by Jordan Ford
I have no idea what he’s talking about, but Trey spins and gives him the finger, which only makes Kade laugh.
Gently taking the saucepan of honey off the burner, I walk around to the dining table and as Kade lays two pieces of French toast on each plate, I drizzle some honey over the top. The next ten minutes is nothing but the scraping of cutlery on plates and the odd moan of approval.
Kade keeps looking across at me, his eyes glinting with pride and affection. He winks, then shoves another massive bite of French toast in his mouth. I can’t help a small giggle as I shake my head and pick at my food.
It’s not the best French toast I’ve ever made. The bread is stale, and there were no spices to amp up the flavor. The others don’t seem to mind though. They’re chowing down.
I subtly study each of them as the plates are cleared and natural chatter takes over. Riley wants to know more about this Agent Rybeck. Kade goes into detail, describing the whole thing and how Rybeck wants to find Ana.
She’s tense, her eyes darting to Trey. He gives her a smile and wraps his arm around her, listening intently. They don’t look angry anymore. It’s kind of been replaced with this low-lying fear. It makes me wonder what the last few months must have really been like. Living off canned food and stealing into town for minimum supplies. From what I can tell, they’ve been working hard to patch up the cabin and keep things running, but they must be going out of their minds at the same time.
In a normal world, we’d all be two months away from graduating high school. We’d probably know what colleges we were going to. There’d be hope, a future to plan. But all we have is the threat of danger, a cloud of uncertainty hovering over us as we hide in these isolated mountains and hope the people who want to hurt us never figure out where we are.
#30:
Crash Landing
Kade
The cabin is quiet. Jules is asleep in my bed. I’m trying to decide whether to lie down beside her or sleep on the couch. We’ve kissed a couple of times and I’ve figured out that I love her, but I’m still not sure where we stand on the whole being a couple thing. There’s this baby between us, and I don’t know how it’s going to play out.
I rub my aching head and shuffle to the sliding door.
The tension in the air is still thick and suffocating. I’m exhausted.
I just want to be back in Eton, sleeping in our dorm room and dreaming about all the girls we’ll make out with in college.
But I don’t want that either.
Because I want Jules.
With a heavy sigh, I slump into the wooden chair on the porch. Resting my elbows on the wide arms, I stare into the darkness. The stars are out in their full glory, made brighter by the absent moon. Leaning my head back, I gaze up at them, slightly awestruck by the greatness of it all.
This place really is amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before.
But maybe I wasn’t meant to.
The glass door slides open and a shadow pops out. It’s Trey. I can sense it more than see it.
Slumping down in the adjacent chair, he sits quietly for what feels like ages.
I’m not willing to break the silence. I’m too tired to argue.
“So, you’re back,” he finally mutters.
“Yep.” I nod, clenching my jaw as guilt tries to take me out. “Things been okay up here?”
Trey huffs. “Yeah, Kade, it’s been frickin’ awesome. We’re hiding out, nearly broke.” He snaps out the word and shakes his head. “We’ve been rationing like crazy, not wanting to spend money on anything we don’t need. It’s not like Riley can get a job in Legacy. As it is, he’s had to bluff his way through a bunch of conversations when he goes in to get supplies.”
“People are always curious in a small town like this.”
“Yeah, well, thankfully they’re staying away from this place.”
My eyebrows pop high. “That surprises me. I thought they’d be up to check us out.”
“Yeah, well apparently, the cabin’s haunted.”
“Haunted?”
“That’s what Riley said. He was talking to some chick about it. She told him bad stuff happened up at the cabin years ago and people don’t come near it anymore.”
“What kind of bad stuff?”
“I don’t know.” Trey shrugs.
“Do you think it’s anything to do with his uncle?”
Trey scratches his stubble. “He wouldn’t say. Ry’s been restless up here, so it does make me wonder. But he’s stuck around.”
I roll my eyes at the obvious dig. “I’m back now.”
“Yeah, with a stolen car and a pregnant girl. Please don’t bother saying you came back for us.”
I huff out a heavy sigh and rub my eyes. “Shit, Trey, I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have left. But I was going out of my fucking mind up here. I needed to leave to figure out…” My voice trails off and I finish with a croak. “To figure out what’s important.”
“And what’s that?”
“My family.” I lightly punch his arm.
“And a girl.” He snickers. “Can’t believe it, dude. Can’t believe you’ve fallen.”
I grunt. “Crash landed, more like it.”
Trey’s white teeth flash in the darkness.
“Always thought you’d be a playboy for life.” Riley appears on the stairs, scaring the shit out of me.
Frickin’ silent ninja.
Riley’s voice in the darkness becomes a black mass as he climbs the stairs and then rests against the railing.
“Where the hell did you come from?” Trey mutters.
“Just out walking.” The tightness in Riley’s tone makes me curious. I look to Trey, who’s staring right back at me. If this were daylight, we’d be having a silent what the hell is up with Riley eye conversation.
There’s no use asking. The Ry-ster closes up like a freaking clam if you get too close to his personal shit.
Our friend clears his throat and puts the spotlight back on me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with the same girl twice, and now you’re declaring your love for this chick. It’s a trip, man.”
