Chapter 6 - Kayla
The girls climb into their chairs at the dinner table.
Kelsey, interestingly, always chooses to sit next to Josiah. She does so as though it has no meaning, and she doesn’t pay him any extra attention. But she seems to like sitting near him.
She does the same thing in the living room. She’ll choose the seat on the sofa next to him with a small gap between them, so they aren’t touching, but she’s close.
I imagine his stoic seriousness connects with hers in some way. Kira is a ball of energy and mischief, while Kelsey is reserved and observant. She is very much like her father in so many ways. And Kira reminds me of me—before I was broken by the world,by him.
“Girls, did you wash your hands?” Stella asks, coming into the dining room to double-check.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat with us?” I ask. I ask the same thing every night, and she always declines.
“Roger has asked to join me for dinner,” she informs me. She says it as though it means nothing, but Stella and the chef have been getting on very well since we moved in. I think they’ve had dinner together almost every night. I often hear their laughter coming from somewhere in the mansion, and I rather enjoy how happy she looks.
Even now, her cheeks are glowing. I grin, realizing she’s put a little blusher on. I’ve never seen Stella wear makeup.
“You look lovely,” I tell her with a soft smile.
She grins and brushes her hands over her skirt.
“Do you need me to run them a bath after dinner?” she asks.
“No, I’ll sort them out. But I do need a little help in the morning. I want to stop by the store, and I think they'll both be bored if I drag them with, so if you don’t mind looking after them for a few hours?”
“Of course, it’s no problem at all,” she smiles. “Have a lovely evening. I’ll see you two monsters in the morning,” she winks at the twins, then disappears through the doorway.
“Does Stella have a boyfriend?” Kira blurts out as I take a sip of my drink.
I laugh so hard I choke and it takes me a moment before I can answer.
“Child, you really are an observant little mushroom, aren’t you?” I tease.
“What is a observe ant? Why am I a mushroom? Can I have more cheese sprinkles?”
She leans over the table to reach for the bowl of grated cheese to top her spaghetti, but Josiah stands to do it for her.
“This much?” he asks, throwing three tiny threads of cheese on.
“Noooo,” Kira says with indignant horror. “A lot more! It must look like all of this is only cheese,” she declares.
“Like this?” he asks, grinning as he sprinkles a few more shreds of cheese.
I look down to hide my smile.
“Joz!” she scolds him, using the nickname she chose for him a few days ago after giving up trying to say his name right.
“She wants the whole bowl of cheese,” Kelsey explains, looking up at Josiah with wide eyes.
“Oh, silly me,” Josiah says. Reaching over to pick up Kira’s bowl of spaghetti, he replaces it with the entire bowl of grated cheese.
He sits down again and pretends as though this is the norm.
Kelsey starts giggling. Kira picks up her fork and grins. “Perfect!” she exclaims, and sticks her fork into the cheese to take a massive bite.
Josiah is laughing, and for a moment—just the smallest moment—my heart soars as the sound of that laughter, so genuine, so deep, vibrates through me and reminds me of how it used to feel to be loved by him.
But as reality kicks in, my throat tightens, and I swallow hard, forcing the emotions from my body before they can turn painful.
