“Thanks, Ethan. You’ve been a really good friend through all of this.” I leaned in to him, wrapping my arms tight around his neck.
He pulled back to meet my eyes, so close to me his breath was warm on my face. The tears still cascading landed on my lips, and I licked the salt off. Ethan’s breath stopped. He inched forward, and in that inch, I forgot everything else existed.
He’d always been a good friend. Nothing more, right? Had I crushed on him in high school? I didn’t think so. But now, whether I was ready for it or not, something new was developing.
He was so close. He smelled sweet, like a crisp soda on a hot day. His mouth was right there. To hell with it. I moved in.
Only the racket of approaching voices from the hallway stopped us. I yanked myself away before our lips could meet, all but vaulting myself to the drink cart for water. When Brianne and Gumbo entered, Ethan pretended to straighten the divorce papers.
“Brianne, good thing you’re here.” His voice had a tremor I’d never heard before. “We’ll need you to be a witness.”
Thirty minutes later, I was officially divorced and poised at the end of the table. When Lauren walked in, Ethan fled to her, and the two giggled at the opposite side of the room. Something flared inside me. Jealousy? I couldn’t be sure, but it was a sensation I was not proud of.
Gumbo was asleep on my lap. I rubbed his chin, straightening his glossy black bow. He yawned and stretched, hopping onto the chair next to me when Brianne set a packet on the table.
“Ready for this?” She whispered as she placed the blank pages in front of me. I hadn’t provided any information for the meeting, which made me curious where the information came from. It was yet another factor on my long list of things to figure out.
In the meantime, I trusted Brianne. She seemed to keep a tight ship, and since I didn’t know what was broken, I wasn’t about to go around fixing things.
“As I’ll ever be,” I answered.
The Twins arrived at the same time, their steps in sync, identical looks of insolence on their flawless faces. The air shifted. Something like a bubble of joy burst in my chest. This time, I recognized it as a spell. With a single glare at Lydia, it disappeared. She shrugged like an innocent child.
It was going to take a lot of work to get them on my side.
“Right. Everyone’s ready.” Brianne gestured at the Twins. “Shall we get started?”
Like our first meeting, the clock I’d never actually seen began to chime.
“Lydia Langley, Division Head for Magnolia Medspa.” Lydia could not have looked or sounded more bored. She crossed her arms and placed both hands on the pages in front of her as if a water gun were pointed at her head.
The room lurched around me, the walls warping and extending in all four directions. Apparently their fae powers hadn’t messed with the room. This was House’s doing.
“Lyra Langley, Division Head for Magnolia Salon.” Lyra had all but been a ghost since I arrived. I’d forgotten her voice was a melody. She blew me a kiss then repeated the cross-arm gesture.
The table and our chairs, with us in them, rose from the floor to float in the center of the room. The clock chimed again.
“You got this, Simone.” Lauren whispered from her seat. Then, louder, she continued the ritual. “Lauren Whitaker, Division Head for Magnolia Physical Therapy.”
Maybe roller coasters weren’t that bad. The clock chimed. A strange, new sound followed. A kind of chirping, like a cricket hiding under acouch.
“Ethan Mosely, Lawyer pro tem for Magnolia Therapy and Wellness.”
“Brianne Steele, Operations Manager for Magnolia Therapy and Wellness.”
Gong. Chirp. Gong chirp.
“Gumbo. Ancient Archiver and Mystical Protector of Magnolia Therapy and Wellness.” This time, Gumbodidsound ancient. Like a wise lion, I half expected him to hold his next-of-kin overhead and sing.
My pants vibrated. Why were my pants vibrating?
Around the table, a sea of faces I’d mostly gotten to know over the past thirty days stared at me with expectant expressions. I could see in them the beginnings of a new family. A family that wasn’t without its struggles, but that would embrace me. A family that would celebrate my strengths and forgive my weaknesses.
If only my pants would stop vibrating.
“CC?” Ethan’s wolfish grin filled my vision. “I believe your phone is ringing.”
Oh. Duh. I fumbled my buzzing cell phone from my pocket. It wasn’t ringing. Instead, there were a series of text messages.
