Quietly, I asked Claire with some concern,
“Won’t this cost you a lot? Marrying you was already the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me—I don’t want my family to be a burden on you...”
“Don’t say that. You—and everything that comes with you—are mine to care for. How is that a burden? Don’t ever say that again.”
Claire massaged my shoulders gently, patted my back, and whispered in my ear.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Ryan listens more and more. With me here, he won’t go bad—he’ll only get better.”
I nodded, deeply grateful—but suddenly I heard a faint laugh coming from Claire’s chest.
I tried to look up, but felt a sudden, sharp sting on my scalp!
“Claire, did you hear that? It sounded like someone was laughing just now.”
“What?”
Claire glanced around, looking genuinely puzzled.
“No, where would laughter come from? Honey, are you imagining things?”
I looked and listened carefully again but found nothing unusual.
The pain had come from Claire’s amulet pendant—it had accidentally snagged a strand of my hair and yanked it out.
“So that’s it—it just pulled my hair and made my scalp hurt. I must’ve misheard.”
“There, it doesn’t hurt now. Let me rub it for you.”