Page 53 of Touch the Sky

The two of them are staring at me like I just dropped a bomb in the middle of the kitchen floor.

“I mean, we’re not making her our servant,” I explain, since it does sound kind of bad when I say it all out loud. “We do stuff for her too.Mamankeeps an eye on Shel when Tess has to work late, and we let them use the horses whenever they want. It’s… nice to have them around. Both of them. Things have gotten a lot better since they moved in.”

There’s no way they’re not going to have amauditfield day with all that information. I’ll be hearing about it for the rest of the month.

Natalie takes a step back, propping her hip against the counter. She smoothes a few stray hairs off her forehead while a slow grin spreads over her face. My muscles clench even tighter as I brace for a punch line, but there’s nothing mocking or smug about her expression.

She sighs, and I realize what the smile is: relief.

“I had no idea they were such a big part of your life now,” she says. “That’s great news. That sounds really good for all of you.”

Maddie gives my shoulder a nudge. “I agree. You know, you could have made this a much shorter intervention if you’d just said that in the first place.”

I scowl. “Well, that’s because you both keep making fun of me for having a crush on Tess.”

Maddie starts to open her mouth, but I hold up a finger to silence her.

“Which I donot,” I add, giving the island a smack for emphasis. “Maybe I would tell you more about it if you laid off,hein?”

I whirl around to give Natalie some stink eye too. The grin slips off her face.

“We will lay off,” Maddie tells me. “I’m sorry we took the jokes too far.”

“I’m sorry too. We were out of line,” Natalie says. “I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to us.”

She starts to lift her arms out towards me but then glues them back to her sides, like she’s not sure I’ll want a hug.

I throw myself at her anyway.

“Ça va, ?a va. I accept your apology.” I squeeze my arms around her and pat her on the back just a little too hard, sinceshe did kidnap me and all. “As long as you don’t make me sit in the Chair of Shame again.”

They agree, and we move onto discussing some of the preparations for our big Thanksgiving meal at the inn, since we’re all gathered here now anyway.

“Should we review the guest list?” Maddie asks. She’s pulled out the tablet we use for coordinating most of the tasks that keep the inn running and is typing away at one of her many spreadsheets.

I was planning on sneaking Tess in as one of the many party crashers I’m sure will show up this weekend, but now that I’ve made peace with my friends, I should probably make sure Tess will actually have a place to sit.

“Well, since I know you won’t make fun of me now, I will tell you that Tess is coming.”

Maddie looks up from the screen.

“Oh, she’s not taking Shel back home for the long weekend?” Natalie asks. “I just assumed they wouldn’t be here.”

“Shel will be with her dad, so I thought Tess might want to come, and she does.”

I feel the tension creeping back into my shoulders as I wait to see if our truce will last, but Natalie just gives me that same relieved smile from before.

“That’s great! I’m excited to have her here.”

“Yeah. Me too. I’d love to get to know her better,” Maddie says, her fingers already click-clacking across the screen again.

I let myself breathe again while Maddie rattles off a few more check-list items for the weekend. I should be paying attention, but instead, my mind is already zooming ahead to Thanksgiving.

I wonder if Tess and I will sit next to each other. I wonder what she’ll think of her first holiday in La Cloche.

I wonder what she’ll be wearing.

My stomach does a weird flip, and I decide it’s just because I had too much coffee this morning.