I snicker and shake my head, wondering how long it’ll take to find the courage to actually say it to Jules. “She’s different.”
“How?” Trey nudges my boot with his foot.
“I don’t know.” I look to the sky. “I just… She makes getting close easy, doable, not scary as all hell.”
“Why is getting close so damn scary?” Trey asks.
“Because…” I tap my finger on the wooden arm. “People let you down, man. They let you down or they…die.” Thoughts of Grandpa Wade and Grandma Ellen burn through my chest, turning the word die into a soft whisper.
“I’m not dead,” Trey quips.
Riley’s jacket rustles as he pops his hand into the air. “Me neither.”
I stare between them, trying to make out the details of their faces. But I can only see outlines. “Are you guys gonna let me down?”
“Not planning on it.” Riley crosses his arms.
“What about Jules?”
Trey sighs and wriggles in his chair, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “If you love her, then I guess she’s family.”
“Really?” I’m skeptical. Trey’s pretty precious about his pack. I can’t imagine him letting her in so easily.
“She seems nice. You obviously care about her, and…”
“And what?”
“She could be useful to us, man.”
“Excuse me?” I lurch out of my seat, annoyed with the insinuation.
“Don’t get all pissy.” Trey shoves me back down. “I mean she could teach us stuff. She’s right about us not being able to survive the way we are. We’re barely scraping by. The money’s running low, and Riley’s being a stubborn ass about the supply we found in the barn.”
Riley huffs.
“What supply?” I lean forward in my chair and stare at him.
“Twent
y grand,” he mumbles. “It was hidden under a plank of wood in the back corner. Total fluke that we even found it, and I didn’t want to use it.”
“Why?”
Trey lets out a short, sharp sigh. “Because it belonged to his Uncle Rafe.”
“It’s not like the guy’s coming back for it, is he?” My voice is cautious and low.
Riley lurches away from the railing and spins around, gripping the wood with another loud huff. “I don’t know.”
“Come on, Ry,” I murmur. “You know.”
His head droops forward and an awkward silence descends. I look to Trey, but he’s no help, sitting there squeezing the back of his neck. I lick my bottom lip, scrambling for the right thing to say.
But then Riley starts mumbling something.
“What?” I strain to hear him.
With a sharp spin he’s facing us again. “Or maybe I was waiting for you to get back, so we can split it, three ways.”
My eyebrows pop up in surprise. “If the money belonged to your uncle first, then it’s yours. You don’t have to give us a penny.”
“You know that’s bullshit,” he mutters. “You guys are the only family I have left. Of course I’m going to share the money with you.”
“There’s no point splitting it right now.” Trey shuffles in his seat. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere in a hurry. Especially with the whole Rybeck thing resurfacing.”
Rybeck. The word’s a knife blade through my gut.
I look to Riley. “Any word in the news?”
He crosses his arms again. “There’s a brief story about a guy being assaulted outside Skate Home Bar and Grill. The owners were away and the only employee who was on duty at the time seems to have vanished. She’s suspect number one at the moment.”
I grimace and run a hand through my hair. “Shit.”
“The guy’s in a coma.”
“What?” My head shoots up to look at Riley.
“The one they found is in a coma at a hospital in Reno.”
“Double shit,” I mutter.
“Could work in our favor for now.” Trey sounds so casual.
I gape at him. “I did that! I put a guy in a coma, and Jules is the one they’re after. How is any of that working in my favor?”
“You beat up an asshole who was hurting your girl. It was self-defense. And if we’re lucky, he’s going to wake up with no memory of the night in question.”
I scrub a hand over my face, my stomach a knotted mess. Trey’s right, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. Antonio deserved what he got. I just wish Jules and I weren’t caught up in his punishment.
“So, nothing about Rybeck?”
Riley shakes his head at Trey’s question. “From what Kade told us about the motel visit, he’s not going to give up. He got lucky with the family wedding thing, but this whole incident will ignite him. If he was still in Reno when this news story hit, he’s going to be all over it.”
“Why? How will even make the connection?”
“I don’t know!” Riley throws his hands up. “If I were a government agent and had just been assaulted by a guy and then a few hours later, someone else gets beat up? It makes sense to follow that through.”
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I whisper.
“Stop worrying.” Trey reaches across and squeezes my shoulder. “You’re safe up here.”
“For how long?” I croak. “It’s not like we can stay. Jules still has to have this baby, find it a home. I don’t know how the hell we’re gonna do that from the middle of freaking nowhere.”
“As long as this Antonio jerk lives through this coma and wakes up with no memory, the story will die down. When’s the baby due?”
I shrug. “Um…I think she’s twenty weeks or something. So that’s what? Halfway?”
Riley nods. “Hopefully that’s enough time for things to settle down.”
“Still doesn’t provide a hospital, money for the birth, a place for the baby to go afterwards.”
“We can work out logistics over the coming weeks.” Riley taps my boot with the toe of his. “And don’t worry about the money. She can have my portion of what we found.”
I go still. “What?”
