Chapter 4
At the foot of the stairs, movement caught my eye.
Stretched out in the lone patch of sun still peeking over the house was a patchwork cat with one ear missing.
Its stick-thin, ratty tail wrapped itself around its haunches.
His little claws were painted a bright shade of pink, and a fabulous bright blue bow adorned his neck.
“Gumbo!” At his name, the cat turned its head to survey me with two different colored eyes. I crouched down and extended one hand. “Hey, Kitty, remember me? Gosh I can’t believe you’re still around. You were old when I was a teenager!”
The cat sneezed, stood, and arched its back. Oops, I’d offended kitty.
“Aww, Gumbo, I’m so sorry if I offended you.
You look fantastic. I’m just thrilled to see you alive.
” Gumbo watched me a second longer, then sauntered past me to the door to the wellness center.
His tail brushed my leg which, for a cat, basically means you’re their best friend for life. Score one for Simone.
I wasn’t sure if Gumbo was allowed inside, but he walked straight in like he owned the place when I opened the door and turned right into a room I didn't remember seeing earlier in the day.
I followed him into what seemed to be a conference room, He hopped into one of the large corporate chairs surrounding a long, rectangular table.
“This must be the board room.” I moved to sit next to Gumbo, who was perched as if he were waiting for the meeting to start. Gumbo let out a quick hiss, glared at the head chair, then glared at me.
Huh. Gumbo was right. Technically, I was in charge now. I should sit at the head of the table. But would the people I’d never met before take it the wrong way? It was bad enough they suddenly had a new owner they’d never met. How would they feel about the power play?
“Meow.” Gumbo didn’t meow. Not exactly. Instead, it was like he said the word meow in a slightly high-pitched and effeminate voice.
“You’re right, Gumbo. It’s my seat.”
I’d no sooner settled myself in the seat than Brianne sauntered in carrying a stack of booklets.
She stopped short when she saw me, and I regretted my chair choice.
Yes, I was at the head of the table, but it was the head closest to the door.
I had to swivel and crane my neck to greet everyone who walked in.
Not exactly commanding.
“You’re here. Ooh, and you look great. I love that top on you! I trust you’re feeling better?” Brianne went over to the drink table that rested under the window on the far side of the room and returned with a fresh glass of ice water. “Unless you want caffeine?”
“No, actually, I don’t want to be jittery when I meet everyone.” And I’d just been thinking I needed water. How could she have known that? “Thanks. You know, if you show me around, I’m happy to get my own drinks. I don’t want you to feel like you have to wait on me or anything.”
“I don’t mind. I enjoy taking care of people.
” Her smile told me she meant it. “Wait to read that. Hiya, Gumbo, love the bow.” She tapped a finger on the spiral-bound booklet she’d set in front of me, then set one in front of each of the chairs, including the cat’s.
Gumbo peered at the paper, his eyes moving like he was reading it.
Which was odd, not just because a cat looked like it was reading, but because the papers were all blank. I flipped through each of the pages, angling them to see if the light picked up invisible ink or something. But no. Brianne was passing out binders of blank papers.
And things were about to get weirder.
Ethan’s deep chuckle floated down the hallway before he made it to the room.
On his arm was a woman I recognized right away.
Tall and slender, with an athletic tank and leggings, both in a bold blue accenting her impressive muscle tone.
Her platinum blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and eyes bluer than her clothes lifted as she smiled adoringly at Ethan.
Lauren Whitaker.
The head cheerleader in high school. Ethan’s girlfriend from freshman year through graduation. And a holy terror of a bully who’d belittled and mocked anyone not in the popular group. Including me.
I took a sip of my water to try to steel my nerves and ended up clanging the glass against my teeth because I was too busy looking at the girl I’d wanted to be instead of the thing in front of my face. I sputtered, water dribbling down my cheek, which is when they turned their attention to me.
“Simone, good to see you again. I trust you’re settling in upstairs?
” Ethan took my hand in both of his, swallowing it up.
He was warm and soothing. “You clean up well.” His thumb stroked my wrist for a hot second, and I do mean hot.
Then he released my hand and stepped back.
“Do you remember Lauren Whitaker from high school? She’s the head physical therapist here at Magnolia. ”
“Of course I remember Lauren.” I extended the same hand—still tingling from Ethan’s light caress—to shake hers.
She may have been awful to me, but I could be polite.
Especially if they were still together and Ethan’s slight flirting had been all in my head.
But hadn’t he said he was divorced? “How have you been?”
“Fantastic, Simone. And it’s so good to see you.
” It was weird, but the way she shook my hand wasn’t fake or forced.
And her smile was genuinely friendly, if a bit apologetic.
“When Ethan told me you were returning to Treater’s Way, I immediately whipped out my yearbook to get the visual.
You’re even prettier now than I remembered. ”
The laugh escaped me before I could stop it. It’s not that I wasn't pretty in high school, but standing next to a supermodel when you feel like you belong under a bridge is disconcerting enough. To have her tell you that you’re pretty is a step too far outside reality for my own tastes.
Her eyes widened with shock, and Ethan suddenly found his fingernails very interesting. But before I could apologize, Lauren’s hand was on my forearm.
“That’s a fair response. I’ll be the first to tell you, I wasn’t the nicest person in high school. I’m certain I owe you an apology.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Back then, I was going through a lot. I took it out on others, rather than face it myself.”
My heart gave a little twang at the tremor in her words. I knew that kind of pain, even if I didn’t know the specifics.
“We all get better with age, don’t we, Lauren?” I patted her hand. “We’re like fine wine. Or so I’ve heard. I only drink the cheap stuff myself.”
