Page 105 of Stay With Me
“You alright, squirt?” I ask as I grab her hand.
“Yeah, just looking around. This place is big,” she says as she looks up at me.
Sometimes I forget that she’s never been to a store this big. “It is, but it’ll be a lot of fun. We’ll get some hot chocolate from the coffee stand before we jump into shopping.”
She just nods at me.
“Alright, let’s go do some shopping,” I say and lead them to the store.
Inside, I grab a cart, and we get our drinks from the coffee stand before heading over to the school supply section in the back of the store.
“I… um, I forgot my new purse in the car. Can I go get it?” Jess asks softly, looking down at her drink.
“I can go grab it for you. You can stay and start shopping with Noah,” Luna suggests.
“I’ll go get it. You both stay here,” I say, and Jess looks between the two of us.
“I forgot my ChapStick in the cup holder. I don’t want it to melt. I’ll be right back. It’s not a big deal.” Luna sets her purse in the shopping cart and goes up on her tiptoes to kiss me under my chin.
When she pulls away, I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her to me. My lips brush hers softly. “Are you sure? I’d prefer if we all go with everything going on.”
“Noah, I’ll be back in a jiffy. It’s silly for us all to go out there. I can’t be afraid to do everything by myself. I’ll be back before you know it.” She turns to Jess. “Go start looking at backpacks. I can’t wait to see what you choose.” She smiles and turns to walk toward the front of the store.
I watch her until I can’t see her anymore. “Alright. You heard her, let’s go look at backpacks.”
Jess nods and looks down at the floor but follows me.
A few minutes later, Jess is still looking at the backpacks, and I look over my shoulder toward the front door to see if I can see Luna.
“Where is she?” I mumble. It shouldn’t take that long to get something from the car. When I hear Jess sniffle, I turn to her. “Hey, it’s okay. She’ll be right back. She probably ran into someone we know and is talking to them.”
She shakes her head.
Confused, I bend down in front of her. “No? What do you mean no?”
“This is all my fault,” she cries and throws her arms around my shoulders.
My heart picks up once I register what she said.
“What is your fault?” I ask her softly, my stomach churning as worst-case scenarios run through my head.
Holding her in my arms, I stand and grab Luna’s purse before striding to the front of the store.
Alarm bells blare in my head.
“Everything,” she whispers, tears falling down her cheeks.
I rush out the entrance, and my heart drops to my stomach when I see my truck passenger door open and Jess’s purse on the ground. Movement catches my eye, and when I turn toward it, a white van is barreling down the row next to where we were parked, taking a corner faster than it should.
Through the window, something glints in the sunlight.
Without thinking, I drop to the ground and cover Jess with my body. Her screams are drowned out by a popping noise.
As soon as it starts, it stops. I hear yelling from the people in the store as I get up.
I stay on my knees and pull Jess back into my arms. “Are you okay?”
She nods against me.
