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The house was huge. Way bigger than necessary for all of us, yet I was grateful for the space. My mom and dad hadn’t stopped bickering since we arrived, and Wyatt and Noelle were still having the most epic lovers spat of all time.
I sank down in one of the chairs in the living room with a cup of hot cocoa, hoping to have a break before Asher came in with whatever dreadful news he was sure to have, but alas, my peace was shattered the moment I heard my parents coming down the stairs. I sank into the chair, hoping they wouldn’t see me.
“This is not your fault, Nick!”
“What did I tell you? I told you not to get a cell phone. I told you the government was watching us. You hid it from me!”
I winced as my father lost his temper. Having a cell phone was a huge line my father would never cross.
“I don’t understand why you would get one anyway. We’ve never needed one before! When I was a kid, I walked to school and back in a snowstorm. If I didn’t come home before bedtime, my parents came to look for me. It was that simple.”
“Well, maybe parents today don’t want their kids to freeze in the snow!” my mother shouted.
“Name one good thing that’s come out of cell phones!”
“How about when Holly called Asher when her truck broke down?”
“She was still attacked.”
“Yes, but he was already on his way there,” my mother argued. “If he hadn’t shown up, she might be dead.”
I could hear my father grumbling. “That’s one.”
“You need to face the fact that the government isn’t following us. They don’t care about us at all.”
“Ha! Like I’d believe that!”
I took a sip of my hot cocoa, grateful they hadn’t found me yet, when I heard the door open and Asher walked in. Dammit, now I couldn’t get up or they’d know I was hiding from them.
“Asher, tell my husband that the government did not come after us because I bought a cellphone.”
“They did not.”
“See!”
“However, they did track you that way, so I would stay off it for now.”
“Ah-ha! I told you! Didn’t I tell you!” I heard my mother stomp away with my father yelling after her about the stupid cell phone. Only once their voices faded did I peek out around the chair.
“You can come out now,” Asher sighed.
My jaw dropped. “You knew I was there?”
“I smelled the hot cocoa,” he grinned, striding over to me.
Standing, I held the cup out to the side as I let him wrap me in a hug. “This isn’t exactly how I saw my day going.”
“Really? You didn’t see our house being blown up and running for our lives?”
I shook my head against him. “Tell me we’re safe.”
“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss to my head. “We’re safe. I’m sorry about all that.”
“What? Seeing my fiancé in all his former glory?” I said, stepping back with a forced smile on my face.
“If I told you I was trying to shake up our routine, would you believe me?”
That time, he got a smile out of me. “Sundays at the grocery store were getting a little boring, I suppose.”