“He’s so ridiculous and sad.” She wiped tears from her cheeks. From laughter or sadness, she wasn’t sure. “An existential threat to my health and happiness, but sad.”
“Yeah,” Daisy agreed. “He is.”
“The saddest,” Nora said.
The public humiliation of David Nichols was something she could really get used to. She’d always been told not to embrace that part ofherself. But all the softness, all the sweetness and light and whatever else she had tried to portray for all these years, hadn’t kept her safe. It hadn’t made her more important to anyone than David was by virtue of the fact he was a man. So, for the first time in her entire life, she took that little ball of anger in her chest and kept it there. She was going to nurture it. Hold it close. It made her feel powerful.
In the midst of her pain, it was a bright, beautiful beacon.
And she could honestly say she’d never experienced that before.
Chapter Ten
Nora
Even when you don’t feel powerful, your magic is.
—Rules for Witches
Nora had messages from Ben when she woke up in the morning. She smiled at the screen and unlocked the phone. There were pictures of the views from the hike he and his group had gone on the day before. She hit the phone icon and dialed out.
He answered.
“Hi,” she said. “I just really miss you. I miss your voice. Tell me about everything.”
“Nora, hi.”
She heard him shifting something, and she tried to imagine what he was doing. He didn’t sound all that happy to hear from her. “I wanted to touch base.”
“I don’t think it’s a great idea for us to talk right now.”
The words stunned her. “What?”
“There’s a reason I’ve been sticking to text,” he said.
“I know, with the time difference and everything, it’s kind of tricky.” Except they were only three hours ahead. But there was a little bit involved in that.
“I left so I could have space. I didn’t want to ghost you or anything, and I like messaging with you. But ... I really need this time to myself.”
Words got jumbled up inside her, and she couldn’t sort through them, couldn’t figure out what to say to that. What about whatsheneeded?
She cleared her throat to buy herself a second. “You made it sound like you needed time to think.”
“I do.”
“About yourself.”
“About us too,” he said. “I’m not happy. Our relationship is a big part of that.”
His words were like a bullet ripping through her chest. “What?”
“I think if you recall our conversation before I left, I said that to you.”
“You didn’t. Not really.” Yes, there had been some criticisms of her, but he’d made it clear he needed some time away, and it had to do with him and where he was in his life. She was sure of that. Almost.
The maddening calm in his voice just about shattered her.
“Your mural looks great. Thanks for sending the pictures of your progress. I can’t wait to see it when I get back.”
