“Umm, maybe. I mean, I should be there. My schedule can be a little unpredictable.”
“Oh honey, don’t I know it.” Charlotte waved her hand at me. “Having kids is pure chaos. Here, give me your number. I’ll text you if I’m going to be at Young Wills.”
“It’s 555-1027.” Leah volunteered from beside me using her phone number superpower.
“Got it.” Charlotte nodded, looking down at her phone. “There. I just texted you, so you should have mine, too. It was so nice to meet you, Polly. You ladies have a great workout!” Charlotte waved as she walked out of the studio.
A text appeared on my phone from Charlotte, and I looked between Rose, Leah, and the ladies on the floor stretching. “What just happened here?”
Leah merely shrugged. “Charlotte’s good people. She’s a great friend to have in your corner.”
“You’re gonna love her.” Rose nodded vigorously before returning to the floor to stretch.
I surveyed the group of women in various stages of stretching around me. “Is this what having real friends is like?”
Leah smirked. “Welcome to the other side.”
Charlotte was right about one thing; the class was one of the best workouts I’d ever had. It took me out of my comfort zone, but once I got the hang of it, I felt empowered and strong. I was definitely going back. I’d also resolved to tell Jace about my reading hobby tonight, before I lost my nerve. If I wanted whatever this was between Jace and I to be different than my marriage, I had to start out with honesty.
As I drove down the road toward home, I decided to roll my window down to let the breeze in. After all, the sun was shining, my audiobook was blaring, and I was going home to two kids I adored and a man that had the stamina of a twenty-four-year-old. After one deep lungful of air, however, I realized it was humid AF and Tennessee had bugs close to the size of my eyeballs, so I shut the window and turned the AC back on.
Aaaahh, sixty-degree, max-cold bliss.
Walking into the house, I could instantly tell that something was wrong. The lights were off, there was a low din from the TV, a bucket and mop sat next to the sink, and the smell was off.
In the living room, Jace held up a finger to his mouth. Ryla was asleep under a fleece blanket on the couch, her head on Jace’s lap. There was a large bowl on the floor beside her.
“She threw up an hour ago.” Jace whispered. “She was able to take a small sip of water and keep it down. She fell asleep about ten minutes ago.” He saw me glance toward the stairs and added, “Max is fine. A sympathetic puker, so I’m told, so he’s been staying upstairs.”
I knelt down next to Ryla, holding the back of my hand to her warm forehead. “Poor thing. I’m glad to hear Max feels ok.” I pulled out my phone. “I didn’t get any texts.”
Jace shook his head. “I didn’t text you. I didn’t want to bother you. I knew you’d be home soon, and we had it under control. She’ll be happy you’re here when she wakes up. She’s been asking when you were coming home about every other minute until she fell asleep. ‘When’s Mom coming home? Mom makes everything feel better,’ she was saying.”
“Really?” I asked, tears unexpectantly pricking behind my eyes as I brushed her hair back from her pale forehead.
“Yep. Hasn’t mentioned Giselle once. Only you.”
I nodded, the lump in my throat making it hard to talk.
“Mom?” Our attention snapped to Max, who was behind us on the stairs, incredibly pale. “I think I might?—”
And then he threw up all over the stairs.
CHAPTERFORTY-TWO
POLLY
You tell me that magic is just desire made real. Maybe spells are nothing more than words that you believe with all of your heart.
Deborah Harkness,Shadow of Night: All Souls Trilogy Book 2
The next several days were filled with sleepless nights as my kids took turns vomiting and having diarrhea. Thank God for Jace, who stayed up with me when the kids got sick at least once per hour that first night . He ran to the store for Gatorade and saltines without question and at one point called Sam who dropped off an industrial strength carpet cleaner. Thankfully, neither Jace nor I got sick. Plus, I got to miss Sunday brunch with my father, so it was a ‘you win some, you lose some’ kind of situation.
On Tuesday night, Jace came home to see us all snuggled under blankets in the theater room. He carried a large basket from Sienna and Rae, packed to the brim with cookies, wrapped loaves of bread, and a cryptic note tied to a bundle of sausages.
By Wednesday morning, the kids seemed back to normal. I was exhausted but felt marginally better after a full night’s sleep—even though I was a little disappointed I was in my bed all alone.
I was a lot disappointed I was alone.
