and to the right, there was a glass door leading into a studio. Another set of doors toward the back likely led to the space’s storage rooms and bathrooms, but Stacy immediately turned to the right and headed into the studios. I followed her in, and there were already a handful of people littered throughout the room, all standing next to different colored yoga mats. I stayed standing awkwardly at Stacy’s side while she set up a set of mats and water bottles at the head of the class and set her bag off to the side.
A redhead approached us with a grin. “Hey, Stace.” She handed a folder to Stacy. “Got a new one today. She knows we’re almost closed.”
“Hey, Sam. Thank you.” Stacy peeked inside the folder quickly and then handed it back to the redhead, Sam. “You can take lunch if you want.” Sam took the folder without another word and left. Stacy smiled at me. “Ready?”
I nodded. “I guess.”
She put a hand around my shoulders. “Good morning, everyone.”
There were different return greetings before the room went quiet again.
“I’m excited to have a special guest with me today. This is my sister-in-law, Willow, and this is her first time doing yoga, so let’s give her a warm welcome.”
Everyone started to clap for me, and my skin crawled. It’d been a long time since I was around so many strangers, especially without Alessandro around. My anxiety started to whip up, but Stacy put her head on my shoulders, and for a reason I couldn’t explain, it started to dissipate some.
“She’s a distant spirit.”
I gave Stacy an odd look, but she just smiled at me, motioned to the back of the room, and quietly said, “It means don’t walk up and hug you. The whole back row is as well, so you’re among friends.”
I appreciated being called a distant spirit as opposed to recluse or loner, so I let it go.
“All right, if everyone wants to take their place on their mat, we’ll get started.”
I stood on the mat that Stacy had laid out for me, then I heard a small squawk come from the group of students. Stacy and I both looked up, and a curvaceous woman with long black hair rolling down her back in loose beach waves and lavender eyes had a hand over her mouth. When I locked eyes with her, she waved.
“Sorry for staring, it’s just… I get two Varassos in one class? Aren’t I lucky?”
Stacy rigidified next to me, letting me know that I wasn’t crazy for the rush of foreboding that crashed over me.
6
Willow
A quick look of hardness was quickly replaced by a sweet smile on Stacy’s face. “You’re my new student, right?” she asked. “What’s your name?”
“Denise,” she responded quickly. “I guess you could say I’m a Varasso fangirl. When I found out one led this class, I had to come and try it out. I hope that’s not too weird. I’m not a freak, I promise.”
I wasn’t so sure. Her whole demeanor was off-putting. As far as I knew, Stacy hadn’t told many people about her marriage to Gabriel, only a handful of friends and family. Her maiden name, Stacy Everett, was still what was on the studio, and in general, we were keeping the name Varasso as hushed as possible until we could unearth Dario Binachi and see to it that he wasn’t a threat anymore. How did this woman know that Stacy was a Varasso, or even more, that I was one? All Stacy had said was that I was her sister-in-law. That could also mean I’d married one of her siblings. Something was definitely off.
“Of course it’s not weird. I’ve gotten more than a little hectic over things I’m interested in. You’re more than welcome here, right, everyone?” The group started to cheer and I looked over at Stacy like she’d lost her marbles. She seemed just as freaked out when Denise first spoke up, so why was she completely fine all of a sudden? “All right, let’s get started.”
It was difficult to focus on the class with Denise throwing Stacy and me manic smiles. Every time Stacy wandered the class to help the students with their form, Denise would bounce up and down and monopolize her time. Stacy noticed that I was consumed with focusing on Denise and came over to stand next to me. She started being overly solicitous of me, helping me through different stretches and poses. Before long, I was stretching with the best of them and had put Denise mostly out of my mind.
Whether it was on purpose or by accident, Stacy eventually had me in a position that had Denise behind me, and then I forgot about her entirely. Stacy’s voice was soothing as it sunk into my brain, and between that, the deep, steady breaths, and the relaxing music Stacy had playing throughout the studio, I was bordering on drowsy. The stresses of dealing with Alessandro and the family seemed far away. My mind drifted away to a distant beach, where I built sandcastles with Alexis and let the warm seawater wash along my legs. A vacation would definitely be in order once things were all said and done.
When Stacy ended the class, it didn’t feel like an hour had passed. “Okay, everyone, that’s going to do it for today’s class. Great job.”
Everyone clapped, and I joined in before pulling my phone out of my pocket. I checked it, certain that there would be a message that something had gone wrong with Alessandro, but the only notification was a picture message from Ricky of Alexis and her cousins, Anna, Antonio, and Amanda, all dressed up in their swimsuits, prepared to go for a dip in the enclosed pool on the new Varasso estate in Maine. I texted a response back about how cute they looked and kept my phone grasped in my hand just in case.
Stacy walked over to me and put her hand on my back. “Sorry, I usually do some mingling, but I can cut it short if—”
I waved my hand at her. “No, no, no. You go, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Of course I am.”
Stacy gave my back a little rub before going to walk amongst the students of her class, all of whom were standing around, waiting for the opportunity to talk to her. She was like a mini-celebrity in this weird, yoga world. It was interesting to watch. For a moment, I imagined sitting down with Alessandro after we got back home and telling him about the entire thing. The weird aura stuff Stacy told me about in her car, the crazed, self-proclaimed fangirl of our family, how yoga actually did calm me down, and how Stacy was some sort of weird yoga goddess.