“I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you in high school. In particular, the day I screwed everything up.” For a moment, her lower lip trembled. She chewed on it until it stilled. “I was hurt and jealous. I wanted you to be, too.”
The waitress returned with the bill, giving me time to dig into my memory. Ethan had mentioned this, too. Something happened between us senior year.
Whatever it was, I didn’t remember. And I clearly wasn’t ready to.
“I forgive you, Lauren. I’d like us to be friends. Start fresh and build Magnolia Wellness into something even greater than it is now.”
“I’d like that too, Simone.” Her smile was one of pure relief.
We rose together. My words were slurred enough that I questionedhow many beers I’d drunk. But as we walked out, it wasn’t drunkenness that made my legs wobble and threw my balance off.
It was a deep-rooted fatigue. I was spent. I could not handle any more.
We said goodbye, and I stumbled home, trying to analyze what I was feeling. Mostly, clouded. Caught between the supernatural and what Ethan had called the mundane. I wanted to try and do everything I could to succeed at the Magnolia. I also wanted to go back to the life I was pretending still existed in New Orleans.
I didn’t feel capable of doing either.
I reached the back door to the Magnolia and climbed up the stairs. My hand was on the doorknob when the hair on my arm stood on end. I peered over the balcony, squinting at shadows in the fenced-in gardens. One of them moved.
The wolf stepped into a patch of light, meeting my eyes. I opened my mouth to speak. Found I had very little to say.
“I’m too tired to do this with you right now,” I told the wolf. Without waiting for a reply, I went inside and collapsed on the bed I now called mine.
CHAPTER 20
By Friday, part of me regretted accepting Brianne’s dinner invitation. I wanted to spend time with her outside the office, but my to-the-bone weariness refused to release its grip. For all my resolve to try and make the best of things, I still held back. A slew of canceled appointments hadn’t helped. And the patients who did show up got a distant, struggling version of me.
I’d managed a few more purposeful feats of magic during the week, and I clung to that lifeline as I left the house. It now sported fresh paint the color of a rising sun in winter, with green and ivory accents, as if it were a magnolia itself. The shutters were secured to the house, rather than balancing on rusty nails. And the flower beds, though bare, were packed with fresh soil and primed to bloom whatever House planted.
It was progress. Not enough, but a step in the right direction.
Brianne lived in a quaint suburban house on the edges of town. A pretty white porch stretched across the front of the house, with stairs leading up to the inviting red door directly in the center. Oversized windows on each side beckoned visitors into domestic heaven.
The two-story home was painted a deep shade of blue. Kids’ toys were scattered along the porch. Tiny, adorable pairs of glittery pink sandals graced the doormat. A second pair of larger tennis shoes rested on the rocker, as if they’d been thrown there on the way inside.
Before I had a chance to ring the bell, Brianne opened the door,welcoming me amidst the chaos of high-pitch squeals and laughter behind her.
“Sorry for the noise.” She hugged me close in the doorway, cooing over the bottle of wine I’d remembered at the last moment to bring. Well, House remembered and had it on a table by the door when I was leaving. “Nate got home late. The kids are over-excited to see him. Come in and meet the fam.”
I followed her inside, smiling at the heartwarming image her home created. Comfortably messy, with bold colors and mismatched furniture. Two kids, a girl no more than five and a boy I’d put around fifteen, wrestled their father as he wiggled and twisted to reach their best tickle spots. It was wholesome to witness, particularly as kids the boy’s age tended to be sullen and withdrawn.
I rubbed at the space in my heart where my pain over Gabe lived. Brianne bumped my shoulder, almost as if she knew what I was thinking.
“All right, you animals, my new friend is here. Get off your dad and come meet Simone.”
With no small amount of reluctance, they crawled off their father’s back and trudged over obediently.
“Hey. I’m Nolan.” At fifteen, Brianne’s boy towered over her. Yet he stood behind her as if she could protect him from the world. Thin lips lifted into a crooked smile. His mama’s smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Nolan.” His awkward shyness was adorable, and I wondered if he realized what a handsome young man he was. His fair skin was pimple-free. Jet black hair flopped around on his head, and his small but intensely blue eyes gave you the feeling of being truly seen. He had the look of a high school heartthrob, and his shy aura likely made the teens swoon.
As soon as I acknowledged him, he disappeared, as if the mere act of introducing himself had taken all his effort. His sister, on the other hand, pushed right past her parents and marched over to me. She extended her hand to shake mine, and I knew immediately I was going to become this girl’s new aunt. Or snack bitch. Whatever she allowed.
“Hello, Miss Simone. I’m Natalie.” Her hair was a jumbled mess of blond knots landing below her round, adorable face. Large, curious eyes the same bright emerald shade as her mother’s looked up at me with unnerving wisdom. This little girl was five goingon eighty-five.
“Nice to meet you, Natalie. I’m Simone.” I shook her tiny hand. “I love your nail polish.”
“Thank you.” Her voice held an air of approval. I’d passed a test by commenting on the pink glitter adorning her fingers. “They match daddy’s.”
