The Seven Day Switch: A Novel by Kelly Harms

Author:Kelly Harms [Harms, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2021-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

WENDY

The sound isn’t a whisper or the crackle of a twig. It’s a thud. The thud of the other shoe dropping. The thud of this surreal situation Wendy and I are in going from a two-woman hallucination to a full-on family psychiatric event.

Or the thud of a small boy falling out of a tree.

“Samuel!” Celeste hollers. We both run to him, lying under a cherry tree, his body a dark puddle over the top of the pretty fallen blossoms. He is still for a moment, and my heart stops beating; a strange time-stopping sensation falls over me—not panic, not fear, just primal readiness as I race to his side.

Before either of us can get all the way over there, he’s up, popped to his feet, and pointing at us with a wicked grin on his face. “WHAT?!” he demands. “What can’t we know that won’t hurt us?”

“Samuel Mason, you scared the ever-loving Pete out of me!” Celeste exclaims. I elbow her hard and cross over to Samuel.

“Young man,” I say. “What were you doing up in that tree? Were you spying?”

Samuel shakes off like a wet dog. “Don’t you want to know if I’m ok?”

I eye him. “I can see perfectly well you’re fine. Now come over here.”

“I have to get Linus down first,” he says.

Linus? Is in a tree? I shoot Celeste a concerned look, but she ignores it, still stealing glances at her own son to see if all his limbs are attached.

“Linus?” I call.

“Hi, Mrs. Mason,” he says. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Sellout!” says Samuel.

“It’s all right; it’s ok,” says Celeste. “No one’s in trouble if they tell us what they’re doing out of bed right now and . . . what they think they overheard.” She reaches up a steadying arm, and I watch nervously as Linus slowly slides down the tree to safety.

“We couldn’t hear anything because you were whispering, and Mom, you are NOT supposed to keep secrets, remember?” Samuel whines.

I look at Celeste. What the hell kind of crazy rule is that? The entire job of parents is to keep secrets from their kids. Tooth fairies? Wizarding worlds? The accursed elf on the freaking shelf? “Sorry, dear, but I also don’t think you’re supposed to be spying on adults. Or be out of bed at this hour. Now off you go.”

Samuel hangs his head and starts to march back to the house. Linus, being my child and far less obedient, wheels on Celeste. His eyes narrow. “Are you guys talking about me?” he asks.

Celeste makes a face. “No, silly. We’re just having a chat.”

“What kind of chat?” he asks.

“The kind of chat friends have,” Celeste says to him.

Linus looks at her skeptically. “But you guys aren’t friends. You said Mrs. Mason makes you as mad as a wet cat.”

Celeste’s brows rise slightly, and I brace for that temper of hers, but to my relief she shrugs slightly and says, “Oh, she does. But sometimes you find yourself annoyed by the people who are most like you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.