Chapter 40
Ifeel like I’m living in a dream, one I definitely don’t want to wake up from.
It’s been four weeks, and my time with Keoni has been the best I’ve ever had. This is how my first—and last—relationship was meant to be. I know he would’ve been my high school sweetheart; we just… click.
Keo’s mom would say two souls are born for one another, and I truly believe his was meant for mine. This isn’t even a second-chance situation—we never got our first. I ache for the younger me who had to watch him walk away, but I’m so happy with how things have turned out.
Except, I think of the circumstances that brought us here, and I remember it was the deaths of our parents that led us back together. I shouldn’t be wanting to thank them, but god, I do, and I wonder if they’d forgive me.
I love my dad, and some days I find myself rifling through old photos I’d stashed in boxes still piled in the closet. We’ll convert the loft for storage once the weather warms up, but until then, the boxes stay where they are.
I never noticed how, in every high school photo, I was always closest to Keoni. Dinners—I sat beside him. Movie nights with our parents—I was beside him. There’s a photo of us at Star Wars: The Last Jedi; he had his arm around my shoulders, pulling us as close together as possible for the shot.
Then there are photos with all five us; Dad, Stepmom, Alysa, Keo and I. A surge of hate that shouldn’t be there runs through me knowing that it’s because of their love, ours didn’t get a chance to exist.
I’ve crossed a narrow bridge with my feelings.
I miss my dad.
But… I’m happier now because I can finally have my happiness.
With a heavy sigh, I finish putting the dishes away and glance out the window. A light layer of snow rests on the ground—not enough to completely cover it. But soon, I’ve been told, it will be white as far as the eye can see.
Keoni left yesterday and was supposed to be home tonight, but Kali is sick with the flu. I completely understood, but I think he had a bit of anxiety about it. I’m not entirely sure why. It’s just one day, and it’s for a friend.
Still… he asked me not to go anywhere and to immediately call or text him if any issues came up. That it didn’t matter what was happening, he’d come home.
I tried to brush it off, but there was no playful tone in his voice. So, I promised.
A knock at the door startles me and I nearly drop the plate I was putting away. I hurry over and peek through the window, spotting a man walking down the steps. He’s wearing the standard USPS uniform, and I release a breath of relief.
A soft meow filters into my ears, and I glance back at Clover stretching across the sofa.
Once the mailman’s van pulls away, I crack open the door and look down at the brown box sitting a foot or so away from me. My name is scrawled across the label with Wildhart’s address beneath it.
No sender. No return address. Nothing else.
I crouch to pick it up, but something in my gut twists—sharp enough to freeze me in place.
Instead, I hurry back inside and grab my phone from the table. Keo’s number glows on the screen, my thumb hovering.
He told me to call if anything was wrong, but is this one of those situations? It’s just a package. Normal people don’t panic over cardboard. And I can’t keep pulling him away from work. He’s carrying us until the lawsuit against Michael is finished.
Still… the box sits just outside, silent and unsuspecting, but every part of me screams that something isn’t right.
I decide to play slow, and smart.
Keo
Baby, did you send me something?
As in?
You know, like send me something to the house
No, but that reminds me, I’ve not bought you anything
Do you like flowers?
I don’t mind them
Don’t laugh, but I love sunflowers
Why’d that make my dick hard?
Noted
Why did you ask?
No reason
Are you expecting a package?
No…
Suspicious. Everything okay?
Yeah, everything’s fine. Have a wonderful rest of your day
Call me before you go to bed?
You got it, sunshine
I tap my phone against my palm, debating. It could be nothing. Maybe something from Britt. Or Kali. Or even Taylor. We’re creeping into the holiday season, after all.
A strange ache tugs at my chest. Alysa… Would she have sent me something?
Instead of firing off a string of texts, I settle on one name. I’m not sure why he’s the first to come to mind, but my fingers move before I can second-guess it.
Less than ten minutes later, Levi is strolling up to our cabin. I’d slipped out the back and have been waiting, nerves prickling under my skin.
I tell myself there’s no bomb in that package.
… But the fact I even have to remind myself of that says enough.
“Hey there, Ayden.” He lifts a hand in a casual wave, the other buried in his pocket, his long coat pushed neatly behind it.
If suave could be defined by a single man, it would be Levi. Even in the snow, he moves with this graceful ease, polished and unbothered. Presentable doesn’t even begin to cover it.
I swallow, giving him a weary smile. “Thanks so much for coming, Levi.”
He shrugs, brushing it off like it’s nothing. Which is strange—like I’ve done anything to deserve him being so attentive.
