“I’m so excited!” my mother chimed as I got her settled in the back seat of Jay’s Range Rover.
It was an older model, one that needed to be manually driven, as Jay didn’t want to risk using a car that accessed Neurovance operating systems while we were in hiding.
“Yeah? Did you make a list of things you want to get?” I asked, and she beamed at me, nodding.
“Honestly, I’m more excited to get a vanilla latte from the cafe Jay told us about than anything. I wonder if they sell those syrups. Maybe we can bring some back to the cabin!”
“If they have them, get as many as you’d like,” Jay said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “We won’t be going back to town for a few months after this, so make sure you stock up.”
He reached back, handing my mom a fistful of cash without a second thought. She took from him with wide, grateful eyes.
“O-okay. Thanks, Jay.” She smiled at him, and he gave her one of his small, reserved smiles before turning back around.
She’d been doing much better lately, and almost never confused him for my father anymore. I was pretty confident that after a few more sessions, she might be completely back to normal.
She still had the odd fugue state where she seemed to forget where she was or why she was there, but that hadn’t happened in over a week now, so Jay and I were both feeling good about taking her to town with us to stretch her legs.
“Ready, Milo?” Jay checked as I hopped into the passenger seat next to him, feeling a little excited myself.
As gorgeous as the cabin was, I was excited to get out and about a little bit.
It was getting cold enough that we wouldn’t look suspicious walking around the town with scarves over our faces and beanies on our heads to help with anonymity, so this trip just felt like a safe, fun outing.
“I am so flippin’ ready!” I grinned, rubbing my hands together to warm them as Jay punched the ignition.
He slid a pair of aviators on and tugged his black scarf more firmly up over his nose, before dropping his hand to rest casually on my thigh as he pulled out onto the rocky, overgrown mountain road that led to town.
Resting my hand over his, I gave his knuckles a squeeze, and although I could barely see any of his face, I could tell he was smiling.
The village wassmall and quaint, with only one main street lined with little A-frame buildings adorned with signs that said things like‘General Store,’and‘Town Pub,’as if the locals hadn’t bothered branding any of the establishments since there was clearly only one of each available.
“Why do I feel like you whisked me away to literally live in Stardew Valley?” I asked Jay softly, eyeing the adorable little town, half expecting Shane to walk out of the town pub half drunk and rambling about how depressing life was.
Jay chuckled as he easily parallel-parked between two cars that were even more obsolete than his Range Rover, and I bit back a smile.
“We’ll have to plant some chilli peppers in the plot this summer to make it official,” he replied, thumbing his little enamel keychain fondly before stuffing his keys into one of the pockets in his tactical jacket.
My heart skipped a beat at the idea, and I almost kicked up my damn heels as I turned to fully take in the tiny town nestled in this gorgeous mountain range.
Eeek! This place was so stinking cute!
If we weren’t here as fugitives, I would have spent the entire day flitting from shop to shop, gushing over how quaint everything was.
They even had a shop that was literally just calledThe Christmas Store,and from what I could see in the windows, all they sold were Christmas ornaments and Santa Claus figurines.
God, it was so frickin’ cute I wanted to freaking die.
As if he could sense my excitement, Jay wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tugged me in close as I eye fucked the Christmas store like I’d never seen a seasonal shop before.
“We should go in,” he hummed in my ear, his hot breath sending shivers through my entire body. “I think my dad had one of those artificial trees stored somewhere, but I’m sure it could use some ornaments. We can put it up together for Christmas.”
I glanced up at him, my eyes wide with excitement.
I hadn’t even thought about the fact that we’d be spending Christmas together…Like a family.
My toes curled in my boots.
“Yeah?” I breathed, and he nodded, pressing a kiss to my forehead through his scarf.
