Chapter 7

Ella

It's Sunday evening, and I'm exhausted.

What a week I've had. Not only have I been scrambling to get myself acquainted with my new office and their processes, getting to know the staff while avoiding constantly squabbling with Rhokar, and organizing everything as we prepare to clear and begin excavation for the lower levels of the lodge—I've also been juggling organizing my home and trying to get it ready for my babies.

I haven't had a breather since the moment I arrived in this town.

My furniture arrived mid-week, and although everything's been put into the correct rooms, not everything is in the right place, or even put together. I have dismantled furniture, couches and tables shoved into the same corner , and some rooms are still piled high with half-opened boxes and mess. My ensuite and bedroom is set up, and the kitchen is finally sorted after chipping away at it slowly all week—but I haven't had time to cook or use it even once. I've been surviving off Lunchables and microwave dinners all week.

I finished hooking up the laundry and organizing the living room on Saturday and then spent all afternoon in the small yard, cleaning the patio and weeding the patches of grass out front and back.

And now, on Sunday evening, it's finally time for the twins' room, and the spare room downstairs which I'll be turning into their playroom.

My back is sore, I've got dark circles you can see from space, and every line around my eyes is heavily accentuated on my dry, exhausted skin. But I'm nearly done organizing the space, and although I could probably sleep for fifteen days straight, something in me feels lighter knowing everything that I've gotten done so far. I'm one step closer to being prepared, and to finally bringing my babies into their new lives. While I'm excited, there's also an undercurrent of dread, it's a small town and as soon as my twins arrive then Rhokar's going to know. I have to tell him about his kids, and I will…when the timing is right.

I spent all day out today, exploring the town and getting lost in the sights as I searched for things to stock the twins' space, since it's time to upgrade most of the stuff I have for them anyway.

Whispering Pines unfolded before me like a storybook as I explored, and a lot of the stress of the week fell from my shoulders for those few hours I spent out. There wasn't a shopping mall in sight—instead all the stores lined the streets, dotted throughout town but mostly centered around Main Street, which circled a quiet grove of majestic trees right in the center of town. I passed cafes and bakeries, clothing stores and butchers, all the normal things a small town would want. But there were also a lot of things I didn't quite expect, things that only a magical community might need.

There was an apothecary stocked with giant cauldrons and potion ingredients, a pet store called ‘Familiar,' which sold a whole slew of items I was decidedly unfamiliar with, and even a slightly smoky little shop called ‘Enchanted Trinkets,' with an array of peculiar, glittery, shimmery, whirring, smoking objects inside and a definite feeling that someone was whispering in my ear as I looked briefly through the window.

I had to drag myself away from so many curiosities, promising myself I'd explore more once I was better settled. I searched for beds and cradles, strollers and high-chairs, toys and even little baby-orc sized cups and plates and cutlery, planning to restock everything so that my twins had the freshest, most perfect start to their new lives. I bought so many things for them, only half of which I could bring home with me today. The other half, like their new beds, and furniture should be arriving next week for me to assemble.

I'm beyond exhausted, but finally,

after a harrying week at work, I'm feeling excited again. So as I finish cleaning all the dust from the room downstairs that will be the twins' playroom, which still doesn't have much in it, I head upstairs to their new bedroom and begin to unpack their clothes, video-calling Grace in the process.

"Ella, baby! I've barely heard from you this week!" Her hair is in another signature messy bun on top of her head as she answers the call, golden-brown strands flying in all directions as she runs around the house after a giggling somebody. "How are you?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm good, I've just been so busy." I rip open a box and set about refolding Rowan's little outfits one-by-one and storing them in his new closet. "Thanks so much for keeping me constantly updated with videos and pictures, it's been my shining light all week."

Grace scoops up the giggling runaway before bringing her now three year old son, Lucas, onto the screen. His blond hair is wild, and his blue eyes are screwed in mirth as he wriggles in her grasp.

"Say hello to Auntie Ella, you little monster!" Grace laughs, trying to keep him on screen.

"Hi, Auntie poo-poo!" he squeaks in delight, before managing to wriggle out of his mother's grasp and running off again.

Grace rolls her eyes. "The things they think are funny at this age."

I giggle. "I thought it was pretty funny."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up now. But just wait till Rowan and Rylah figure out you can string two words together. One of the kids in Lucas' play group taught him poo-poo and he hasn't stopped shouting it all week."

Grace continues to walk through the house until she finds what she's looking for, and her screen flips to show me my twins playing on the floor.

My heart swells, and I stop folding and hold my phone with two hands, feeling tears prick my eyes as I watch them playing with large colored blocks on the floor.

"Hi, my babies!" I coo through the phone, and Rylah looks up from where she's smacking a large blue block against Rowan's knee.

"Mamma!" she says as she clambers to her feet and waddles over. Rowan, watching Rylah, flops back to lay on the floor and grins.

Grace chuckles, allowing Rylah to grab the phone and shake it around excitedly. "They miss you, Ella."

"I miss them too," I say with a sigh. "It's been such

a week. I just want to lay on the floor and cuddle them."

