[I apologize; this update is shorter than I wanted it to be. It’s 11:20 on Christmas Eve and I’m stealing a few minutes of hanging with the fam to schedule this post. Happy Christmas to everyone who celebrates and the spirit of the season to those who do not.]
The hours felt like days as we sat there, waiting for word. I’d have gotten up twice if Thom hadn’t been asleep on my shoulder, then asleep with his head in my lap as we waited by the fire. Afternoon wore away into evening. Tala cooked and the others were quiet as they drifted through for their meals, as if they could sense the pall that hung over the four of us by the fire, as if it extended to the whole settlement.
Who knows? Maybe it really did. Maybe he was really that important to more than just a bare handful of us. I liked to think he was. Carolyn squeezed my shoulder gently as she came past during dinner.
“Jac and Jay aren’t going to let him die,” she whispered. “They’re having a hard time of it, but it’ll be okay. It has to be.”
I glanced up at her and smiled grimly. “Someone’s watching, aren’t they?”
She gave a weak smile and a little shrug. “Longfellow likes Phelan. He’s keeping watch right now and reporting back.”
Sometimes, I envied her that connection she had with the fair folk, the small ones that rode on gossamer wings, the ones that most of us couldn’t see. Other times, I wondered what that connection did to her, since we all seemed to pay a price for what we could do.
But she’s got J.T. to help her through whatever it is, and I can’t think of anyone better to help her than him. They were well-matched, Carolyn and J.T., more than anyone would have ever thought back before the end of everything we’d ever known.
“Let me know if something changes?” I asked her.
She nodded and squeezed my shoulder again. “Of course. I’m guessing you’ll be right here, too, huh?”
“Bingo.”
She drifted away, then, back to whatever she’d been doing before dinner, leaving me by the fire with Thom, Neve, and Cameron.
“Is she okay?” Neve asked quietly, her eyes following Carolyn as she walked away.
“As good as we are, I guess,” I murmured, and left it at that.
Thanks for the update. Be with your family. It is the time of year to enjoy each other’s company, eat too much, laugh til your sides hurt, and give hugs.
Merry Christmas!