“That’ll give you thirteen grand, and then if Trey’s happy for us to use his portion, that should easily see us through the rest of the year up here. It’ll be tight but we can work it out. Things have to blow over eventually, right?” He sounds doubtful, and neither of us can answer him because we seriously don’t know.
I shake my head. “Ry, you can’t give up your money for me. Neither of you should.”
Riley snickers. “It’s not like I need it.”
“Uh, yeah you do! What about college, your future?”
“Kade, man, it’s just money. When I eventually get to go to college, I have access to plenty more. Right now, you need this cash. Take it. Use it. Let Jules give birth in a hospital where she’ll be safe and cared for.”
“But…” I sigh. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“Why not? We’re family. We look after each other, no matter what.”
I close my eyes and let out a slow sigh. It’s heavy and filled with enough humility and shame to make my voice a small whisper. “Fuck, Ry. I totally missed the point. I never should have left you guys.”
Trey sighs and punches me in the arm. “If you had stayed, you wouldn’t have met Jules. You wouldn’t have figured out what a total douche bucket you are.”
I snicker and lash back with a punch of my own. We scrap for a minute, our snickers turning into raucous laughter.
Weird how a play fight can make me feel totally forgiven.
Trey pushes my head away, mussing my hair before giving my shoulder a final shove.
I settle into the seat and smile at my brothers. “I missed you guys.”
“Yeah, we missed you too,” Trey grumbles.
“Damn.” I snicker. “That must have been hard to say.”
“It was, so you better appreciate it.”
I laugh. “I do, man. Thanks.”
The tension between us splinters, uncoiling one of the knots in my stomach.
“So…” Riley clears his throat. “What the hell are we going to do now?”
Running a hand through my hair, I bunch it at the nape of my neck and try to sound upbeat. “We need a plan. We need to figure out a way to end all this so we can come out of hiding.”
“And in the meantime?” Trey mutters.
I shrug. “We learn how to grow vegetables, catch fish, cook birds. We figure out how to make it through the summer and hope like hell that Rybeck forgets all about us. And that the Antonio jerk-off lives but with no memory of how he ended up bleeding in a puddle.”
“What about Ana’s family?”
Dammit, Riley. I don’t know!
“And this guy who wants to kill Jules. If he does live and can still remember everything?”
“He’ll never find us.” My voice is low and dangerous. Images of Jules lying in the rain sobbing still make the rage in my belly burn hot. “And if he tries to touch her again, I’ll kill him.”
“Great, we can add that to our list of crimes,” Trey mutters.
I whip around to face him. “You didn’t see her, man. He was hurting her, trying to kill the baby.”
“Hey, Ana was shot. I get it okay?”
I swallow and slump back in my chair, comforted by the fact that he does.
But still…
“We’re in deep shit. I don’t know how we’re going to get out of it.”
Trey slaps my knee, giving it a firm squeeze before standing tall. “We’ll figure something out. We’re Eton Wolves. If we stick together, we can handle anything.”
I open my eyes and stare up at the stars again. “I hope you’re right, man.”
“Me too.” His voice is a husky croak and I’m suddenly struck by how adult our conversations are becoming.
We’re supposed to be talking about girls, hockey, annoying tea
chers, instead we’re trying to figure out how to live like grown-ups, survive up in these rugged mountains.
I stay where I am as he walks back into the cabin, heading for Ana’s side. The stars twinkle above me, daring me to hope for the best.
“Sometimes you just have to catch the unexpected crap life throws at you, sonny.” Grandpa used to say that all the time.
“And what am I supposed to do when I catch it?” Would be my smartass reply.
“Either toss it back or turn it into something good.” He’d wink. I’d smile, and believe the world could never beat me.
“Please don’t beat me now,” I whisper to the sky, my heart aching for what lies ahead. I’m finally back in a place where I’m surrounded by people who have never let me down.
Now it’s all on me.
I have to somehow keep them out of danger.
I hope I’m strong enough to do it.
#31:
Pinecone Promises
Julienne
I’ve been in these mountains for a month.
And I’ve fallen in love with them.
Rubbing circles over my belly, I perch on Kade’s lap, hoping I’m not too heavy. I glance at his face while he laughs at Trey, who’s trying to fire a hunting rifle.
Plugging my ears, I flinch as the loud shot echoes across the mountains.
“Missed again, city boy!” Kade laughs.
Trey looks back with a frown. “Like you can talk.”
“Actually, he kind of can.” Ana grins. “He shot two birds yesterday. You’ve yet to hit one.”
Letting out a disgusted huff, he reaches out for Ana’s hand and yanks her to her feet. “You try it, then.”
“No way.” She shakes her head. “I’m not touching a gun, ever.”
Trey’s ruffled anger flies away in an instant, his expression softening to mush as he wraps his arm around Ana’s shoulders and pulls her in for a hug. He whispers something against her ear, which makes her smile and then kiss him.
It’s so sweet I can’t take my eyes off them.
Although they bicker and tease each other a lot, they really are in love, constantly sharing these looks and silent conversations that show how in sync they are.
I steal a glance at Kade. He’s watching them too. I wonder what he’s thinking.
