I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to digest what he just asked me. Had he just made plans to talk, or had he just asked me on a date?
“Like a date?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
He chuckled. “That’s up to you. It can be two friends sharing a meal and conversation or it can be a date.”
A flutter of happiness moved through me. I’d never been on a date. It was yet again not something I’d ever thought I’d do, but I found myself wanting to say yes.
To the date part that was.
“You’re in control, sweetheart.”
“I think I’d?—”
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the house and anything I was about to say was forgotten, along with my phone I’d instantly dropped to the bed.
I ran toward Bre’s room as fast as my legs would take me wondering if she was having a bad nightmare.
Lennon and I made it there at the same time. Bre sat huddled in the corner next to her closet, Roxie in her arms.
“What in the world happened, sweetie?” I dropped to my knees in front of her, her brother standing tall beside us, eyes scanning the room for any threat.
It killed me to think they were scared in their own home or couldn’t outrun their past to just enjoy life. Bre had suffered from bad dreams for some time when she first came to live with me, but they’d gotten more sporadic.
My girl was shaking her head side to side, her breathing still labored from whatever had scared her. “S-Someone is o-outside,” she stammered.
I jerked back a little at her response and my head spun in the direction of the window. Lennon moved to one side of it, pulling back the curtain a fraction to peek out.
“Bre, why do you think someone was out there?” her brother asked her, letting the fabric drop and moving to crouch by us.
Taking her hand in mine, I watched as she pulled in acouple of deep breaths to get the air flowing properly through her lungs.
“I was coming back from the bathroom and realized I hadn’t shut my curtains. When I went to close them I saw a light and then someone moved toward the house out of the trees.”
My daughter’s hand tightened in mine.
“Are you sure it wasn’t an animal?” Lennon asked her.
Bre’s eyes darted toward the window. “I swear, it was a person. It was no animal; I think it was a guy.”
A tingle of unease rippled down my spine as Lennon’s phone started ringing from his bedroom just as someone banged on the front door. We all jumped and then stared at each other.
“Stay here with your sister,” I told my son as I stood.
“You’re not going out there alone. Let me check my phone.”
I shook my head as we heard someone yell. “River, it’s me…Bronson. Open the door.”
What the hell? I didn’t know why he was here or how he knew we needed him, but I felt the tension that had my body coiled tight, start to release.
“Let’s go together,” I told the kids, helping Bre up to stand on shaky legs.
We all moved toward the door and before opening it, I double checked I’d heard him correctly. “Bronson?”
He replied immediately. “Yeah, it’s me, River.”
“And me,” my sister's voice came.
“Me too!” Stormi added.
