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Silver turns and crosses her arms, leaning against the bumper of her truck. “Imagine seeing you here.”
“I found him abandoned on a doorstep.In the Arms of an Angelwas playing on his phone. It was pitiful,” I tell her before Lee can speak.
Calli turns her head, but not quickly enough to hide her laugh.
Lee ignores me and steps closer to her. “I thought you had to work.”
“I got off early. You know how that is.” Silver’s lips twitch up.
“The hell I do.”
“Okay,” Calli says, grabbing my wrist and pulling me toward her cabin. “We’ll give you two a minute.”
“Hey, things were just getting good!”
“Let them work through that day after awkwardness.” She picks up the bag that she discarded on her porch while we were waiting on the cops, and I follow her inside.
I’m surprised to see her pull the cardboard urn of ashes from the bag and return it to her mantel. That’s what she was doing in the woods today? I hate that she was interrupted doing something that must’ve already been hard for her. “You were going to scatter your mother’s ashes?” I ask softly.
Her only response is an absent nod before she ducks into the kitchen. She returns with two bottles of water, handing me one.
“I’ll go with you if you want, to spread the ashes.”
“Thanks, but I’ll wait.” Her tone is firm and it’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about it. “I’m sorry about your ATV.”
“It’s alright. I’ll get another one if it isn’t found. I’m just glad you’re okay. That scared the shit out of me.”
“It was terrifying, but I made it worse thinking he was after me and then getting lost. I am clearly not good in an emergency. At least I didn’t twist my ankle or fall. I’d hate to be a cliché.”
“Hey.” I pull her into a hug, unable to get close enough to her after the scare. “You did exactly what you should’ve done. But how would you feel about getting a gun?”
“I will when I get back from my trip.”
“Good. I’m going to get some trail cams set up. We should put some cameras at our front and back doors if thieves are going to become a problem for us. I can look into which ones work well and order them while you’re gone.”
“That’s a good idea. You can let me know what I owe you for mine.” She peeks out the window at our friends and chuckles. “I think it’s safe to go out.”
Silver waves when we get out to the porch and calls to Calli. “I’m going to take Lee home. I’ll text you later.”
“Look, she did the chivalrous thing after all,” I tease him.
“I don’t know. She might put me out on the side of the road.”
“Only if you keep talking shit.” They start toward Silver’s truck, the argument continuing when Lee announces, “I’m driving.”
“You are not driving my truck!”
Calli and I look at each other, and she grins. “Your friend has met his match.”
“I could say the same thing.” I nod toward the truck, where Silver has handed over her keys and opened the passenger door. “I want you to stay with me tonight.”
She blinks at me. “I doubt the thief is going to come right back.”
“I know.” Her anxiety shows in the way she keeps fingering a lock of her hair and pacing around. She’s not okay, only pretending to be. “But you leave for a few days in the morning anyway, and I’ll sleep better tonight knowing you’re down the hall just in case.”
Her lips curl up a little as she averts her gaze. “Alright, but you have to let me pick up dinner.”
“Deal. Now, I need to go check the hives and harvest the last of the honey for this year. You’re recruited to help.”