“What’s up?”
I wet my lips, my eyes drifting to the porch where the brown box waits, silent, ordinary, but I swear it’s anything but. “I had a delivery. Maybe I’m overthinking, but with everything going on, I just—”
He doesn’t even let me finish before brushing past me, stepping up the stairs to the porch. He’s standing before the package and my anxiety spikes.
“H-Hey! Be careful.”
“Who dropped it off?” he asks, glancing back at me.
“Postal employee. USPS. He had the van, uniform, everything. I’m sure he was legit.”
Levi nods, hitching up his pants before crouching. “Odds are it isn’t a bomb then.”
My chest caves in at the word. Sure I was thinking about it, but hearing it out loud? It hits different.
“Hard to time something like that with general delivery.”
Suppose that makes sense. Not that I’d have ever thought of it that way.
He reaches down to his sock and slides out a switchblade. The knife spins between his fingers like it belongs there before he drags it cleanly under one flap of the box, then mirrors the motion on the other side.
“You weren’t expecting anything?”
“No, and I reached out to Keo to see if maybe he’d had something sent to the house. He also wasn’t expecting anything.”
He pulls up the flaps, but it’s still taped down the middle, so it doesn’t open.
“Hmm. No covert poison mechanism.” I swear my heart’s pounding in my ears, and not in my chest.
Then he slices straight down the center as I step up to get a better look. He never touches the cardboard with his hands—only the blade, neat and precise, turning the box with precision. Inside sits what looks like a black leather bag. Or something like it.
“Do me a favor, Ayden.”
He glances over his shoulder, offering a smile so smooth his eyes disappear.
“Sure.”
“Please turn around for me.”
My stomach sinks. To be honest, I don’t want to know why he’s requesting that. So, I do as he says. Giving him my back, I look out at the lake that has yet to freeze over.
I try to steady my breathing. My heart doesn’t care, it’s slamming against my ribs hard enough to hurt.
“Do you have a cat?”
The urge to look at him nearly cracks me in half. “Yes.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Yes… she’s inside.”
“You sure?”
I’d just seen her. I’m positive. But the way he asks makes my skin crawl. “Yes. She’s probably waiting for me to come back in. Why?”
He releases a sigh, then comes the rough rubbing of cardboard as he closes the box.
“Can I turn around?”
“Mhmm.”
I spin back to see him already on his feet, the box shut and tucked under his arm.
“So…?”
“Let me take care of this for you. It’s nothing you want.”
Terror slides deeper into my chest than before—worse than his questions about Clover. “Tell me. Please, Levi.”
He rubs the back of his neck, fingers threading into his black, silky hair. For one split second, the gentleness I’ve come to know vanishes. That saying when someone’s eyes go dark, yeah, this is what that looks like.
Holy shit.
Before I can process any fear, that expression is gone. His lips curve into that easy smile again. “Don’t worry about it. Do me another favor though, okay?”
I slowly nod my head.
“Just message me if you get anything else like this. In the event we are out of town, just take the box to Echo Ridge.”
He begins to walk past me, and I try to look, even draw in a long breath, but don’t see or smell anything. “But shouldn’t I report it if it’s something bad?”
“It’s a scare tactic…”
“And? What if—”
“It won’t do any good but give the sender what they wanted. To scare you. I know I’ve not done a lot to ask this, but, can you just trust me on this one? Let me, and Evelyn, take care of it.”
I roll my lips together, thinking, before nodding to myself. “Okay. Thanks so much, Levi…”
He pauses mid step, his back to me, then takes a deep breath. “No problem. We want this community… quiet. We can’t have anyone coming in and fucking that up.”
My brows pinch. “Oh…” I really hope he isn’t talking about me.
“You’re smart, Ayden.” He releases a low, sultry chuckle. “Listen to your gut, always.”
My cell vibrates in my pocket, and I jump in surprise. I fumble for it before pulling it out to see a text in the Sapphire Valley chat.
Neighbors of Sapphire Valley
Jayde(?)
Do we have a doctor in this valley?
I look up at Levi, who has since pulled out his phone and is shaking his head.
“That cabin needs to get its shit together. He’s causing a lot of unwanted attention.” He flicks his gaze to mine. “You’re a nurse, right?”
Turning back to my phone, I fire off a text in the group chat.
I’m a nurse, what’s up?
My phone begins to ring, Jayde’s name lighting up the screen.
“Let me know if you need anything else. Have a good day, Ayden.”
Before I answer the call, I ask, “In the box… is something dead in there?”