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“Oh, honey,” Annika reached over and clasped my hands in hers, “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
Audrey touched my arm. “Me too. That must have been awful.”
“It was scary, but I’m glad it wasn’t worse. Even before that happened, I knew Preston had been a mistake. That certainly solidified it.”
“That jerk,” Audrey said.
“Jerk is too nice for him,” Annika said.
“If they still haven’t found him, we should alert the Squirrel Protection Squad,” Audrey suggested. “I know this isn’t squirrel related, but they’d be great at keeping a lookout for him.”
“That’s a good point,” Annika said. “I bet they’d love a new mission.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” I said. “Especially because I’ve been having a hard time convincing Zachary I can be out of his sight. The only reason he isn’t on bodyguard duty right now is that I convinced him I’ll be fine with you two, especially in a public place.”
“Good, get back to my brother, because I need to know how this happened,” Annika said.
I took a deep breath. “After the incident with Preston, I called Zachary. He’d slept on your couch that night to be closer to me because he had a feeling something bad might happen.”
“That was why? He didn’t tell us what he was doing.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s so sweet,” Audrey said.
“It was so romantic. I was standing there, staring at him, and it hit me. All those times he said he had feelings for me, he was absolutely and completely serious. None of it was a joke to him. It was real. Then I sort of lost my mind for a minute and threw myself at him and kissed him.”
“You know, if you’d told me a few months ago you were with Zachary, I would have been worried,” Annika said. “I love my brother, but he’s always been kind of a mess. But now? This is the best news ever.”
“He’s definitely crazy about you,” Audrey said.
Annika nodded. “For sure.”
“I’ve never really admitted this to you out loud, because it made me feel so foolish, but I’ve had a crush on him for almost as long as I can remember.”
“I wondered if you did.” Annika gave me a knowing smile. “I’ll never forget, there was this moment at the masquerade ball, the one where Levi and I kissed for the first time. I saw you looking at someone and you had this beautiful, wistful gaze, full of longing. It seemed like you might have been looking at Zachary, and I thought uh-oh.”
“I remember that. He looked so mysterious and handsome.”
“And now it’s finally happening,” she said. “I’m so, so happy for you.”
“There’s a little more.” I wrapped my hands around my mug. “He’s kind of moving in with me.”
“Oh my gosh, wow,” Audrey said, her eyes widening.
“It might only be temporary. And it’s less about jumping ahead on the relationship timeline and more about the bodyguard thing he’s doing. He doesn’t want me to be alone in case Preston decides to retaliate or something.”
“Good,” Annika said. “I’m so glad you won’t be alone.”
“Absolutely,” Audrey said. “We need to keep you safe until they find that jerk.”
“I agree. And you guys, I have to be honest, I hope he stays. Is that crazy?”
“Not at all,” Annika said. “When you know, you know. Besides, you grew up with him. This is obviously a new dimension to your relationship, but in a way, it’s been a long time coming.”
“If you’re crazy, so am I,” Audrey said. “I haven’t even known Josiah for half a year and we’re already engaged. But there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s right.”
Annika clutched her hands to her chest. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but we could all be sisters someday.”
Audrey pressed her lips together, like she was trying to stop herself from shrieking.
