Light the Stars

Caroline sighed but set her crooked-looking pie on the countertop to cool.

Despite Natalie’s bossiness, she was a huge help when it came to following the boys’ usual bedtime routine. She even helped Caroline tightly wrap a plastic bag on Tanner’s hand so he could have a quick bath.

Her cooperative attitude disappeared quickly once the boys were tucked in their rooms, right around the time Caroline suggested it might be Natalie’s bedtime, since by then it was after eight.

“I don’t have a regular bedtime.” Natalie focused somewhere above Caroline’s left shoulder and refused to meet her gaze, a sure sign she was stretching the truth.

“Really?” Caroline asked doubtfully.

The girl shook her head, her disheveled hair swinging. “Nope. I just go to bed when I get tired. Like maybe ten, maybe eleven.”

“Hmm. Is that right?”

“Yeah. My grandma doesn’t care what time I go to bed. Neither does my dad. He’s usually out working anyway. Sometimes I even stay up and watch TV after he comes home and goes to bed.”

Natalie said this with a such a sincere expression that Caroline had to hide a smile. She wasn’t quite sure how to play this. She didn’t want to call the girl a liar. Their relationship was tenuous enough right now. Natalie had made it plain she didn’t like the way Caroline did anything, that she wanted her grandmother back. Caroline didn’t want to damage what little rapport she’d worked so hard to build all evening.

On the other hand, she certainly couldn’t allow the little girl to stay up all night for the sake of keeping the peace.

She pondered her options. “How about this?” she finally suggested. “I’ve got some great bath soap in my suitcase that smells delicious. You can use some while you take your bath and then I’ll let you stay up and watch TV until nine. Does that sound like a deal?”

Natalie agreed so readily that Caroline realized she’d been conned. She could only hope Quinn didn’t decide to take his new stepgrandaughter on as a protégé, the willing pupil he had always wanted. The partner in crime Caroline had always refused to become.