Page 83 of Crossing Paths
“Didn’tyoumean it?”
“Of course.” When he just raised his eyebrows expectantly, she huffed a laugh and repeated it. “I love you.” It was shockingly easy to say, even without the roofie.
He hugged her yet again, and she leaned against him happily until a yell made her pull away enough to turn.
“Norah!” It was Chloe of course, using her projection powers for good. “You badass! That stage dive was awesome!”
“Thanks.” Even after everything that had happened, Norah felt a little bashful. “I didn’t really think about it. I just saw the gun and reacted.”
“C’mon.” Chloe grabbed her hand and hauled her toward the two boulders marking the start of the trail to the parking area.
Norah realized that while she’d been caught up in Dash, thecanyon had mostly emptied, and the few patrons who hadn’t immediately run for the exit were being herded in that direction.
“Once they let us back in,” Chloe said, “I’ll buy you a congratulatory shot.”
Norah glanced behind her, and of course Dash was right there. “Don’t think we’re getting back in here tonight,” he said with a shrug. “We’ll have to wait for the local cops.”
“Next week then. I’ll get one for you too, big guy,” Chloe said as they followed the stragglers out of the canyon.
The chatter around them turned from shocked and dazed to excited as people recounted what had happened. Once they reached the parking area, Norah leaned back against Dash, who stood as close behind her as he could get, and soaked up his warmth in the chilly night. “Want to hear something weird?” she asked.
His grunt sounded like a yes.
“Despite everything, this has still been our best date so far.”
His laugh was warm against her ear. “Yeah.” He kissed her temple, holding his lips there for an extra moment. “It has. But I promise you even better ones. Thousands of them.”
Epilogue
Even though Charlie was finally lying in her own bed after spending the majority of the last five weeks fruitlessly chasing after their mom, she couldn’t sleep. She frowned at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling Molly had given her and Cara on their tenth birthday. On her twin’s side of the room, the stars were placed neatly, spaced so evenly it was obvious Cara had used a ruler. On her side, Charlie had stuck them on haphazardly, so there were bunches separated by long stretches of plain ceiling.
“It’s more astronomically accurate,” Charlie muttered out loud. “Nature loves chaos.” There was no chance of her words waking Cara, since her sister was spending the night at Henry’s. Charlie was happy for her, and she already adored her sister’s boyfriend, but after a lifetime of sharing a room with one sister and a house with four, it was just…different.
And the difference made it hard to sleep.
With a huff, Charlie gave up on getting any rest. Flingingher covers to the side, she slid out of bed. Once in the hallway, she stopped abruptly, realizing she didn’t know where she was headed. She wasn’t hungry or thirsty, so the kitchen was out. She didn’t want to sit in the dark, silent living room either, alone with her thoughts. She was bored.
She eyed the closed door to what had been her mom’s room. Now, Felicity and her new husband, Bennett, were using it. A few weeks earlier, their mom had broken in, and Felicity had caught her searching for something in her closet. Norah and Cara had turned the closet inside out after their mom had run again, but they hadn’t found anything. Even though she trusted her sisters and knew they were more methodical than she was, Charlie was still tempted to try her luck.
The only problem was that the bedroom was occupied.
Charlie paused, debating whether she should risk going in or if she should play it safe and go back to bed to stare at the ceiling, bored out of her mind.
The answer was easy. Charlie had never played it safe in her life.
Pressing her ear to the door, she heard her sister’s deep breathing that meant she was sleeping. Bennett wasn’t making a peep, so he was either snoozing uncharacteristically quietly or was awake. Satisfied they weren’t in the middle of sexy times—Charlie had interrupted those when the three of them had been on the road, and even one time was too many—she eased the door open and peeked inside.
Bennett was indeed awake, watching her with a cocked eyebrow as he held her sleeping sister tenderly against him.Although Charlie couldn’t read his expressions as well as Felicity could, she did know that look—wary curiosity with a touch of humor.
Charlie pointed to the closet—as if that explained her presence—and crept through the shadowed room to the goal. Without moving anything except his eyes, Bennett kept his gaze on her. Easing the door open, she slipped into the closet and closed the door behind her. Once she was shut into the tiny space, she turned on the light.
She knew Norah and Cara had gone over all the walls, ceiling, and floor with a fine-tooth comb, searching for secret cubbies or hidden hiding spaces. Still, she did all of it again, tapping ever so lightly to check for hollow-sounding spots as she ran her fingers over the smooth, painted drywall. As expected, she didn’t find anything. The closet, as boring as it was, was strictly what it was built to be—a small space to hold clothes.
Frowning, Charlie checked everything again. She even unscrewed the light fixture and examined the inside of the wooden door but still found nothing. Her sisters had cleared out all their mom’s clothes and shoes, so there wasn’t anything else to search.
Hands on her hips, she glared at the white space. The only reason their mom would’ve taken the risk of breaking in would be if there was something she needed desperately. There was a slim—very slim—chance that Jane had managed to grab whatever it was between Zach Fridley knocking Felicity unconscious—Charlie silently snarled in fury at that memory—and the rest of the family returning to the house. But it was unlikely.There just wouldn’t have been time for Jane to get whatever she needed and also make it over to Mr. Villaneau’sandconvince him to smuggle her out in that minute or two window of opportunity. Charlie was certain whatever it was her mom was after was still there.
Think, think, think.She checked for vents and outlets, but there weren’t any. Just blank walls, ceiling, floor, door, rod to hang clothes on… Her gaze snagged on the thick wooden dowel that stretched the length of the closet, and a smile touched her lips. Examining the spot where the rod met the wall, her grin grew. The screws at the top of the mounting were tarnished and old, matching the age of the house…or were they? Charlie knew all Jane’s tricks, including how to make something new look like it’d always been there. She ran the edge of her nail over one of the screw heads. Sure enough, a flake of dull paint peeled off, revealing the shiny silver of a brand-new screw.
