“Cinnamon rolls weren’t enough?”
“Just felt different.” Angela shrugged. “But it will be fine. How about you? Do you miss your jobs?”
“Not the gas station,” Kiara said with a laugh. “But I miss the library.”
“What are we going to do here?” Angela rubbed her fingers on the leather cover of the recipe book. “Just… nothing?”
“Good question.” Kiara sighed, and her easygoing attitude slipped away. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. Have you talked to your… to Duncan about it?”
“No. I don’t know how to broach it with him.”
“What about Jude?”
Warmth threatened to flood her cheeks, but she hoped that Kiara didn’t notice. “What about him?”
“Have you talked to him about it?”
“Not about jobs or anything,” she said. “But he did mention that he was going to be helping us learn self-defense.”
“Self defense?”
“Yep, and driving.”
Kiara’s eyes glowed. “I’m excited about that.”
“Also, we’re supposed to be getting new phones.”
Kiara looked down at her phone. They each had the cheapest model they could get, so the prospect of an updated one was appealing.
“Do you think we’ll get the latest versions?”
“I don’t know,” Angela said. “They’ll probably just give us whichever ones the tracker works on.”
“Tracker? What tracker?”
“Oh. Well, Jude said they’ll give us phones with tracker software on them so that if we’re ever abducted or need help, they know right away where we are.”
Kiara frowned. “I’m not sure I like the idea of that.”
Angela understood Kiara's hesitation. The idea of being constantly monitored felt suffocating, even if it was for theirprotection. "I know what you mean. But after everything that's happened…"
"You're right," Kiara said, though she still looked uncomfortable. "I guess I'm still adjusting to the idea that we need that level of security."
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the shadows lengthen across the snow. Angela found herself thinking about how different their lives had become—from scraping by paycheck to paycheck to living in a mansion where their every move was monitored for their safety.
"Can I ask you something?" Kiara's voice was quieter now.
"Of course."
"Do you think we'll ever feel like we belong here? Like, is this really our life?"
Angela closed the recipe book and turned to face her sister fully. It was a question that had been weighing on her own heart. "I don't know. When I was baking earlier, it felt almost normal. But then I remember where I am, and it's like I'm playing dress-up in someone else's life."
"Exactly." Kiara pulled her knees up to her chest. "Everyone here—Duncan, Elizabeth, even the staff—is all so kind. But I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"What do you mean?"
"Like they'll realize we don't fit and send us back to our old lives." Kiara paused, rubbing her hand against her heart. “Or maybe they’ll just send me back to our old life.”
