Page 85 of Shadowing You

“I’ll let you win.” He hung his jacket on a hook and plopped into a chair.

“Let me? You overestimate your power over me.” Bold words, considering she’d do just about anything he asked of her.

She busied herself at the stove, thankful to have something to do besides fret.

Twenty minutes later, she dished noodles and thick stew into bowls and carried them to the table.

Ethan had been watching her from his chair. Somewhere in the last twenty minutes his shoulders had slumped and his expression had softened. He looked drowsy and pleased. He sat up as she set the bowls between them. “Smells pretty good.”

“Mm. We’ll see.”

She sat across from him and bowed her head to offer a silent blessing, but Ethan took her hand and spoke.

“Thank You for protecting us. Guide us safely home. And bless this meal my wife labored over.”

“Labored?” She chuckled. “You should not make fun with God.”

“He thinks I’m hilarious.”

Grinning, she lifted her chopsticks. She’d forgotten the pleasure of sitting with someone she loved to share a meal.

The first bite had her eyes drifting shut. The broth was hot and salty, savory and delicious. Six years of tasteless food had dulled her taste buds. Her tongue almost didn’t know what to do with this. Pork fat, soy, and seasonings she’d forgotten existed.

It wasn’t her first meal since her release, but it felt like the first one she truly tasted, the best meal she could remember in a long time.

Ethan was already on his second bite. “For canned stew, this is pretty good.”

“As usual, you’re very hungry.”

“You’re not wrong.”

She ate slowly, not wanting to overdo and make herself ill. Mama used to say grief and hunger were cousins. Both wanted to be taken in small bites.

Mei Lin was thinking of Mama again, and her silly expressions. That one had never made sense to her.

She reached for her water. “What did Michael say?”

Ethan finished the bite he was on. His skill with the chopsticks had improved. Perhaps it helped to have no other option. “We’re going to have to hike out.” His gaze went past her to the map on the wall. “Not through the village I went to today, though, in case I was seen.”

“Were you?”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t chased or anything, but there were cameras.”

She looked at the map, too, but didn’t see another village within walking distance. Of course, maybe that depended on how far a person was willing to walk. “Which one?”

Shrugging, he turned his attention back to the food. “We’ll head north.”

“And then what? This is a big country.”

“When we get somewhere with cell service, I’ll call Michael. He’ll have instructions by then. He and Gavin are working on it.” He returned to the meal, trying to look casual and unconcerned. And failing.

Michael’s instructions had been precise when they’d gone to Fuyin. He’d had addresses, names, times. He’d had a plan which they’d only had to follow.

This time, there was no plan.

“They are working on it?”

“Uh-huh.”