Olivia was already making breakfast when Andrew staggered out of his bedroom around six in the morning. He followed the scent of coffee and pancakes into the kitchen, where her back was to him as she dropped batter onto the griddle. “Morning!” he called. Liv let out a tiny shriek and spun around, the pancake […]

“Hi, Iris.” Celine Beckett’s voice was so quiet that Iris almost didn’t hear her as she was counting inventory at the far end of Forest Charms. But then she turned around from the shelf she was stocking and Celine was standing almost close enough to touch. Iris jumped, gasped, and nearly knocked down the jewelry […]

“Are you feeling up to talking?” Roman wasn’t sure he was, but it also didn’t seem like the type of conversation Celine had in mind was one that he wanted to skip. She looked solemn in a way that she either hadn’t (or had done a great job of hiding) since he’d first woken up […]

“So?” Cleo looked around the space again, taking it in. “It’s… wow.” Andrew turned to her, his brow furrowed. “Good wow or bad wow?” “Good,” she said quickly. “No, good wow. It’s just… Wow.” It was a few days later, and they were standing in the front dining area of the Limerick. This was Cleo’s […]

When Noah had said he needed a new job, he hadn’t expected it to be the House of Pizza. He couldn’t cook. Like, at all. The others refused to let him in the kitchen if they were cooking anything more complicated than chicken breast. He wasn’t allowed to touch the oven for anything more complicated […]

Olivia’s knuckles were bleeding. She kept her little container of moisturizer in her glove compartment, but that was so far away from the bathroom she was scrubbing right now. Okay, it was in the parking lot out back. But she’d have to get out of this bathroom, past the broken table that had fallen apart […]

Roman woke up to the sound of his hospital room door sliding open. The sunlight streaming in the window was somewhat dimmed now, though he had no idea what time it was. But as he sat up, he saw Noah walking into the room, ducking slightly as he came through the doorway. “Sorry,” Noah half-whispered, […]

Time passed in a haze for Roman. He wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been in the hospital and it seemed to be a blur of sleeping, examinations, and constant people coming into the room. Doctors, nurses, therapists, even a chaplain. He was polite to everyone, he was honestly too tired to attempt to be […]

Cleo hadn’t expected her first time back in Boston in months to be so anticlimactic. She wasn’t doing anything beyond working while she was here. She wasn’t going to sit in any of these restaurants with her friends and enjoy a meal in the warm glow of the fireplaces and intricate light fixtures. No, she […]

Noah had been right about the masks. Later that afternoon, Olivia was alone at the Limerick while the other two were at their other jobs. She’d decided to try to finish the small kitchen today and the sheer amount of dust in the space was becoming painful. Eyes watering, Olivia finally relented and walked back […]