,” she protests. “I mean, not exactly.”
I look over at Ryle to see him looking very stern and serious as he looks at our back-tracking girl. "What does that mean?”
She swallows hard and looks at me with tearful eyes. “I forgot. Helen asked if I could cover a shift for her, and I said yes because I forgot about the appointment. I remembered an hour before I was supposed to be there, but I couldn't go because I was at work.”
Ryle clears his throat and I glance at him, then back to Cami.
“So why wouldn’t you just say that?”
“Because… I didn’t want to get in trouble.”
She sounds so pitiful, under normal circumstances, I would feel sorry for her. But these are far from normal. “I think you’ve been long overdue for being in trouble,” I say.
Her eyes widen. “But?—”
“No. Not buts,” I cut her off. I turn to Ryle, unsurprised to find him looking back at me. “I think it’s time.”
Ryle
“I think it’s time,” Ben announces, his voice quiet but determined.
“Time for what?” I ask, puzzled.
“Time to show you what happens when our Little girl gets herself in trouble.”
I glance at Cami and see the dread that changes her features.
“We have rules,” Ben continues. “Rules that are for Cami’s safety. And when she breaks them, she earns herself a punishment.”
I arch my brows. “Such as?”
“It depends. Sometimes she gets put in timeout.” He nods at the corner, case in point. “Sometimes she gets grounded.”
