Page 27 of Enter if you Dare: Part Three

“He isn’t with her,” Noa states. “Leni is a free woman. Maybe you should fight for her—first blood loses.”

Leni laughs.

“Absolutely not,” I interject. “No one is fighting anyone. If my sister wants to talk to Rhett, she can. Now, how about everyone gets back to work before Nixie spots you standing around doing nothing?”

Nails needs no further instruction and disappears as fast as he can, while Khodi stays where he is and stares at me.

“The trees are being unloaded fast, so it shouldn’t take too much longer.”

“Thank you,” I say to Khodi, and he nods once, then glances at my sister before walking away.

Noa watches as he leaves, a smirk slowly forming.

“Not a word,” Leni warns him.

Noa holds up his hands. “I said nothing.”

“You were about to.”

“I might have been, I have so many things to say, but they are locked inside me.”

Leni looks at me, then back at Noa, who is vibrating from keeping the words inside. I’m sure I will hear them all later.

“I can’t wait for Cave to see this,” he says, instead of blurting whatever his thoughts are about the Leni-Khodi situation.

“Do you think he will hate the trees in his space?” I ask.

Noa shakes his head. “I don’t think so. There are no corn stalks for him to chase anyone through, but now he has Christmas trees. We could get you a cute little elf costume and chase you instead. We’d tie you up with Christmas lights to the new post. I was trying to wait for Cave, but I’ve made him a new one—that’s what Nails has been helping me build. Come and look.”

Noa takes my hand and pulls me into the cornfield that is now unrecognizable; a thousand Fraser firs have turned it into a makeshift forest.

“He is going to hate the Santa costume I purchased for him, but tell me he wouldn’t look hot in it.”

“I won’t argue with that,” I mutter as he takes me to the center of the field where a new post stands, and I’m lost for words—it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Noa has gone all out for this post. It’s not just a few pieces of wood slapped together; this is carved with obvious care. It looks so well done, carvings covering the length of the upright post with the same pattern. Yet it’s the symbols that have silent tears forming in the corners of my eyes. There are three of them on the crossbeam, one at each end and another in the center, connected by an infinity symbol. On the left is a gear, so perfectly done it almost looks real. The one on the right is a little shovel which makes me smile, and in the center where the upright meets the crossbeam is a flower rendered into the wood. It is almost identical to the flower Cave gave me, the one made from corn husks.

“I cried when Nails first showed me. I thought I was crazy and the idea wouldn’t work, but it is so much better than I imagined.”

“It’s perfect.” Reaching out, I run my fingers over the carvings.

Noa wraps his arms around me from behind while I imagine Cave coming home and Noa showing him this. Cave is only twelve days away from his release date, and Vincent is working around the clock to get him home before Christmas. All we can do is hope for a Christmas miracle.

Cipher

Our parents are due to arrive any minute, and I keep glancing at my watch. While I might check in with my mom every day, I haven’t seen my parents all year. They don’t live close by and have to fly in to visit. I wanted to pick them up from the airport, but Dad insisted on hiring a car.

Noa is vibrating with energy beside me, since his mom and siblings will be here any minute as well. They live about eight hours away and are driving too. Valli has cleaned every square inch of the shed, even though they’re not staying here. Nixie has cleaned a guest house for them, while other family members visiting will stay in RVs. All the night chases are suspended for the week leading up to Christmas and for a few days afterward to allow family to stay, something Nixie does for most holidays. It allows us to take a much-needed break, and we still keep the island open during the day, and families are welcome to participate and have a good time.

“Cars are coming!” Noa exclaims, taking Valli’s hand and dragging her toward the front entrance while I follow behind them.

Once the minivan parks, Noa releases Valli’s hand and takes off running. His mom is the first out of the van, and Noa runs into her arms. She is a tiny woman and not at all what I expected, since Noa is not a small guy. Noa catches her and lifts her off the ground. Behind her, I watch as his siblings pile out.

My parents park and both get out of the car much more sedately in comparison as I walk closer, my mom smiling at me and signing, “You look thin.”

I sign back. “I’m fine. You look well.”

“I’m always well.”

She smiles and steps forward, putting her arms around me and holding on tight. When she’s done, she pulls back and looks at me, then at Valli, who has stayed close. Not that I blame her with the noise coming from Noa’s family.