Angered Seasons: The Worst Birthday Ever (Volume One) by Mireille Chester Read Free Book Online Page A

join us. Max and Lizzy were
pale as they ran into the building. Lizzy scanned the room quickly
and threw her arms around me when she spotted me. Her short black
hair was held back with a pale pink bandana that matched her tank
top. Her black jeans hugged her slightly thicker frame all the way
down her legs where they tucked into calf high black leather boots
with a one inch heel. She pulled back, wiped her hands over her
face to get rid of the tears spilling from her dark brown eyes, and
smiled.
    “Sorry. I promised myself I wouldn’t
cry.”
    I smiled and gave her another hug. “Don’t
worry about it.” I gave Max a hug. He was dressed in his usual blue
jeans, work boots, and t-shirt. He ran a hand through his blond
hair and I could see the fear in his light green eyes even though
he tried to hide it. He put an arm around Lizzy’s shoulders and
pulled her close.
    Everyone jumped at the sound of the overhead
door being opened. I ran to Lane’s side.
    “Are you crazy?”
    He shook his head and ran out to the truck. I
watched as he drove into the shop and was followed by Pete in his
half ton. Jason pulled the door shut as quickly as he could.
    “Why the hell would you do that?” I tried to
keep my voice from shaking.
    “In case we need to make a quick escape.”
Lane was pulling blankets out of the bags we had brought and was
handing them out to everyone. “If they come out this far and find
us and start to break in, we can jump in the trucks and drive out
of here.” He looked at me as he handed me my favorite blanket and
pillow. “Gabs, it’s ok. We made sure there weren’t any out there
first.”
    I noticed everyone was looking at us. Marie
whispered something to Pete. Lane didn’t seem to notice.
    “Pete, you and Marie can take the office. Max
and Lizzy, you guys can sleep in the upstairs storage. Jason…”
    “I’ll take the one ton.” Jason took his
blankets and went off without another word.
    Marie elbowed Peter who rolled his eyes. “I
spilled a bunch of pop on the bench in my truck.”
    “That’s alright.” Lane waved off the
inconvenience. “Gabs, you can take the back room. I’m going to stay
up.”
    I glanced up at the clock over the door. Two
in the morning. I made my way to the coffee pot and started it up
while everyone headed off to their designated sleeping areas.
    “What are you doing?” Lane handed me two
cups.
    “I don’t think I can sleep.” I put cream and
sugar into mine. “Those kids are acting weird.”
    Lane grunted. “They’ve been through a lot
tonight.” We went to sit on the couch we’d set up in one corner of
the shop. That and a table and a few chairs made up our break area.
“How are you doing?”
    I shrugged, reached over to the small
television, and grabbed the remote. “It’s been a weird night.” I
took a sip of my coffee and lay down so my head was on his lap.
“What channel should we try?”
    “Go to CTV. Maybe they have an update for
here.” His hand smoothed my hair then rested on the top of my head.
The regular programming was on though there was a warning scrolling
across the bottom of the screen: Authorities are strongly advising
to stay indoors. Lock your doors. Stay tuned for updates that may
occur.
    A rerun of the Simpsons came on and Lane
chuckled as Homer tried to choke the life out of Bart. It was such
a small thing, but the familiarity of me lying on his lap while we
watched TV was enough to take the edge off of our situation. As the
adrenaline started to wear off, I found myself drifting off to
sleep.
     
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
     
    I stretched with a yawn and was glad that
Lane tightened his hold around my waist to keep me from falling off
the couch. I pulled the covers up and gazed around the shop. I
could hear voices coming from the office and snores coming from the
open window of the one ton. The smell of fresh coffee made its way
to me and my stomach grumbled.
    “Are you awake?” Lane’s voice was just a
whisper.
    “Yeah.” I wiggled