My throat constricted, like it did when I said something I didn’t mean.
I thought back through my words. I didn’t think I’d gotten particularly better with age, and what I’d said to her felt more like a platitude than a genuine sentiment.
I couldn’t remember any specifics from our past, though.
Had she done anything more than ignore me, spread rumors about me, and talk down to me?
My reaction felt too strong for run-of-the-mill bullying.
There was something else. A hazy event just on the edges of my memory. She’d been the jealous sort; I remembered that much. Possessive of Ethan and his time, and he’d kept our morning workouts a secret even though they were innocent. That was, until …
Until, what? I couldn’t find the details anywhere in my mess of a brain. She released my arm with a grateful smile, looking relieved and comfortable. Did I trust that she really thought she wasn’t nice in high school? Did I believe her apology would be sincere?
Or was I projecting emotions onto her because the last time I was this close to a woman who looked like her, she was in my bed with my husband, and I threw up on her shoes? Yeah, it was probably that.
All things I could analyze later, when I was alone and less overwhelmed. For now, since Ethan had said Lauren was a division head and therefore on this mysterious board, it was time to make small talk.
“So, you two stayed together, huh? That’s fantastic. The stats on high school sweethearts remaining married were definitely against your odds.”
“Actually, we divorced right after college.” Ethan pulled a chair out for Lauren, then took the chair between us. “But we’ve remained pretty close. There’s no animosity. We just wanted different things out of life.”
“Like marriage.” Lauren jabbed Ethan’s side, and it was such a sibling-like gesture I had to smile with them. “Ethan wanted to collect them, and I didn’t even want one.”
“And you did fine without it.” Ethan opened his phone and slid it across the table for me to see. It was a shot of Lauren, smiling proudly, snow and sky flying around her bright orange jacket.
“Holy cow, is that Mount Everest?” I swiped through a few of the images. Yeah. She’d climbed a mountain.
“I can’t believe you keep these on your phone.” Lauren retrieved the image and smiled at it like a doting mother. “Was that the second time or the third?”
“I can’t keep track.” Ethan grinned at Lauren’s stuck-out tongue. “This was the one where you didn’t use your—”
“The Twins will be here momentarily. They were just finishing up a dual service.” Brianne’s brow furrowed as she nudged herself between Ethan and Lauren, taking his phone and locking it before handing it back to him.
“Who are the Twins?” I asked.
Brianne circled the table and took the chair across from me, absently stroking Gumbo between the ears as she directed her gaze to Ethan. I knew that look. I’d given it to my husband. It was a don’t stick your foot in your mouth kind of stare.
He’d been about to say something, and she’d interrupted on purpose. Huh.
“Lydia and Lyra, the medspa and salon division heads. We can’t start without them. Ethan, while we’re waiting, perhaps you can explain more to Simone about what was left to her? She was taken aback when I showed her upstairs earlier today.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, Simone. You were …” Ethan stared at his hands again, and this time I let myself laugh.
“Not in a good place?” Ethan pressed his lips thin and nodded. Poor guy, he didn’t like uncomfortable situations. Which would be hard for him, because I tended to be awkward and create them.
Oh well, I may as well make it all the way weird.
“Lauren, just to fill you in, because I don’t know how fast gossip in this place travels, I caught my husband of twenty years having an affair with his physical therapist. I’ve been living in my office for the past week, trying to figure out what the heck to do about my screwed up life.”
Both Brianne and Ethan shifted their gaze to me, and the weight of the pity in their eyes was nearly suffocating.
My chest already felt like I was wearing a corset, and my heart was pounding a thousand miles a minute.
Having to bear people I’d just met feeling this sorry for me was too a step too far.
“I’m sorry, Simone. That’s disgusting of him. And unprofessional of her.” Lauren hissed under her breath, muttering a curse I’d never heard before. “Not that it makes a difference about what he did, but do you have kids?”
“One. A boy.” The pressure bore down harder. “My son Gabe is studying graphic design in California.”
They all stared at me, waiting for me to say more. Even Gumbo had his cute little head cocked to one side, the space where his missing ear should be angled toward me as if to hear me better.
I wasn’t going to tell them more about Gabe. Not yet.
Plus, I only had thirty days to decide if I was going to stay and let these people get to know me better.
And I was, at the very least, Brianne’s boss and Lauren’s business partner.
I didn’t understand fully, but it sounded like Ethan had more information to share with me. The last thing I wanted was their pity.
And I was tired of wallowing under it myself.
“I’ll be okay, guys. I’m tougher than I look.
” As soon as I said it, my throat cleared and some of the tightness in my heart dissipated.
That was usually a sign I believed what I was saying.
Well, that was good to know. “I promise, you don’t have to feel sorry for me.
Let’s get this board meeting started, already! ”
They instantly sat up straighter. Ethan opened his mouth as if to say something, and Lauren fiddled with her blank pieces of paper. Then, somewhere in the house, a clock began to chime.
I’d not seen a clock or heard any other hour be announced.
Each chime echoed like a gong, rattling our water glasses and sending picture frames on the wall askew.
It was loud, but not in a way that hurt my ears or felt unbearable.
The chimes had an otherworldly tone to them, a sound I couldn’t quite place but knew I’d heard before.
With each bong, something inside me shifted, like a power rising to the surface. My toes and fingers tingled with it, and a vibration rolled up my arms and legs, centering in my stomach. For just a moment, I thought I’d lifted off my chair.
My world tilted sideways. The room swirled with magic. Which I would have believed was a ridiculous notion.
Until the Twins entered the room.
Because they were definitely not human.