She ignored them. She wanted to be alone to wallow in her self-induced misery.
The three of them wandered into the living room, saw her wrapped up on the couch like a human burrito, and stood over her.
“This is bad,” Sirena said, staring down at her.
“I told you she was in love with him,” Sylvie replied.
“I don’t think she’s showered since the last time I saw her,” Devorah stated.
They were talking about her like she wasn’t even in the room. Any other time, it would have pissed her off, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes, much less say anything.
Her sister’s footsteps retreated, and she relaxed into the sofa.
She should have known better though.
“One, two, three.”
Before she could turn her head and ask them what in the hell they were doing, her sisters lifted the back side of the couch and rolled her onto the floor.
Astra couldn’t even break her fall because her arms were tightly wrapped in her blanket. She hit the floor and air whooshed out of her lungs.
It took her a few seconds to untangle herself from the blanket, but she jumped to her feet and whirled to face the three witches behind her couch.
“What the fuck?” she yelled, glaring at them.
“It erupts,” Devorah said calmly.
“What the fuck?” Astra repeated.
“Since you’re up, come have some brunch,” Sirena said. “Claudia made you a quiche and Sylvie and I brought stuff for mimosas and Bloody Mary’s.”
Astra stared as her sisters filed out of the living room and into the kitchen area. After a moment, she followed.
The three women worked together, putting the quiche in the oven to warm, opening a container of strawberries, and preparing a green salad. She sat at the bar and watched as Sylvie finished with the strawberries and began mixing up a pitcher of Bloody Mary’s and another pitcher of mimosas.
None of them said anything else until the food and drinks were ready and they were all seated around her small kitchen table.
It was Devorah who broke the silence.
“What happened?” she said.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Astra answered.
“I don’t give a shit. Tell me.”
Three pairs of eyes, so much like their mother’s, locked on her.
“I told Rune that I wanted him to make an excuse not to come to dinner on Saturday. He said he wouldn’t begin his relationship with my parents by lying to them. He never came right out and said it, but it was clear that he thought I was a coward.” She paused. “And he was right. I am a coward.”
“You’re not a coward,” Sylvie argued, surprising her. “You’ve never been in love before. It’s scary as hell the first time.”
“I’m forty-five years old,” Astra moaned, dropping her head in her hands. “I shouldn’t be afraid to introduce a man to my parents, afraid that they’ll scare him away.”
“Maybe if you weren’t head over heels for him, it wouldn’t. And maybe if you weren’t so close to Mom and Dad it would be different, too. But we work together. We see each other almost every day. They’re a huge part of your life. It’s going to matter.”
“I don’t know what to do,” she said.
“How badly do you want him?” Sirena asked.
