“You realize that you can’t come through security with us,” Dotty told them all.
Cash frowned. That part hadn’t occurred to him, and he shot a look at Ralen. “We can if we buy a ticket.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dotty waved her hand through the air. “That’s a waste of money. I’m sure we’ll be fine. We’ll go straight through security and onto our plane immediately.”
Butch frowned at her. “You need to take this threat seriously.”
A car came around the corner of the parking lot and they all paused. Except Monroe, who was still on her phone. She stepped out in front of the car which slammed on its brakes right as Ralen jumped forward and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back.
Monroe let out a small scream as she startled, dropping her phone on the ground.
Addie attempted to rush toward her sister, but Cash held her tight, keeping her close against his body.
The driver stopped, getting out and they all tensed, waiting to see if it was a threat.
“I’m so sorry. She just walked out in front of me. Did I hit her?”
The driver was a young guy, probably in his early twenties, and he looked pale and shaken. Cash didn’t sense any sort of threat.
No one said anything for a moment until Dotty took a step forward. “Entirely my sister’s fault. I’m so sorry if she gave you a fright. She was looking at her phone instead of watching where she was going.”
The young guy nodded. “Yeah, well, she shouldn’t do that. She could get in an accident.” He glared at Monroe, and Cash didn’t blame him. She should have been paying attention to her surroundings. What was she thinking?
The guy got back in his car and took off while they all turned to Monroe. Ralen was frowning down at her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just looking at some stuff on my phone. I didn’t mean to walk in front of his car.”
Ralen glared at her. “Pay more attention to your surroundings. That was dumb.”
Monroe blinked rapidly, looking like she was about to cry, and Addie’s hand clenched down on his.
Cash squeezed her hand back reassuringly. It was unusual for Ralen to get this upset, but Cash got it. She shouldn’t be walking around while looking on her phone, especially not with this threat around.
She needed to be more aware of things.
“Well, you don’t need to worry because look at my phone now.” Monroe held up her phone, and the screen was clearly all cracked. “Doesn’t look like I’ll be using this for a while. I’ve had this phone less than a day.”
Grumbling, she tucked it into her pocket and they all headed into the airport.
Addie didn’t wantto say goodbye. She didn’t want to go through security and get on that plane.
But they had to go home. Cash would go on with his life, and she’d go on with hers.
Not like you have much of a life.
“Well,” Dotty said briskly. “Thanks for everything. It was nice to meet you. Have a nice life.”
Turning, she headed off toward the security area.
“Geez, she’s just so warm and friendly, isn’t she?” Ralen said.
Addie raised her eyebrows. That seemed a little harsh, and especially from Ralen, who seemed to always have a friendly smile for everyone.
But Dotty hid her softer side behind a series of barbed wire fences. And there were very few people who could break their way through those fences. She and Monroe were lucky, because they were tucked in behind those fences as well.
“We better go too,” Monroe said. “Come on, Addie.”
Addie nodded, but hesitated, staring at the two of them. Butch walked Monroe over to the security area where Dotty was waiting.
