Page 26 of Bitter Falls

“I do. I really, really do,” I reply. “But you know what I hate more? Watching the people I love get hurt. No home is worth that. Not to me.” I swallow hard, because the warmth in his gaze nearly undoes me. “What’s your vote, Sam?”

“I feel selfish voting given the circumstances. But...” He raises his hand. “Yeah. Move.”

“Okay,” I say. “We move. So say we all.” I feel a weirdly mixed wave of emotion. Frustration, yes; I put a real emotional stake in holding on here. Stillhouse Lake, for me, has become less of a refuge and more of a fortress, with enemies at the gates. But I feel relief too. It’s easy to get locked in, get tunnel vision, and feel utterly trapped by my own decisions. But I just proved to myself that we could change that future.

And it feels good. Terrifying, but good.

“You know it’ll take months to sell this place, if we intend to sell it,” Sam says. “The Belldenes going to be that patient, do you think?”

“I doubt it. They’ll make sure we get gone, one way or another.” I give him a smile, but I know it looks grim. “What do you want to bet they give us a lowball offer and strong-arm us to take it?”

“Seems likely,” he says. “They’ve got their fingers everywhere.”

“Well, we’ll worry about that later,” I say. “Meanwhile: road trip. Hey...since you’re currently available—”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Sam deadpans. “And before you ask, no. I don’t mind watching the kids while you interview the dad.”

“Mind reader.”

“One of my many talents.” Sam winks at Lanny as they both reach for the corn bread, and he beats her. “Gotta be fast, kid.”

We all have to be fast to outrun what’s circling around our calm little haven of a house.

Fast, and smart.

Lanny goes to bed early. She says she’s got a headache. I wonder, privately, if she’s really got a new girlfriend she’s sending messages to. I almost hope so; the breakup with her first love, Dahlia, nearly broke her. Rebound crushes are rarely healthy, but at least it’ll help repair her self-worth, and develop more armor for next time.

I worry, just a little, that she’s hiding something from me. But part of being a mom is knowing when to push and when not to. I decide not to this time. I’ve introduced enough chaos today.

And I pray it’s not a mistake.

8

LANNY

Vee’s back at midnight, of course. I’m nervous and scared and wishing I’d told Mom, but I still make sure my window’s off the alarm sensor when I go outside to take out the trash. Mom doesn’t notice. Nobody does. And that makes me feel pretty guilty.

When Vee shows up with her big duffel bag again, I slide that window up and get her inside, quickly. I’ve also greased it, so it doesn’t make a sound as it glides up and down. And Vee’s quiet coming in too. She’s even taken her boots off, so she’s in bare feet when she steps inside.

She gives me a vivid, wild smile, and I can’t help but smile back. Then she hugs me. Since she showered last night she smells pretty good, still, but there’s a hint of sweat and forest to her.

It kind of turns me on, to be honest.

Vee shuts the window, puts her duffel bag aside, and whispers, “So, how about that laundry?”

“Can’t tonight. Mom’s on high alert after what happened today.”

I expect her to ask what happened, but she doesn’t. She shrugs. “Okay, then. Can I borrow a cool shirt or something?”

“For what?”

“You didn’t hear? There’s a big-ass party tonight at Killing Rock! You’re goin’, right?”

“What? No!” I haven’t even heard about a party. Nobody has called me. Nobody texted me. And since Mom keeps us off social media, I didn’t even have that public heads-up. “Uh, I mean, I wasn’t invited.”

“Not an invitation kind of party,” Vee says. “You just...go. Like a rave. You know?”

I’ve never been to a rave either. I’ve only been to a few parties, honestly, and mostly those were closely supervised things. And I took presents to them. God, I’m sixteen and a total loser. Yeah, okay, I’ve been out to Killing Rock before. That’s a place where kids hang out and get up to all kinds of stuff, and I went there with Dahlia a few times. But never in the dark.

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