Chapter 542

• She should have listened to Kobie’s suggestion and gone for a run before bed. The ache in her back and arms wouldn’t allow her to sleep comfortably. Sitting up, she looked over to see Aspyn sleeping sideways in her own bed. Emersyn was torn between a mother’s pride that she slept in her own bed but had also had a few melancholy moments because she missed her beside her. Getting up, she stretched slowly and tried to relieve the tight feeling in her back.
• The floor was cool on her feet, but she didn’t want to move around too much in the room to find socks and take a chance on waking the others. She didn’t know what time it was but knew that it was either too late or too early for children to be up and charging through the halls.
• She opened the gate in slow motion, afraid it would make a noise and disturb Penny. With a grin, she closed it just as slowly—she felt like a burglar sneaking out of her own room. As she went down the hall, she remembered that Tia was sleeping on the couch in the sitting room. The rest of Noah’s family had gone back to Ed’s, but Tia had insisted on staying to help paint. Emersyn wondered how it was going to look in the daylight. Things had gotten a little messy as they got tired.