267 LAYERS

"Mama?" "Yes,darling?" "I think someone's watching us." Now, that was something no parent ever wanted to hear from their five-year-old. Isabella paused and straightened from her position on the floor where she had been trying to put her shoes on. "Emerald? What did I say about trying to prank or scare mommy?" "It's not allowed," she muttered, and Isabella nodded. "Good, now let's finish getting ready. We are almost late for dinner." "But Mama, it's not a prank. I saw him at the beach and at the hotel, and yesterday, he was looking at us." "Honey, Corazon's almost done helping your brother get ready, but we haven't even done your hair. Can we talk about this later?" "Okies," Emerald promptly agreed, flashing her a smile identical to one of Luke's upside-down ones. She hadn't ultimately dismissed her words because she knew how persistent her daughter could be, so telling her they would talk about it later was better than telling her she didn't believe her. "Mama so piety," Emera