ELLA
Watching over Alice was a sport.
Not the fun kind. The exhausting, teeth-gritting kind that made my temples throb and my patience fray within minutes. The child had energy that felt endless, like she was powered by something far stronger than sugar. She ran from one end of the room to the other, climbed onto furniture she had no business touching, asked questions she didn’t wait to hear answers to, and laughed—laughed—every time I told her to sit down.
“Alice,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time, forcing a smile that hurt my cheeks. “You need to calm down.”
She stuck her tongue out at me and darted away again.
I clenched my fists at my sides.
This was not how I imagined my evening going. Not when Ace had walked into my room earlier, dressed and focused, telling me he w
