Chapter 23
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“Brody! Piper!”
I blink as a bright-eyed kid launches himself at me.
“Billy?” I stutter, lifting him into my arms.
“Who did you think it was?” he asks, giving me a look like I’m the class idiot.
His cheeks are flushed, and he seems excited. This is the kid I remember from the library, not the one we pulled from a hollow under a snowy tree.
I glance past Billy to his mom.
“Children get sick very quickly,” she says. “And they also recover just as fast.”
Billy wriggles out of my grip, slides to the ground, and grabs my hand. “I told Mom I was better.” He gives an exaggerated sigh. “Now come and see Lucky. She’s not allowed outside the house for a few days.”
Piper and I take off our boots and follow him through to the family room, where Lucky body slams me, her tail swooshing madly and her tongue attempting to give me an all-over bath.
“Hey Lucky!” I say to her, and she barks in reply.
The space is filled with warmth and family love, with photos of Billy from when he was a baby adorning the walls and festive decorations everywhere. There’s a Christmas tree in one corner of the room, surrounded by a metal enclosure, like it has to be corralled.
Billy lets out another over-the-top huff as he follows my gaze. “That’s Lucky’s fault.”
“Not entirely,” his mom adds. “There was that time you tried to climb it.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to stop my laugh, but Billy can see it in my eyes and grins at me.
“I never knew what to expect, having a little boy,” Judy says. “I only had sisters.”
“My best friend and I once pretended the stairs at his house were Mount Everest and tried to scale it with ropes, crampons, and ice axes,” I say apologetically to her, as if Billy and I are linked by our desire to bring the adventure of the outdoors inside.
“Awesome!” Billy shouts.
“No, buddy, we could have gotten into a lot of trouble.”
“Can I offer you both a drink?” Judy asks.
“A glass of water would be lovely, thanks,” I say.
“Brody! Let me show you my room!” Billy doesn’t wait for a reply, dragging me toward the door. He glances over his shoulder at Piper. “It’s guy stuff,” he says apologetically.
“That’s okay,” she replies. “I’m gonna hang out with your mom.”
He nods. “Good idea.”
I jog up the stairs behind him and Lucky to the very top of the house. Billy has the attic, with skylights facing the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other.
“This is the coolest kid’s room I’ve ever seen.”
Billy nods. “It’s got everything.”
He proceeds to give me the tour, showing me his toys, his Legos, the glow-in-the-dark stars on the sloped ceiling, and finally, a telescope mounted on a stand.
“I watch the boats at sea on that side,” he says, pointing at the window behind us. “But through this one, there’s something way cooler.”
“And what’s that?”
“You’ll have to bend down, but I’ve set it up for you.”
I crouch and put my eye to the end of the telescope. “No way …”
“Yes way,” Billy replies. “Can you see it?”
“Yup.” A third of the way up the snowy slopes of the mountains that encircle Hideaway Harbor, I see the cave.
“When I was your age, we used to think pirates lived there.”
“Only in the summer,” Billy says authoritatively. “In the winter, it’s too cold, so the yeti lives there.”
I take a knee so I’m face-to-face with him. “You know, buddy, you can’t go there again on your own.”
He swallows, and the serious expression on his face tells me he understands. “I know. And I won’t …”
I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Maybe, in the summer, we could go on an expedition to the cave with Grandpa?”
“Only if we find a different route across the gorge, okay?”
“Is that a yes?”
“If I’m back in Hideaway, then it’s definitely a yes.”
Billy fist pumps, then grabs my hand again. “Let’s go get cookies. And if Mom doesn’t let you have two, you just need to say you feel weak or something.” He shrugs. “That’s what’s working for me.”
I shake my head as I smile. Being around Billy reminds me of Ethan and me growing up.
“Come on!” he shouts, and I follow him back downstairs.
“Mom! Did the reporter call yet?” Billy demands as soon as we’re in the room.
“Well, it’s not that easy to get in touch—”
“And Brody wants cookies,” he interrupts. “He’s feeling weak.”
Judy’s eyes move to me in confusion. “Oh, well, in that case—”
“Very weak,” Billy continues, then makes the mistake of winking at me.
Piper snorts with laughter, and Judy’s expression turns from one of alarm to understanding.
“Okay, Billy,” she says. “If that’s the case, then maybe he needs to try the Christmas ones.”
“Yesss!” Billy fist pumps again, then runs full tilt toward the kitchen, Lucky following.
“I’m sure the reporter would love to interview Billy,” Judy says to Piper and me under her breath, “but she won’t be very happy when he insists he saw everything from Bigfoot to a polar bear.”
She looks over her shoulder to make sure Billy’s still out of the room, then continues. “He just won’t let it go.”
