“You are.”
We went into the other room and again he checked the switches.
He sighed. “So how about. . .$400 for the rent.”
Shocked, I asked. “A month. That’s too low. You could get $1500 easily.”
“You need to fix your SUV. You’ll have to get your own Wi-Fi account unless you want to share mine—”
“That’s not your concern.”
“$400.”
“No.” I shook my head. “At least. . . I don’t know $900 or—”
“You’re really bad at business. You never go up on the price.”
“I’m trying to be fair.”
“This is about your kids and you having a safe shelter. Fuck being fair.” He left the room and called back. “$400 or no deal.”
“Wait a minute.” I rushed to follow him down the stairs.
“That’s my final offer.”
I laughed. “Oh really?”
We got to the living room.
He faced me. “Have you figured out what gun you want?”
I sighed. “Yoshiro, I’m still wrapping my head around staying here.”
“Are you okay with the guns being downstairs in the basement. If not, I can move them to the main house.” He gestured behind me. “That door leads there. We’ll have to put some special locks on it, so the kids don’t venture down to the basement on their own.”
“Good point.”
“I can put together a lease tonight.”
“That sounds good.” Nodding, I looked around. “We’re really moving here.”
He beamed. “You are.”
“I can’t thank you enough. If you ever need me, you have to promise to ask. I’ll be there. I’ll do anything.”
He pierced me with an intense gaze and then it fell on my lips.
I stirred. My skin flushed with warmth. His attention affected me in a way that I’d been unprepared for. I was finding that I loved the way he watched me. Sometimes I even looked forward to it.
But still, I wasn’t ready to think any deeper about it. I wasn’t prepared to wonder, if I yearned for more.
“There’s a school in the area.” Yoshiro pointed at the road far off. “Maybe as things get better, when the problem of Wyatt is solved, perhaps you could put them in school.”
“I would definitely be thinking about it.”
“I see a school bus go by every morning. It would probably come here.”
I smiled, imagining a normal morning where I got them ready for school, making their lunch boxes, and walking them to their bus stop with no worries in my head. No fear that Wyatt was lingering within the shadows.
This is going to be good.
We headed back to the house in silence.
Later that afternoon, we ventured out with the kids to find a tree. While I thought that the other days were the best, this one had risen even higher. I had a home—a place for us to live. I’d figured out how Wyatt had been finding us all these years. That knowledge would buy us more time to settle down and give me a plan to end him for all.
And Yoshiro would help. I had no doubt in my mind that he would have my back. He had the strength. The knowledge. He’d done things that would scare most, but not me. When I looked at him, I saw my savior—someone I could run to when the monster came around.
And I’d walked this Earth for too long alone. Only having myself to depend on as I took care of my kids and worked to keep them safe.
It felt good to have a friend—to be part of a real family.
Jalen picked a huge, fat tree.
Yoshiro had brought two axes and they chopped it down together.
And it might’ve been a sick thing to do, but as they hacked away at that wood, I pictured Wyatt’s neck right there. I smiled, wide and full of happiness.
That’s right. Off with his fucking head.
In my mind, bits of flesh splattered. Blood spilled. And when the tree toppled over. It was Wyatt’s face that I saw rolling on the ground.
I’m going to kill you. That thing inside of me that I needed, it’s here. Right here in my heart.
That night, the kids and I finally got to hang decorations and put up a tree. It was the first time in three years. Seemed like every time we got a box of Christmas balls out, Wyatt arrived to spoil all the fun. Granted now I knew that it was my mother who had helped. She always asked for the address to send presents during the holidays. And those were the times, when we ran the most.
But tonight, I stared at big Christmas tree lit up and shining bright. Kia stood next to me. Her eyes watered. Jalen asked to sleep by it. Yoshiro raised Poppy high in the air to place the star.
And I almost cried right there. Just from the sight of the light and the kids’ happy faces and Yoshiro’s strong, manly presence welcoming us, protecting us, helping us weather the storm in our lives.