Page 47 of Say You'll Stay

The banter is a welcome distraction from her anxiety about that diaper run, but it’s already through the roof and eager to return. Tomorrow evening she’ll feel better when he’s back again.

It’ll all be fine, just fine.

“Hey, Cole?” She pauses on the threshold. “Do you think we’ll stay here a bit longer?”

“This place has been good to us so far. We should take advantage of that.”

“Get past this crying phase before going out into the wild again?”

He nods. “Not a bad idea. The sound doesn’t carry much in here. The walls aren’t paper thin and the trees are a buffer if it gets out. I think it’s safer for now.”

She hadn’t realized how badly she wanted to stay a little longer until that became the plan.

“I, um… I like it here,” he continues, leaning back against the chair. “It feels…”

She thinks he wants to saylike home,but he doesn’t finish and she doesn’t fill it in. This isn’t home. Reaching the farm is the plan. She won’t ask him to give up his chance to see his best friend again.

“I know what you mean,” she replies, as a flash of thunder rumbles and fails to elicit even the smallest reply from Lucy.

“Really?” He grins. “All that fussing before and now she doesn’t care about this bad weather? She’s playing with us.”

The baby only yawns and Olivia laughs, squashing that lump in her throat that springs forward every time she’s shown a brief flicker of what a family should be.

* * *

He’s leaving, and Olivia’s not handling it well. On the outside, she’s calm. Unbothered.

Inside, she’s unraveling and the only thing that’ll put her together again is having him home safe. If anyone can survive out there, it’s him and she needs to be confident about that. Logically, she’s well aware of how silly she’s being, but her emotional side has no use for logic today.

“It’ll be alright,” he tells her, as they head for the front door. “Don’t go worrying about me.”

“I’m not,” she lies. “Like you said, it won’t take long. You’ll come right back. It’s fine.”

“Keep the doors locked.”

“Of course.”

He sways in her direction and for a moment she sees her own fear plastered clear across his face, thinks he might hug her before he goes and she longs to feel his arms around her in a firm squeeze, but the contact never comes.

“Don’t take any chances,” she calls out, as he heads down the steps toward whatever lies beyond the woods.

“I promise.”

He doesn’t turn around again.

* * *

Hours later, she’s in a full-blown panic as the sun begins to set and darkness threatens to engulf him, wherever he is. Something is keeping him away, or…

No. She can’t think like that. If she assumes him dead, that might tempt fate to make it reality and she won’t chance their luck. She clutches the baby tighter, watching her focus on her own tiny hands for the first time. Fascinated.

It’s a moment Olivia should cherish, but it’s overshadowed by Cole’s absence.

“We’ll tell him all about this soon.” She peers between the curtains, watching the treeline for any sign of him. “He’s coming back. He has to.”

Repeating it like a mantra in her head, she continues long into the night, even after the moon illuminates his absence.

Chapter 13

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