She laughed. “Sure.”
“And just to show you that I’m not trying to pawn off all this extra wine I have in the house, I’ll pick out something new.”
That got another laugh out of her. “Perfect. But I should say for the record that you’realwayswelcome to pawn off extra wine onto me.”
“Noted.”
She smiled. “Well, I’ll see you tonight, OK? Say, around six?”
“Six it is.”
“Good. I’ll take the secret entrance back if you don’t mind.”
With a wink, she turned and made her way to the gate, opening it and flashing one more smile over her shoulder before disappearing around the stone fence.
I stood there for a long while, a big, stupid smile on my face, already excited as hell about the evening ahead.
Chapter 14
PIPER
Iloved being a mom. Seriously, it was my favorite thing in the world.
But I hated dishing out punishments. If it were up to me, being a mom would be nothing but pizza parties and going to the dog park and ice cream and all the other fun things I loved to do with Mads. That wasn’t the reality of parenthood, however. Discipline was necessary not just to keep them well-behaved, but to keep them safe.
So, with a belly full of tension, I went back into my house. Once there, I headed up the stairs and straight to Maddie’s room. The door was open, and she was seated on her bed with Fuzzy, one of her many stuffed dogs. She was playing with him half-heartedly, as if trying to distract herself from the current situation.
I felt bad for her, but I knew I needed to stay firm. Although it was tempting to give in to how I felt and go easy on the kid, that wouldn’t do either of us any good.
She looked up at me as I entered. God, she looked so much like Valentino that it wasn’t even funny. Hehadto know. I pushed those thoughts out of my head, however, as I stepped into the room.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her.
“Bad. I did something wrong.”
“That’s right you did. And I’m glad you understand that. You really scared me, you know? Do you know how it made me feel to come out of the shower and see that you were gone?”
“Bad,” she repeated. “And scared, too.”
“You got it. Then, when I realized you were safe, you know what else I thought? I thought about how I asked you to do something, and you didn’t do it. You looked me right in the eye and said you were going to stay in the house while I took my shower but then went and did something that I’m pretty sure you knew was wrong. That’s not good.”
“I just wanted to play with Mick!”
“I know you did. But that’s not a good enough excuse. You didn’t have my permission to leave, and you didn’t have Dr. V.’s permission to go into his yard and play with Mick. You’re in a lot of trouble, miss.”
Her lower lip began to shake. I decided to pump the breaks and not come down on her too hard.
“I haven’t decided yet what your punishment’s going to be. But for now, you’re going to stay in your room until at least noon. And while you’re in here, you’re going to pick up your toys and put them in the toybox. I want this place super clean and neat
because we’re having company over tonight.”
“Who?” the sadness faded from her face, replaced with curiosity.
“Dr. V.”
The biggest smile I’d seen all day took hold, her eyes practically twinkling with excitement.
“He is? Can he bring Mick?”
