“We’re guests in this house,” I reminded them in a hushed, dry tone. “And professionals. Which means, as long as we’re within hearing distance of our clients—which will be all the time—we’re void of all emotion. Robots. Because if you two continue to panic, Jonah panics. If he panics because he doesn’t know how to hide it yet, the clients will panic. And then, this thing’s got a whole buffet to feed from. We’re not in the business of panic,okay?”
Jonah was the only one who nodded. December looked at her lap, shame nudging her shoulders down. Nico met my glare with a slight smile, a tinge of pride in my ability to pull us back to center.
“Here’s the plan: we gather information, monitor the hotspots, and watch each other’s backs,” I continued, my headache slowly fading as I pushed against the bubble of thoughts repeating,you already fucked everyone over by not admitting you screwed up the data, you’re not qualified to do much more than smile and pose for photos, what do you offer them beside the name? Nothing. Nothing. All a bunch of—“Like always. This is a problem, and we’ll fix it, like always. But do not fuck around and sabotage us before we’ve truly begun.”
No one responded, but from their softened looks, my words seemed enough to convince them to at least feign maturity. Before I could open my mouth to relay more orders, there was a soft knock at the closed door. December looked at me for permission before opening it.
“Hi,” Esther greeted softly. She did a double take at my cousin before glancing over December’s shoulder to the rest of us.
“Hello.” December opened the door wider and stepped out of the way. “Welcome in.”
Esther stayed in the hall, cheeks speckled with red but tone steady and nonchalant. “We’re heading into town for some supplies.”
Esther looked at me as she offered the information. “Octavia wanted to know if you all need anything? She said, boots, maybe?”
Nico frowned, sending a confused look my way and mouthing,Boots?
“I think we’re—” December started.
“We’d love to tag along.” I grabbed my bag. “It’ll be nice to get a lay of the land. A chance to check out your library.”
Esther’s brow furrowed. “Sure…I will warn you, there isn’t a ton of material there.”
“There’s a record collection, though, right?” Nico asked.
She considered it. “I don’t think I ever thought to ask.”
“One way to find out.” I gestured for the others to grab their things. They followed the command without protest, stuffing their bags with the most portable pieces of equipment.
“Do you know if any of the furniture in the house is secondhand?” I asked Esther as we followed her downstairs. “Or supplies in the barn? It doesn’t have to be much. A fork or a mirror. Also, are there any old journals in the boxes in the attic?”
Esther blinked with overwhelm when she got to the bottom of the staircase. Octavia waited in front of the house, sitting on top of Kat. Frog grazed a small patch of grass next to them.
“Tagalongs,” Esther told her boss when Octavia scanned us in confusion.
“Fun,” Octavia said sarcastically.
“She can answer all your questions far better than I can.” Esther gestured to an unamused Octavia.
“Of course she can.” I smiled up at my most interesting challenge.
“Maybe you two should ride up together?” December suggested. It was a joke Esther took seriously. She grabbed Frog’s reins and handed them to me.
“I got to take my truck into town anyway,” Esther told a ready-to-protest Octavia.
Sweat prickled down my spine when Frog lifted his head at the sight of me holding his reins. We locked eyes. Acreature without eyebrows shouldn’t be able to emote disdain easily, and yet, I’m doused in it.
“I don’t know?—”
“You’ve always wanted to ride a horse into a small town.” Nico squeezed my shoulder, pushing me further into a scenario in which I had no business being. “Like a lone cowgirl, remember?”
He laughed when I shot him daggers. I was a horse girl in imagination only. Of course, I found them cute and fun as a kid. And majestic as an adult. It was exciting to fantasize about owning one and entering a competition where I’d defeat my stable nemesis. I’d grown up onSaddle Club, after all. But in actuality, Frog was a five-foot, thousand-pound animal who scoffed at me before glancing at Octavia as if to ask,You seriously going to let this woman near me?
“Into the sunset,” I corrected Nico in a dry voice. “In a dream state.”
“It’s all the same, isn’t it?” Nico shrugged. “Towns and sunsets.”
“You’re neglecting the dream part.”
