Late mornings had become my new favorite time of day. By then, I’d finished most of my big tasks. Everyone was still at home. No one made special requests for whatever I was not cooking. No one yelled from another floor asking where they’d left something they were probably standing next to. During those hours, the house was just…chill. Like the calm before a storm.
Josh had finally discovered the video game system I’d forgotten we owned and immediately made himself comfortable on the couch. I couldn’t remember the last time anybody had turned the thing on, but judging by how quickly he settled in, it had found its purpose again.
Logan, meanwhile, had decided we needed to do flashcards. I suggested toys. He brought me the flashcards. I suggested the racetrack. He put the flashcards in my lap. Apparently, playtime was for babies, and he required all knowledge immediately, almost like he sensed school and big boy things were right around the corner.
“Okay.” I held up a card with three colored blocks. “What color is this one?”
“Blue!”
“Good job. And this one?”
“Wed!”
“Look at you.”
He bounced in place, already reaching for the next card before I could put the first one down.
Desi hung around for a while, talking to Josh between rounds of his game and cheering loudly every time Logan got an answer right. Eventually, she announced she was going out to see some friends. I had a feeling she was mostly making the rounds to spread her news, but I was glad to see her social butterfly wings fluttering again. Everything lately had been Josh, Josh, Josh. It was good to see her making room for her friends again. I only hoped she’d be better than me at keeping up with hers.
By the time she came home, Josh had moved on to another game, and Logan had finally released me from academic duty. Desi dropped onto the couch beside me and immediately started telling me about her day.
I asked questions here and there, but I didn’t really care who she’d seen or what they’d done. I just liked hearing her voice. She talked with her whole body. Her hands moved almost as fast as her mouth, and every story came with side stories that somehow had their own side stories. I didn’t always know where we were going, but eventually, she found her way back to the point.
“So then we left there and went back to Savannah’s house—”
I looked at her. “You went to Savannah’s house?”
“Yeah. That’s where we hung out most of the time.”
I’d just seen Savannah and Stacy at Desi’s birthday party, so I knew they were alive, grown, and apparently doing well. But Desi had been to their home. For years, the entire point had been that I didn’t know where that was. Yasmine had disappeared because she needed to. When the girls became teenagers, she moved them one last time, cut contact with everyone, and erased as much of herself from the world as she could. The fewer people who knew where they were, the harder it would be for their donor to find them. I’d respected that and never looked for her—not that I would have, anyway. Still, now and then, I wondered whether it had worked. Now, suddenly, I had an avenue to get some answers. I let Desi keep talking.
Savannah was still living at home, but she planned to move to Sulani as soon as she saved enough money. She’d apparently already decided which island she wanted to live on and had started pricing furniture for an apartment she didn’t have yet. That sounded typical of early young adult life.
Stacy was still at home, too. She’d always been the quieter twin, so Desi didn’t have nearly as much to say about her. She was doing well, though. Working. Saving money. Mostly staying to herself. Simply hearing that put me at ease. They had made it to young adulthood undetected. Yasmine and her girls were still together, living ordinary lives and making ordinary plans. She had done it. Giving up her home, her friends, and everything familiar to keep those girls safe had worked.
I waited until Desi finished another story before slipping in my first question.
“So where do they live now?”
“Henford-on-Bagley.”
I blinked. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s nice out there.”
Nice—and unexpected. If I were a spellcaster searching for the family that had disappeared from Copperdale, I definitely wouldn’t think to look for them in the countryside. Not that it mattered anymore. Those delicate, stressful years were behind them. Whatever that psycho had intended to do, he’d never gotten the chance.
“How’s Yasmine doing?” I asked.
“Good, I guess.” Desi shrugged. “She doesn’t really talk to me much. She came in a few times to make sure we were all right, brought us snacks, and reminded Savannah about some stuff she needed to do.”
I nodded slowly. That tidbit was enough for me.
“I can tell her you asked about her next time I’m there,” she said.
“No.”
The answer came out faster than I intended. Desi looked at me.
“I’m glad they’re all doing well,” I said. “That’s all I wanted to know.”
She studied me for another second, then nodded. “Okay.”
Josh shouted at the television.
Desi turned toward him. “What happened?”
“This game cheated!”
“You lost?”
“I said it cheated.”
She laughed and got up to investigate, abandoning me on the couch. A moment later, Sophia took her place.
She watched Desi disappear into the living room and start offering Josh several opinions about everything he’d done wrong.
“I can’t believe she’ll be gone in a few days,” she said.
“Me neither.”
“My baby…” Her eyes followed Desi across the room. “She’s really a grown woman now.”
“Very grown.”
Sophia nodded solemnly. Then her mouth twitched, forming that cute little evil grin.
“And we’ll finally be the only adults in the house again.”
I stared at her before I started laughing. “You sound awfully excited for someone who was on the verge of tears three seconds ago.”
“I mean…”
“You’re so bad.”
“I’m not bad. I’ve been very well behaved.”
“I’m pretty sure the kids would disagree.”
Awkward or not, there was no way Desi and Josh’s shenanigans would stop us from loving each other.
“Do you know how many times I’ve decided not to pounce on you?” she asked. “I need my house back.”
“So what you’re saying is, we should just get rid of all the kids so you can enslave me in our bedroom.”
“Yes! Logan spends too much time in this house anyway. I’ll write to him from time to time so he doesn’t forget me.”
“You are super bad,” I said as I walked away.
There she was: the bold, saucy, funny woman I’d moved in with all those years ago. Life had weighed her down plenty, but it had never taken that from her. Her woohoo drive still put mine to shame. Once Desi and Josh were gone, I needed to start watching my back again.
