Florentine's Hero by Debra Kayn

Author:Debra Kayn [Kayn, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781622669431
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2012-06-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Hours after Cole delivered Sarah to the ranch house for the sleep-over, Florentine stood in the living room waiting to wash the makeup off Sarah’s face. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the little girl for one minute. Sarah’s boundless energy, questions, and childlike curiosity delighted Florentine. The child simply entertained her.

“What’s that?” Sarah pointed at Bisette’s new ear monitor. She’d worn it all night to get used to the feel before her next concert.

Bisette pulled the wire out and patted the couch. “Hop up, and I’ll show you.”

Florentine had spent an hour letting Sarah discover all the makeup in the upstairs bathroom. To Sarah’s delight, she’d tried on everything from mascara to red lipstick. Florentine folded the wet washcloth in her hand and waited for Bisette to finish showing Sarah part of what she loved to do. Sometime tonight though, she’d have to convince Sarah she needed to wash her face. The last thing she needed was for Cole to see his daughter and decide Florentine was the bad influence he suspected she was.

“Do you know how to sing?” Bisette pushed Sarah’s long hair out of the way and slipped the ear monitor into place.

Sarah touched the side of her head. “Yeah, I know lots of–-” Her brows rose, and she giggled. “I can hear myself think. It’s doing it right now. Do you hear me?”

Florentine grinned and sat down on the floor, while Bisette explained how the piece of equipment helped her hear her own voice. Sarah belted out the beginning of “Oh, Susanna” at ear-deafening levels. Florentine clapped and tried not to laugh.

After Sarah tested out a few more songs, she returned the earpiece to Bisette. “Why do you hafta hear yourself sing?”

“Well, I sing for a living. Just like your dad raises cattle, I do something a little different and sing in front of a lot of people.” Bisette wound up the cord.

Sarah nodded. “Daddy’s a rancher. He’s got lots of cows and rides horses too.”

Florentine motioned her over. “We better wash all the makeup off before you go to bed.”

“I ain’t tired.” Sarah crossed her arms.

“Me neither, but we don’t want to get your pillowcase all stained with makeup, right?”

“I guess.” Sarah slid off the couch and crawled in front of Florentine. “Are the other girls gonna sleep in the living room, too?”

Florentine scrubbed Sarah’s face clean, being extra careful around her eyes, so the small amount of soap wouldn’t sting. “Mm…I think they’ll sleep in their rooms. Since my bed is a twin size, it’ll be easier for us to camp out here. I’ll take the recliner, and you can have the floor or the couch.”

“Okay.” Sarah scrunched her face and tried not to shrink away from the cold rag. “Done?”

“Almost.” She flipped the cloth inside out and gave Sarah one more quick wipe down. “There you go. I bet your dad will recognize you now.”

“Florentine?” Sarah sat down in front of her cross-legged. “Do you have kids?”

“No. Not yet, but I hope to when the time is right.

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