Page 35 of Treasured By Them
“Thanks.” His behavior scared me, earlier. When he was so coldly furious at Caleb. But now he seems normal again. Something shiny and plastic glints from within my folded clothes. “What’s that?”
“Pepper spray.” He shrugs. “I’d rather give you a gun or knife, but if you don’t have experience with them, they’re just as dangerous to you as they are to anyone else.”
“Edmund, I’m going to be with my family. I don’t need this.”
He zips my suitcase and pats the top. “Take it anyway, angel.”
Troy
On the way to Dani’s family cabin, we don’t talk much. At one point, she’s been quiet for so long that I think she’s asleep. When I glance over, though, her eyes are open.
Every now and then, Caleb’s headlights flash in my rearview. I informed him that if he wanted to make things up to Edmund, he needed to get his ass to Dani’s cabin. Tonight. I’d rather send her here with an army. Hell, I’d rather stay there with her. But she wants to be alone, and I’m needed in San Esteban. Especially if Tate Vorsong was personally involved in threatening her. They’re escalating. Whatever happens next, it’ll be on our turf, and Edmund’s going to need me.
Out here, Dani will be safe from all that bullshit.
When we reach the cabin, I carry in her bags. I call Caleb in and the two of us search the place. Both the upstairs and the downstairs, and even the basement. The place is big, luxurious. More of a mansion with a rustic vibe than an actual cabin. Nobody’s here. Caleb goes outside while I say goodbye to Dani.
“Be careful in the city,” she whispers, clinging to my shoulders. “That Tate guy was really super scary.”
“Scarier than me?”
She grins. “Almost as scary as you…Daddy.”
I fucking love it when she calls me that. “I’m going to miss you, little girl. I’m only a phone call away. Same goes for Edmund. Got it?”
“Got it.” She stands on her tiptoes. She still can’t reach me for a kiss, so I lift her up. She wraps her legs around my waist and I take her mouth with mine.
Kiss after kiss after kiss, I drink her in. I never want to let her go.
Danica
I fell asleep feeling lonely, and I wake up the next morning feeling lonely. At one point in the night, I had another nightmare about sinking into mud. A heavy weight pressed me down. I woke up, shaking, and it took me forever to calm down enough to fall back to sleep.
If I’d stayed in San Esteban, Edmund and Troy would have comforted me. And right now, I would be curled up between them, feeling their heat on either side of me.
It’s been less than fourteen hours since I saw them, and I miss them so much, my heart hurts.
I roll over in bed and pick up my phone. Did they text?
Nothing.
This is ridiculous. They care about me, but there’s no way they can feel the same as I do. I’m like a teenager with a crush. It’s embarrassing.
What I need is a task, something concrete to occupy my mind.
I get dressed and grab my diary of unsent letters, because I have a few choice things to say to Probably Tate Vorsong. I take my math journal, too, so I can calm myself down after I go off on Probably Tate.
I’m halfway down the stairs when I stop. Instead of journaling, I should look through my camp scrapbook and try to find clues. I go back up and switch out the journals for the scrapbook.
Holding it in my arms makes me shiver. I want to put it back. But Britney Gardner deserves better from me. If my memories can provide any clue to what happened to her, then I need to work harder to unlock them.
After making a cup of coffee, I take it and my scrapbook outside. The back patio overlooks the lake. We have a dock out there for “fishing”—which for my family is really just sitting, eating snacks, and sunbathing. I might do some of that later.
I make myself comfortable on one of the deck chairs. A bee buzzes slowly around a potted geranium near my feet. The lake sparkles in the morning light. Far across the water, someone sits in a boat. It looks like they’re doing some real fishing. An osprey dips low over the water, doing some fishing of her own.
A fortifying sip of coffee, and I’m ready to examine the past.
The pages are heavy between my fingertips. All those photos of the lake—I was obsessed. It’s the very lake I’m looking at now, although from a different vantage point. I pause on the page where I’m in a boat with two other kids. We seem so happy—it’s an idyllic image. Smiling kids with sun-pinked cheeks, bright red camp t-shirts, brilliant blue sky above.