“What if Piper films me interviewing him?” I suggest. “I could then send you the footage for him to watch.”
“Would you mind? That’s very generous of you.”
“Not at all. It’ll be the best interview I’ve ever been involved with.”
She smiles warmly. “It can’t be easy being in the public eye.”
“It’s not, but it’s not all bad.”
Billy comes running back into the room, a plate held in both hands, piled high with cookies.
“Hey, buddy, I’ve had an idea,” I say to him. “I think that reporter might be a bit too busy to pop by, so why don’t I interview you?”
His eyes light up. “Will it be online? For everyone to see?”
“Er …”
“Could you do that?” Judy mouths.
“Well, I could edit a little film and put it on my social accounts, if your mom agrees.”
Billy swivels on the spot, not noticing a cookie flying off the plate, to be caught mid-air by Lucky. “Mom? Please?”
“We’ll see.”
“Yesss!”
He hands the plate of cookies to her, now no longer important, and launches himself onto the couch, patting the space next to him.
I hand Piper my phone, and Judy pulls up a chair opposite us for Piper to sit on.
Lucky leaps onto the couch next to Billy, and they both sit up straighter.
“Okay,” Piper says. “I’m filming.”
I gaze down the lens, raising my hand as if holding a microphone.
“I’m here today to interview two best friends about their epic adventure yesterday in the mountains of Hideaway Harbor: Billy and Lucky.”
I swing my invisible microphone toward Billy. “So, what can you tell us about how this all started?”
Lucky barks and Billy puts both of his hands over his mouth as he giggles.
“What was that, Lucky?” I continue. “Did you see the tracks of an unidentified animal?”
“It was a yeti,” Billy says, and Lucky barks in agreement.
“So, what was your plan? What happened next?”
Billy continues his tale, prompted by me. His sentences are surprisingly short and succinct. He’s either a naturally gifted orator, or he’s been practicing telling this tale ever since it happened.
“Wow,” I say as he finishes the part of the story about us running from a pack of wolves to safety. “Is there anything else you want to add?”
He nods, his voice turning serious. “Lucky and I want to thank you and Piper for saving our lives.”
The tale he’s just spun is more fiction than fact, but he knows that the last line is true.
I don’t know how to respond, so I clear my throat, buying myself a moment.
“Well, thank you, Billy and Lucky, for sharing your tale,” I begin, making sure my voice doesn’t wobble. “This is Brody King for Hideaway News Today.”
Piper hands me the phone, blinking rapidly, as if she’s also struggling to hold back her emotions.
“Lemme see!” Billy says, having moved on from the moment quicker than the rest of us.
I play it back and he watches in rapt silence.
“You know, I don’t think that’s going to need any editing,” I say when it finishes, then turn to Judy. “Are you happy for me to post it, or would you like me to make any changes?”
She wipes her eyes. “You can post it.”
“Thank you, Mommy!” Billy cries, leaping off the couch to hug her.
“I just need to make a call first,” I say, suddenly mortified that I don’t even have access to my own social accounts. I pull an apologetic face. “My agent thinks it’s best if he controls my access to the internet.”
“You and me both,” Billy says, shaking his head.
“Am I your agent now, too?” Judy asks.
Billy nods, a cheeky look in his eye. “And my servant …”
As they laugh, I slip into the hall and call Cara. She’s waiting to board a plane but gives me the new password so I can post the video of Billy and me. Then I rejoin everyone in the family room, and we eat spiced Christmas cookies as it uploads.
When it’s online, Billy insists on watching it again on my phone. Afterwards, we say our goodbyes.
Billy hugs Piper, then gives me a baby bear hug. “Don’t forget our expedition. Promise?”
“If I’m in Hideaway next summer, your grandpa and parents agree, and we find a safer route to the cave, then yes, I’ll come on an adventure with you.”
“Yesss!”
I take Piper’s arm as we walk away. It’s dark now, and every house we pass is lit up with lights.
“Thank you for doing that with me,” I say.
“My pleasure. I’m so glad we saw him. It helps get rid of all those bad memories. And Judy was a grade above Ethan and you, so we had a nice chat while you did your boys’ stuff.”
I smile. “He’s got a telescope in his attic room trained on the mountain cave.”
“So you were right.”
“Lucky guess.”
We continue in silence, and I wonder if Piper’s thinking about whether I’ll be back in Hideaway next summer or not.
Outside her parents’ house, we stop.
“You sure you’re okay with me going to Ethan’s for the evening?” I ask.
“Absolutely. You both need this. Him, probably more than you. I’m going to have a chill evening with Mom, Mia, and Harper, then—”
“Chill?”
She laughs. “It won’t be a late one. I’ll be keeping the bed warm for you.”
I lean down and capture her lips with mine. My cock immediately stirs, wanting more.