Page 48 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

"Riley," Poppy spoke up, stepping into the room.

I turned, looking at Poppy. She was wearing overalls with a green shirt underneath. Her hair was pulled back in pigtails, and she smiled happily at me.

"Morning, Poppy. Is your brother Zayden here?"

Poppy nodded. "He is. He's in his room."

A moment later, Ivy walked into the room and smiled. "Morning, Riley."

"Morning, Ivy." Ivy was wearing a long blue dress with leggings underneath. Her hair was pulled back in a long braid.

Ivy looked at Poppy and smiled. "Hi, Poppy."

"Hi, Ivy," Poppy giggled. "Do you want to see the new trick I learned?"

"Poppy, no magic, remember," I crossed my arms, shaking my head at her. "You know magic is only for at home."

I had been warned that Poppy had been getting her powers and using them. Wendy had stated she might need reminders not to do them when no other witches were around to help train her.

Poppy frowned. "I forgot…sorry."

"It's fine," I said, giving her a pat on the head. "You can show Ivy another time."

Just then, Quinn walked into the room, followed by the rest of the kids. I said my mornings to each of them before I headed down the hallway to my office and heard my phone ringing. I smiled, realizing it was April.

"Hey, it's been a few days since we last spoke. I was starting to think you were avoiding my calls," It was a joke, but the silence at the end made me tense. "April, what's wrong?"

"Nothing besides I'm married to a jackass. He froze all our credit cards, so I can't take my plane down now."

I felt my shoulders sink. "What….so… you're not coming?"

"Not until I get this figured out."

I frowned. "I could lend you some money, or Cayden could."

"No, that's not happening." Her words came out sharp, and I swallowed. April didn't ever raise her voice at me, much less use a harsh tone. "Hey, April, what's going on? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No. I'm fine. I just figured I would let you know I won't be down for a while longer. How has work been?"

I hated that she just shifted the conversation away from herself. I wanted to bring it back to her, but from the tone I was getting, I didn't.

"Okay. It's been going okay…well…keep me posted."

April ended the line before I could say anything, and I stared at my phone for a moment. The only time April got short was when something was wrong, and it twisted me up inside. I sent a message to Cayden telling him he should call April. One of us needed to try and get through to her. I knew she was going down to take care of some things, but I had no idea what that really entailed.

After I sent the message, I tried to get focused back on work. The day went by quickly, and the kids were getting picked up before I knew it.

I helped Jason pull his jacket on, and his mother walked in. She smiled. "Hello, Riley. Looks like Jason is good to go."

I nodded my head. "He is. The girls said he was amazing today. His daily chart is in his backpack."

She patted his head, thanking me as she turned to leave. As she left, Ashley and Wendy stepped inside. They both smiled as they spotted me. "Riley, I think this is the first time I've seen you at pick-up."

I nodded. "Haley left sick this afternoon, so I took over her classroom."

"Oh, what a good boss you make," Wendy said.

"Thank you," I smiled at Wendy. “I hear you had a little say in me getting my job."

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