She cackled. “Sounds like your job at the tea shop has gone to your head. I should come check it out.”
My heart skipped.
She leaned into the phone screen, eyes gleaming. “I’m serious. I could use a change of scenery. I’ve been waddling around the same five rooms for months, going to town for groceries and toys... If Celeste is going to be there, it would be perfect. I could come for a couple of days. Let the bump breathe fresh air. Maybe try knitting again. Thank that woman who told me I was pregnant.”
“Nova,” I said fondly.
“Yes, Nova. Oh, I love that woman,” she gushed. “So, what do you say?”
I sighed. “You know I can’t say no to you when you get that face.”
“You mean my radiant, swollen, glowing sphere of pregnancy face?”
“Exactly.”
We both went quiet for a moment.
Then she said, softer now, “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.”
“Let me come,” she said. “Even just for a weekend. I’ll bring chocolate, and you can bring whatever it is you’ve been bottling up in that complicated heart of yours.”
Tears pricked unexpectedly at the corners of my eyes. “I want that.”
“Then let’s make it happen.”
I nodded, even though my stomach twisted with equal parts excitement and dread. Skye, here? She’d bring laughter and grounded chaos. Celeste, too, with her quick wit and fierce independence.
But was Stonewick ready for that?
WasI?
And Gideon…
“I’ll check my schedule,” I said slowly. “Make sure it’s okay. That it’s the right time.”
She blew me a kiss and we said our goodbyes.
I wanted them here.
But if Gideon was still watching and if the shimmer hadn’t receded, I would need a plan. Shields. Layers of protection neither of them would ever know about.
I stood, brushing the creases from my skirt, and turned toward the corridor.
It was time to speak with Nova, Ardetia, and maybe even Grandma Elira.
Because if I was going to welcome my old life into this new one, I needed to make sure it didn’t come with a cost too great to bear.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The loft above the library was warm and quiet, lit by charmed, flameless lanterns.
It was where I went when things were too delicate for the main hall, but I needed a neutral space.
And this was one of those times. From the moment I spoke to Celeste and Skye, I’d been feeling nothing but turmoil. The conflict in me rattled every part of me.
Perhaps if I felt more solid in my magic, I wouldn’t be so worried about two people I cherished roaming around Stonewick while Gideon tampered with our Wards.