"Work getting to you?"

I've already caught her up to speed on the Rhokar situation via text, and as she takes the camera back, I catch her up on everything else in my week as she does the same with hers.

"It's odd though," I say as I finish with Rowan's clothes and start on Rylah's. "For the first half of the week, I felt like Rhokar would go out of his way to find me and pick fights with me, like he was angry at my existence and needed me to know about it. But then out of nowhere, I stopped seeing him hovering around and glaring. He just sort of disappeared, like he was suddenly avoiding me."

"Well," Grace says thoughtfully, "that's better than before, at least. Right?"

But something in my chest, like a rope wrapped tight around my heart trying to tug me in the opposite direction of that thought, refuses to agree with this for some reason. "I don't know… Why would he do that, though? I just don't understand. And it's not like he isn't still snappy with me whenever he does see me, it's just that it feels like he's… I don't know, running away from me?"

Grace hums. "And you'd rather he stays near?" She raises her eyebrows, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

I huff. "Please…"

"Well, he is the father of your children, Ella. Maybe something deep inside you still recognizes this. It makes perfect sense that you might wish he was in your life more."

Warmth floods my chest at those words, but I scrunch my face, because that sort of wishful thinking won't get me anywhere good. "This isn't a fairy tale, Grace. He's a moody, grouchy, growly ass. Every time he talks to me, I leave the conversation burning with—"

"Desire?"

I snort. "Annoyance."

"I don't know, Ella," Grace says, her smile growing. "The way you've described the town to me, it kinda does

feel like a fairy tale. Maybe in Whispering Pines, dreams really can come true? You two are still drawn to each other, and it's coming out in sexy, sexy aggression. I'll bet you two find any excuse to fight, just so you can be near."

I can't help it, I burst into a fit of laughter. "Grace, you're the most ridiculous person, you know that, right?"

Now she's full-on grinning. "I'm a romantic, so sue me for hoping that your babies could get their father in their lives!"

This sobers me, and my smile fades a bit. "I want that, too," I say quietly.

"So go get it!" Grace exclaims. "I'll bet if you rip your shirt off, he'll change his tune with you real quick."

"Grace!" I laugh again. "Stop! Seriously, I do want that. But not with him . It's probably for the best that we stay away from each other."

She gasps in dramatized outrage. "Do not

let me down again, Ella! This is your second chance!"

"No," I say firmly. "You aren't here, you haven't seen the way he is. He's infuriating, stubborn and domineering. Not to mention he's always, always

glaring when he looks at me. He interrupts me when I speak, finds something rude to say at every chance, and constantly tries to dominate me."

"Well, that last part doesn't sound so bad," she mutters with a lewd wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Grace," I say with exasperation, "Even if he would

have me—which by the way, he absolutely wouldn't. No!" I interrupt quickly, when she opens her mouth to argue. "He wouldn't. You're not here, you can't see the way he is. So even if he would have me, I wouldn't want that sort of toxicity as the example of what love should be for my kids."

Grace throws up a hand in her own flourish of exasperation. "Baby girl, don't you see? He's flirting

with you! It's just a bunch of pent-up tension!"

Now I'm glaring at my phone. "He is not flirting . "

"Once you two get past this little phase, you'll get the sexy orc you met all those years ago back, you'll see. You just need to give him a chance."

"Like he gave me a chance when I walked into his office?" I huff sarcastically.

"Yes!"

"But he didn't—"

"He did

give you a chance, Ella. You're still working there, aren't you? And you even said he isn't micromanaging you anymore, he's left you to handle business without stepping in at all." I press my lips together and don't respond, even though my stubbornness is pushing me to continue arguing. "He trusts you. Now you've just got to learn to trust him, too."

For some reason, these words continue echoing in my mind, even as our conversation comes to an end and I hang up.

He trusts you.

As the sun sets outside and I ready myself for an early night, I try to think of an argument to refute this, since it doesn't fit with the narrative I've been giving myself this last week.

But despite Rhokar's complete lack of manners or even basic, social or professional politeness, he hasn't done anything to prove otherwise since my first day on the job.

He's left me to do my work. He'll insult my attitude, or make a comment about how I was fifteen seconds late, or wonder if I really need to put so much effort into my hair every day and whether I should be putting that energy into more important things…

But he doesn't question my decisions, or try to insert himself into anything he isn't needed in, like he did on that very first day. No unsolicited advice on what I should or shouldn't be doing, no trying to snoop through my work outside of when I'm directly updating him on progress, and no mansplaining about the very profession I'm an expert in, which I've had to deal with on multiple projects no matter how much I prove myself.

Maybe Grace is right, and I just didn't notice, over the pure annoyance our every interaction leaves me with.

But even if that's true, that doesn't mean she's right about everything.

And

I don't see what it's got to do with my personal life. He isn't

flirting, for crying out loud. He barely tolerates me. He's paying me to do my job, which he now realizes I'm good at. So what? It doesn't mean he wants me, or that I want him.

I dismiss these thoughts firmly and force myself to put them from my mind. It doesn't matter, anyway.