âBut
delicious
peat moss.â
âAnd the frostingâs perfect,â I said, licking it off my fork.
Mr. Stern made a
hmph
ing sound, but I could tell he was pleased.
âJohnâs mad he doesnât get to eat it all himself,â Mrs. Stern told Lukas. âHe likes to sneak into the pantry and cut off chunks well into January.â
We finished our meal, and I stood in the doorway, ready to escape upstairs. Weâd survived Christmas Eve. But as I looked at the Sterns, I couldnât help but feel a little sorry for them.
âI know you probably didnât want us here,â I blurted. âThree teenagers who canât make things work with their own parents. Nobody wants that. So, thank you. For letting us stay here and for sharing your holiday with us.â
âAnd your dessert,â Lukas added.
âYeah,â Natalie said. âThanks.â
âOh,â Mr. Stern said, looking startled. âOf course.â
And I wondered if things were going to get better, now that Lukas was back. The ice was officially broken.Then I noticed Mrs. Stern. She had a funny look on her face I couldnât decipher, but I was pretty certain it wasnât positive.
As we headed upstairs, Lukas said to Natalie, âDude, you say youâre not Amish, but what are you wearing?â
âShut up,â she said, but there was no venom in her voice, only happiness.
Okay, so maybe the ice was only cracked, but I was still glad Lukas was back. And he made Natalie happy, too.
4
That night I dreamed of a man made of smoky snakes. The snakes untwined from his body and slithered around me, wrapping me tight, squeezing the life from me. Just as they were covering my face and mouth, I woke. My heart raced and I couldnât catch my breath. The sky outside my window was a crisp blue, and the scent of something sweet wafted from downstairsâbut inside I knew something was wrong.
I reached under the extra pillow on my bed for my dagger.
âYou sleep with a knife under your pillow? I had no idea.â Bennett sprawled in the chair beside the dresser. He looked tense, but amused. âDid you have a nightmare?â
âHow long have you been there? You scared me.â I started to calm down. âAnd I sleep with it in case I wake up and find a strange man in my bedroom.â I stuffed the dagger back under the pillow.
He held a paper cup with a plastic lidâit was the chaiIâd smelledâand heâd started a blaze in the little fireplace. Iâd missed having a fire since Nicholas was gone. But all I really cared about was that Bennett was back. Itâd been four cold, lonely days without him. And that dream had left me feeling shaky.
There was a glint in his eyes. âIâve seen you use it; Iâm glad Iâm not strange.â
âThatâs debatable,â I quipped, just feeling so grateful to see him. I was glad it hadnât been him in my dream. I wanted to believe that heâd always be my safety net. âWhat are you doing here?â
âWill that ever get old? When this is over and weâre finally together forever, Iâm going to have to invent new ways to surprise you, just so you can say that to me.â
Together forever
. I liked the sound of that. I liked when he was the surprise, too.
He handed me the chai and sat beside me on the bed. I took a comforting sip, trying not to recall what happened last time heâd brought me one. But I did rememberâheâd disappeared for a month. I didnât know why everyone I loved went missing. I think they all thought I was stronger than I really was. At least Bennett came back.
I pulled the covers higher, suddenly self-conscious about my unsexy red flannel pajamas.
âIâm sorry,â he said, âfor being such an ass on the phone the other night. The Knellâs in rough shape. As a kid I always thought they were like James Bond meets Jason
Carol Durand, Summer Prescott