“Oh, shoot. I’m sorry.” I eyed her lumpy form under the covers, wanting to help. “I should tell Miss Alice. Need anything from the kitchen while I’m there?”
I took her moan into her pillow as a resounding no.
Walking over to Morgan and Angela’s door, I knocked a few times, but they went unanswered.
I called out, “Are you two alive in there? Izzy said you all got sick. Just checking if you needed anything?”
A loud groan came from the room, but I couldn’t tell who it belonged to.
“Okay, I’m taking that as proof of life!” Another groan. “Feel better. I’ll check in on you later.”
I returned to the kitchen to hunt Miss Alice, but I didn’t find her. Since he’d be the next best person to notify of a potential food poisoning outbreak, I went in search of Kingston instead.
He sat at his desk in his office, holding a familiar book.
“You’re finally reading it?”
He lifted his head, smiling when he saw me standing there, and nodded before closingThe Princess Brideand setting it aside. “It felt like time.”
I smiled, walking over to his chair. “I hate to be the one to burst your small moment of peace, but we have a problem…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Izzy, Morgan, and Angela are all in their rooms. Sick with food poisoning, from the sounds of it.”
Kingston pressed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he forced a tight smile. “I’ll handle it. Are they alright?”
“Miserable, but they’ll survive.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear the latter. I’ll see what I can do about the former. Do you feel alright?”
I nodded. “Now that I think about it, I skipped breakfast and lunch with the girls yesterday. I’m not sure if that helps narrow down your search for what caused it, but it might.”
“Thank you, love. I’ll take care of it. You go through your lessons with whoever isn’t sick and use the free periods to work on your clues. I’ll be here if you need anything.”
With a quick kiss, he sent me on my way, and while my distraction over the girls had offered a reprieve from my thoughts over my interaction with Max, I couldn’t avoid them when I walked back into the hallway.
His strained voice came from down the hall, like he was trying to stay quiet but his temper had flared.
I hesitated, my footsteps stuttering along the carpet before I gritted my teeth and stalked forward.
As much as I needed to focus on my lessons and clues, if my chance to find out what was going on with him was down that hall, I refused to miss it.
“They’re growing uneasy, Maxwell.”
“That’s not my problem,Dad.”
Unable to hear what Merle said next, I stepped closer to the bedroom. They were inside the larger of the two rooms where I’d met Morty.
Max growled, and a chair squeaked. “No.”
I jolted backward, not wanting to be found lurking in the hallway like I had once already, but before I ran away, Morty’s muffled voice followed, as if manifested by my thoughts.
It dripped with glee. “Victoria suggested an alternative option. Perhaps her booMaxiewill be more open to that?”
“Don’t fucking call me that.”
“Why not? Everyone keeps calling me Morty.”
