Page 145 of Shadowing You

“Don’t bears hibernate?” Ethan asked.

He paused behind the sofa. “Good point. One less enemy to worry about.”

“You can eat out here.” Ethan nodded to the bar. “At a table, like a civilized human.”

Asher smiled, the expression transforming his face. She wondered if Cici had to work so hard to coax a smile out of him.

“So, uh… Thing is…” Asher shifted on his feet. “If I hadn’t seen Cici in six years, and we were married, and we were in a secluded house in the snow, holed up in front of a fire…?” His gaze flicked to Mei Lin, but he seemed a little embarrassed and looked at Ethan again. “I wouldn’t want you there.”

Ethan laughed. “Fair enough.”

Asher returned to his little room with the big window and all the screens.

“He’s a funny man,” Ethan said.

“Wise, I think.” Mei Lin pulled her feet beneath her on the couch. The fire had burned down to coals, and she was getting chilly.

Ethan shook the dice in the little plastic cup and sent them rolling across the coffee table, then scowled. “I already have twos.” He scooped up three of the dice and started shaking them again.

His phone buzzed against the side table.

He glanced at the screen, and his face shifted. “It’s my father.” He answered and set the phone between them. “You’re on speaker. Mei Lin’s here.”

“Hope I didn’t wake you.”

“I’m beating Mei Lin at Yahtzee. It’s my superior shaking skills.”

Gavin didn’t laugh. “Lu Feng surfaced in Mexico City two days ago. He’s using a forged passport.”

“Mexico?” Ethan plopped the cup down too loudly.

She knew how he felt. Lu Feng was on the same continent. She’d preferred it when an ocean separated them.

“This is good news, son. We can’t stop him until we find him. If he thought all was lost, he’d go to ground, and then we might never find him.”

That would be terrible. Mei Lin would never feel safe.

“As long as he’s still searching,” Gavin continued, “we’ll find him. Two more things. First, Mei Lin, your visa cleared this afternoon.”

She gasped, so surprised she was at a loss for words.

Ethan took her hand, grinning at her. “That’s fantastic news.”

Six years ago, Mei Lin had prayed every morning and every night that her visa would be issued, half believing it never would.

Ethan had shown her photos of the town where he’d grown up. Thick forests and rolling hills and a beautiful coast lined with islands. There was a pretty downtown area with a park in the middle. It was farther south and warmer than Seattle, with less rain.

Her fear that the visa would never be issued was, she realized now, one of the reasons she’d kept distance between herself and Ethan. He had to go back eventually, and what if she couldn’t go with him?

Now, just like that, it was done.

“I know you’re both eager to get home,” Gavin continued. “With Lu Feng on the Continent, you’re safer where you are. If we don’t stop him at the border, he’ll probably head to Virginia. We need to give the authorities time to close the net.”

She sat up as something occurred to her. “Will he find Mama and Bàba? Will they be safe?”

“Don’t worry.” Gavin’s voice was gentle. “I’m in Virginia now. I’ll go to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning. Ethan, they both work at your hospital, right?”

“Yeah.” He was leaning toward the phone. “The security isn’t great, though. I wouldn’t trust⁠—”