Chapter 32

I was sitting at the dining room table with my elbows resting on the table, my chin resting on my interlocked fingers. Staring at nothing in particular. Taping my phone, it showed 10:45pm. Liam and Nat accepted my hot pot apology with gusto. They were already in bed and asleep. I got to actually talk to them over the hot pot and realized that they had grown up. Liam was apparently using his time to outsmart his teachers all the while breezing through the classes. Nat said her love of cheerleading was starting to get old. She didn’t know if she was going to try out next year. Partway through the night, I thought the only thing that would complete this would have been Olivia sitting with us. A real family.

The door shutting quietly pulled me out of my thoughts. I tapped the screen of my phone 10:55pm. Eli was damn lucky. She started to head up the stairs quietly.

“Helena. Come here now.”

Her steps froze on the stairs and she turned back down, coming into the di