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“Exactly.” Lily laughed and reached for her wine, finishing the last of the delicate chilled rosé. “Well, I think you’ve earned one more.”
“Oh, now I’m drunk with the power,” Alex teased, pulling Lily over onto her lap to face her. “So anything I want to know is up for grabs?”
“Yes, sir.” Lily’s voice was low and hot like the water as her mouth moved down Alex’s neck. “But I’d make this one count. You never know if you’ll get another.”
* * *
“Sam.”
Sam sat up slowly, turning to Sara and raking her hand through her hair. “What’s going on?
“I don’t know,” Sara said, her voice low and tense. “But I keep hearing noises from outside.”
Sam got up and looked down at the front of the house from their bedroom window. “What did it sound like?”
???“I don’t know. Like pounding?”
“Seriously?” Sam switched on the closet light and reached for a pair of jeans. “Like on the door?”
“No, fainter than that, but I thought I heard the front door open when I woke up a few minutes ago. But that’s silly. I saw you lock it when we went to bed, and Moxie is in for the night. When I checked on her, she was reading Lily’s latest book.”
Sam dropped her phone in her back pocket, then walked to Sara’s side of the bed and took her phone off the charger, making sure it was on with the volume turned up. “Baby, I’m sure it’s nothing, but I want you to stay here and let me know if you hear anything else, okay?” Sam handed her the phone and pulled on her shoes and a hoodie. “It’s probably just bears.”
“Okay. But be careful, okay?” Sara pulled Sam’s face to hers and kissed her. “Are you sure you don’t need me to go with you?”
Sam tried not to laugh, pulling the covers back up around Sara and zipping up her hoodie. “Not that you’re not my tiny blond hurricane, who is certainly a force to be reckoned with, but I got it this time, love.” Sam stopped again at the closet and removed her service weapon from the safe, checking it for ammunition before she strapped it on. “Just hang out up here for me, okay?” Sam said as she cut the light and headed for
the door. “And stay away from the windows.”
Sam pulled the door shut behind her checked the time. It was after two a.m., and she doubted bears would make that much racket. She’d installed a concrete fence years ago, as well as scent-blocking trash bins. Bears were smart; they’d figured out the trash situation at her house quickly and left it alone since then.
She climbed the stairs quietly and turned the handle on Moxie’s door without opening it. “Moxie?” She kept her voice low. There was no answer. “I’m just checking on you. Let me know if you’re in there.” She waited another few seconds and quietly opened the door. Moxie wasn’t there. Her bed had been slept in, but her lamp had been left on, and the black Converse she wore every day were missing. Sam let herself out and went back downstairs, slipping out the front door and standing on the step until she heard the sound she was waiting for.
She turned and started down the path to the barn, and sure enough, the second she rounded the corner, she saw Moxie retrieving the ball from the edge of the concrete and putting it up again. It made a satisfying swoosh as it slid through the net, and Sam watched as she grabbed it with one hand and shot again.
Sam pulled her phone out of her pocket. Hey babe, I’m down here at the court with Moxie. Everything’s fine, she’s just shooting some hoops, and I’ll probably join her.
Moxie saw Sam out of the corner of her eye and stopped in her tracks. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.” She looked down, turning the basketball in her hands. “I just couldn’t sleep, and I got sick of lying there awake.”
Sam held up her hands for the ball and shot, smiling as it sank through the hoop and bounced back in Moxie’s direction. “I used to do the same thing when I was in high school.” Sam watched as Moxie spun the ball on the heel of her hand. “Dad hung a backboard and net on this huge oak tree in the yard, and I’d go out there whenever I couldn’t sleep.”
“Really?” Moxie said before she did a perfect short layup. It hit the rim, and she retrieved it just before it bounced off the concrete, tossing it in Sam’s direction. “Did it help?”
“Nah. Not really.” Sam turned the ball in her hands, then tossed it back to Moxie. “I’ve been seeing your light on most nights, though.” She paused. “Something on your mind?”
Moxie sank to sit where she was on the court, and Sam joined her, stretching out her legs and leaning back on her hands. It took a few minutes for Moxie to find her words, so Sam just watched the stars till she had them.
“I don’t know what to say because it doesn’t make any sense.” Moxie shoved her sleeves up to her elbows, catching the string from her sweatshirt hood and twisting it in her fingers. “Everything’s so great. You and Sara have been amazing.” She paused. “I didn’t even know foster parents like you existed. There’s always enough food, like really good food, and I’m even making friends in town that go to McCall High School.”
Sam stayed quiet and held the space for Moxie to unfold her thoughts.
“But every time something good happens, it makes me more nervous, you know?” Moxie hesitated, biting her lip. “Like, I want to get used to it, but I know it’s all going to disappear.”
Sam nodded. “And you almost don’t want all the good things because you know you’ll miss it when everything changes?”
???“Yeah. And everything always changes,” Moxie said, jerking a knot into the string. “And I feel like that would be worse than not knowing how this feels in the first place.”
“Yeah, that’s scary. And it makes perfect sense to me.” Sam lifted her hoodie so Moxie could see her gun. “Since there doesn’t seem to be a serial killer down here, I’m going to take this off while we talk, okay?”
