Katie's Hope

"For tea," she clarified. "And to talk or whatever." "I like whatever," he said.

"I'll get more pillows," Toby said.

"You're not invited," Rhyn growled. "But how can we play?"

"You'll be in bed."

"That, no, Rhyn," she corrected him. "I mean tea. Daylight tea." "Breakfast tea."

Toby giggled, and she glanced at him, afraid Rhyn was going to dive headfirst into a discussion Toby shouldn't hear.

"Afternoon tea. C'mon, Toby," Katie said and turned away, allowing Toby to pull her down the hall to the dining chamber, which had yet to fill up. She braced herself for the resentful looks and whispered insults she was glad Toby was too young to understand. They made their way unscathed through the dining room to their own little corner, where Toby's favorite food combination of mac-n-cheese and French toast waited for him on the table.

She couldn't eat, feeling more stressed than she had in the past three weeks. Sasha was somewhere in the castle, and Gabriel was gone. She'd cracked the door to her heart for Rhyn to shove his foot in the door and now needed to close, lock, and deadbolt it closed again.

I do love him, she admitted silently.