Amethyst:Hey, girl. What’s up? Are the kids okay?
God. Of course, she thought something was wrong. Why else would I be texting her?
Me:Yes. Sorry, I should’ve led with that. I just wondered if you meant what you said the other day… about your sister liking me.
The three dots flashed over and over, each time sending me deeper into a state of panic. I shouldn’t have texted Conrad’s sister-in-law. It was careless of me.
Amethyst:Yes. She would’ve adored you.
Me:Why?
Amethyst:Well, first of all, the kids adore you. They think you hung the moon. Anyone who treats my sister’s kids like their own immediately earns points. Not to mention, you’re a genuinely good person.
I blinked at my phone.
Me:How could you know that?
Amethyst:Oh, honey. I can read people. You give off a very positive aura. Trust me, I can tell when a person’s an asshole, and you are not an asshole. Far from it.
I could’ve just thanked her for the compliments and moved on with my life, but I needed to know.
Me:Would she have approved of me?
Amethyst:Do you mean in the romantic sense? I’m assuming you’re referring to whatever you and Conrad had going on before the kids and I busted it up?
Jeez. The woman was direct.
Me:Well, maybe. I’m not sure. I like Conrad… a lot.
Amethyst:You want to fuck him.
Holy shit. I mean, yes, I did, but I wasn’t about to admit that to anyone. Especially not Conrad’s sister-in-law.
Me:I don’t know about that.
Amethyst:Have you considered seducing him?
Me:I am not seducing my employer!
Amethyst:You already have. I saw the way he looks at you. The ball is in your court. And, yes, Jade would approve of this match. She wasn’t one of those wives who expected their husbands to be single the rest of their lives if something happened to them. She’s not going to come back and haunt you for hooking up with her husband. In other words, I approve, too.
I grinned.
Me:Thank you. That means a lot.
I spent the next hour trying to wind down so I could sleep.
Normally, before sleeping, I read or listened to an audiobook. If that failed to lull me, I planned meals for the week or researched local events for the children.
But ever since Conrad kissed me, my thoughts had become utterly impossible to manage. Every time I tried to sleep, I felt his hands again. His mouth. His warmth. The way he looked at me, like he wanted all of me with no exception and no questions asked.
The thought of his lips against mine had followed me all the way into sleep. And then sleep became something else entirely.
In the dream, I was running.
Nowhere real, exactly. Dreams never recreated places properly. They stitched things together badly. A hallway from one century attached to a road from another. Trees where there should’ve been buildings. Candlelight inside rooms that didn’t exist anymore.
Rain soaked through my skirts as I ran down a muddy path between dead trees, breathing hard despite the fact that dreams didn’t require breathing. I knew something was behind me, but I couldn’t see it.
