Page 32 of Big Witch Energy

“No, you won’t,” Ben told her, making Caroline roll her eyes.

“Yeah, this really isn’t a great time for you to be laid up,” Will said, yawning. “With so much going on at the bar, we could really use you.”

“Well, if it happens again, I’ll try to be run down by a moped at a more convenient time,” Caroline snapped. Mina deflated a little at her side, prompting Caroline to pat her shoulder. That same electric sizzle ran up her arm. Mina blinked at her but said nothing.

“That would help,” Will sighed, completely obtuse.

“Look, guys, you’re just gonna have to maybe pitch in a little more at the bar while I’m out,” Caroline told them. She heard her mother moving around the kitchen, not really accomplishing much, but also not engaging in the conversation. “Especially if Mom’s not at one hundred percent.”

“Hey, I’ve got stuff going on at home,” Will objected.

“Like what?” Caroline asked.

“Tabby’s been working extra shifts at the hotel,” Will said. “Something about the manager freaking out because the owner is coming in for an inspection soon. And that means I have to do the cooking for us at home!”

“You’re a cook at the bar,” she reminded him.

Will shrugged. “Yeah, well it’s different at home, and I have to do the laundry.”

“Yes, these are things that most adult people manage to do to take care of themselves while also working. Figure it out,” Caroline said.

She looked to her mother, who was still busy in the kitchen, as if she was in a one-woman show about a kitchen-cleaning mime.

“Ugh, why do you make things so hard?” Will groaned, pushing himself out of his chair. He practically flounced out of the house. Wally, who had never managed to figure out where to sit, shrugged at Caroline and followed his twin out.

Her mom walked over to the couch and smoothed Caroline’s hair back from the patch of road rash on her forehead. “You know how stubborn Will is. You’re just so good at taking care of these things.”

“Yes, but I physically can’t. I am literally under doctor’s orders. And really, you shouldn’t be doing much either,” Caroline said. “You’re just going to have to ask Will or Wally to do it.”

“She’s right,” Ben added. “I’m willing to give you a print version of the doctor’s orders. In great big font.”

“They’re not going to be happy about it,” Gert sighed.

Caroline waved her good arm. “And yet, here we are. Ow.”

Gert patted Caroline’s shoulder. “Get some rest, Caroline.”

Her mother ambled out of the cottage, leaving Caroline to stew in embarrassed silence until Mina observed, “Your family kind of sucks.”

“Mina!” Ben barked.

“It’s OK,” Caroline sighed as Ben pulled a fluffy green blanket—a gift from Edison—over her legs.

“Don’t tell us that they mean well,” Josh told Caroline, carrying her favorite I could be reading, but you keep talking mug to her. How had he known that was her favorite? “That’s something that we learned in therapy—that making excuses for people doesn’t make them better. Or make you feel better. It just lets the sucky situation go on longer.”

“The tall bearer of coffee makes sense,” Caroline said, smiling despite herself.

Josh held up his hands. “I usually do, and everybody’s always surprised when it happens.”

Chapter 7

Ben

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Caroline’s family, it was that he knew Caroline’s family. He knew that as soon as a few days passed, the scare of almost losing Caroline would wear off—and they would be more willing to return to the status quo than to fill the void of tasks Caroline usually performed. The Wiltons would make it sound perfectly reasonable for her to “just sit” at the bar while they cleaned, and then within hours, they would make it sound even more reasonable for her to help them move something or hand them something, and by the end of the day, she would be rebuilding the roof herself.

He’d tried to give her a few days of space. He got regular reports from his kids, who spent pretty much every day at Caroline’s house, helping her. Riley had given him her cell number and texted him pretty consistently, updating Ben on Caroline’s swelling and the bruises. It probably wasn’t the most responsible thing to do, as a doctor, but she was probably more comfortable with her friends wrapping her ribs than him anyway.

But now, it was Dr. Toller’s first day back from vacation and Ben had to do a follow-up. His gut told him she would be at the Rose. He only hoped he wouldn’t see whoever this “Plover” person was. Ben knew that Caroline wouldn’t stay single after he left Starfall. Hell, he’d married a whole other person and had children, but the fondness in her voice when she talked about this Plover, it wasn’t a “casual friend” fondness. What kind of name was Plover, anyway? Wasn’t a plover a kind of bird? This person was important to Caroline. And that made his heart hurt, even though he knew he didn’t have the right to that.

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