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Mom chuckled. “I’ll have to pull out that old cookbook of my mother’s.”
Miranda laughed, excitement written on her face. “I hope you’re okay with that?” she asked.
I laughed. “Of course. I’ll enjoy the company the most. With these two on the road, I’ll be mostly alone next year for holidays.”
Mom reached across the table and patted my hand. “You can always come with us—”
Dad cleared his throat, giving her a look that screamed they’d already talked about this. “You're right,” she said, sitting back. “It’s time for Josie to start her career and her life.”
I smiled. “It is time. It’s scary,” I admitted. “But I need to grow up and make adult decisions.”
Dad leaned his head against mine while taking another drink. “I think you’ve already started making adult decisions. What happened with Jacob was sad, but you made a decision for yourself. Remember it’s about making yourself happy, not them. And ...”
“...always go with your gut.”
***
Dad fell asleep in his chair as I imagined he would after dinner. Mom tugged on his arm, trying to wake him, while I slipped up the stairs to my room.
Jenny wasn’t feeling well, so she’d gone to bed without supper.
I could hear her snoring across the hallway. I opened my doorway with my hair smelling like chlorine and then I slipped into the bathroom.
Part of me felt nervous to go back into the shower.
However, after that talk at dinner, I needed to be a grown-up and face my fears. I slipped into the shower, washed the chlorine from my hair, and took my time.
I was surprised not to see anything out of the norm while I dressed and stepped into my room. My cell phone brightened from my bed. A text from Jacob opened on my screen.
Please talk to me.
Closing my eyes, I grabbed my TV remote and crawled under the covers. Ignoring his text, I laid back on my pillow and watched the TV absently.
The exhaustion of the day out in the sun weighed down on me, and my eyes closed minutes later.
I woke to a sound I couldn’t pinpoint. My TV had gone off, so there was little light to see. A sliver of moonlight beamed in from the crack in my curtain.
The darkness had never bothered me before.
So, when I felt a stomachful of dread, I knew something wasn’t right. There was a lingering presence, but I couldn’t see it.
Swallowing the fear in my throat, I searched my bed for my phone, my fingertips touching the cool surface moments later. It brightened the ceiling. With shaky hands, I searched the room with my bright light seeing one inch at a time.
Heat swarmed me from head to toe as I made a complete circle around the room with only shadows haunting the walls.
Sighing, I slid down into my bed and took a deep breath. I felt myself being drawn back to my childhood.
I am being ridiculous.
“Are you?”
A shriek caught in my throat. I jerked into a sitting position on my bed, staring into the darkness and knowing someone stared at me.
“Who’s there?” I whispered, feeling the hair on my arm stand on end while I waited for an answer.
“There is no reason to be afraid,” she said.
Her voice sounded like silk being dragged against my bare skin.
