Starlee's Home (The Wayward Sons 3)

D: No. We took pics of ourselves at the store fooling around. Just in case.

S: That was very proactive of you.

D: Not my first time breaking the rules, babe.

The days that follow are precarious. I wait for Mrs. Delange to show up or the police. From the lodge, I keep an eye out for Mr. Evans' truck, but it never comes.

We mostly stay away from the back cottage, not wanting to alert anyone that the twins are living there. George’s wound seems to be healing pretty well and there are no signs of infection. They have enough food to get through the next few days and Dexter brought over one of the old computers left in Charlie’s room so they have entertainment at least, but we all know this can’t go on much longer.

“Any word on Sierra’s foster care license?” I ask one day at the Wayward Sun counter. Fetching coffee is one of the few things I’m still allowed to do.

“No,” Dexter says. His nose is covered in flour and the smells from the back let me know it’s pie day. Another reason I was sent over. Leelee is a pie addict, so even getting mad at me won’t keep her from getting a fix. “I don’t think we’ll hear back before school starts.”

“What are we going to do? They can’t hide out in there forever.” I’d taken a peek earlier that morning under the guise of checking on all the cottages, and the room smelled like teenage boy and ramen. I’m going to have to fumigate. “Plus, they’re getting restless.”

“About that,” he says, leaning against the counter, “I had an idea.”

His gray eyes sparkle a little. I tilt my head. “What kind of idea.”

“I think we should still go down to the Woolly Drop.”

“You want me to sneak out?” I’m already in trouble. The idea of pushing Leelee didn’t sit well with me.

“I think we should all just ask to go. See if we can get off for good behavior. Have Claire invite you. Then we’ll sneak out the twins.”

I shake my head. “This sounds like a bad idea. Sierra isn’t going to let you go with me.”

He snorts. “Hell no she won’t. But she may let me and Jake go since Katie invited her to a party.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Are those rangers going to be there?”

He frowns. “Yeah, and as much as I want to go protective brother on her, I think she could use a little respite.” He reaches across the countertop and takes my hand. “What do you think?”

“I’ll try. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I’ll try.”

Another day passes by and we’re in the lodge office the day before New Year’s Eve. Leelee and Katie are working on a schedule to take down the decorations and talking about their own plans for the following night. I’ve got a stack of files from the cabinet—old reservation forms, invoices, promotional material. I sort through it all while I procrastinate asking about going to the party.

I’d talked to Claire. She’s all in for the Woolly Drop, I just have to figure out how to ask.

The words are on the tip of my tongue when a car pulls up out front. It’s an SUV, with a rental sticker in the front.

“Are you expecting any check-ins?” Katie asks.

“Not today.”

We’re slow and there’s no reason for all of us to even be in the office right now, but I’m grounded so I have no choice.

All three of us look out the window, wondering if it’s a lost tourist or a reservation that got lost in the system. Without Charlie here to take care of the computer system, we’ve had a few glitches.

The windows of the car are tinted and it’s not until the person in the front seat exits the car that I realize who I’m looking at.

“Is that your—”

“Mom,” I say, completely dumbfounded. She walks up the steps and pushes open the door.

“Surprise!”

“Heyyyyyyyyyyy,” I say, dragging the word out way too long. She pulls me into a hug, something I’m happy to accept, but my mind is running like a hamster on a wheel. I’ve got two boys hidden in a cottage, two boys I’m not allowed to see but have plans on seeing them anyway, I’m grounded, and…well now my mom is here.