Runaways by Nicole Dykes
We’re here. In the Ozarks. It’s so damn bizarre. I mean, it’s great, but I still don’t understand how we ended up being so damn lucky. I’m not stupid. I know most people who land out on the streets stay there, or worse.
Things for us, though, have somehow worked out. Loraine paid for our bus tickets here, and now we’re standing outside a huge lake resort with our bags. All three of us are in awe.
“Is this for real?” Hayden gazes at the beautiful building before us. “One of you fuckers pinch me.”
Law laughs, freer than I’ve seen him in a long, long time. He reaches over and pinches Hayden’s arm, who, in turn, squeals.
“Ow.”
Lawson grins. “You asked for it.”
“I do like it rough.”
I roll my eyes at the boys and take a deep breath. “We should go inside.”
Loraine tried like hell to buy us new clothes before we left, but we refused. She’d done more than enough and, with six grand to our names, we each were able to buy a few things for ourselves before we left. And I got a salon appointment to get rid of my blonde roots.
Lawson is still rocking the buzzed look, and I have to say I’m getting more and more used to it even though I miss his ridiculously lush waves. We walk up to the front and head inside, which is even more grand than the outside with marble floors and high ceilings. We’re greeted by a beautiful redhead with a green polo and khaki pants. “Welcome. Are you guys Loraine’s friends?” We all nod dumbly as she walks closer to us, a squeal in her voice as she holds out her hand for me. “I’m Amanda. I’m guessing you’re Rose?”
“Yes. Hi.” I think my voice sounds weak, but I’m not sure how to deal with overly friendly girls.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” She turns to the guys. “So, which one of you is Jack?”
Lawson raises his hand. “That would be me.”
Amanda looks at him a little too long, and a surge of jealousy shoots through me that I try my best to contain. Their hands connect, and I have to look away. “It’s so nice to meet you. Loraine sent me pictures of your art. We’d be thrilled to have you display it here and sell it.”
I turn to see Lawson shifting from foot to foot like he does when he’s nervous. “That would be great.”
She’s beaming and still not pulling her eyeballs off my boyfriend. “It would be an honor. So Jack and Rose, huh?”
Now Lawson looks even more uncomfortable. “Yeah.”
She turns to look at me and then back at Lawson. “You guys must have had some pretty cool parents.”
I cringe, and I see Lawson does too. They had to do a full background check on all three of us. Some of our money had to go to securing ID for Hayden. It wasn’t cheap, considering Loraine only knows him as Hayden, so he had to keep his name. Still, we were all poised and ready for the background check to fail and force us to run. But seemingly, it went through.
“Uh . . . Yeah, I guess.” Lawson runs his hand over his head and thankfully, this is the kind of awkward scenario that Hayden shines in.
“Aren’t you going to ask about me? I’m a little hurt.” Amanda turns to him, placing one hand on her hip and smiling.
“You must be Hayden? I heard you’re quite the character.”
They shake hands, and Hayden looks around the grand entrance, blowing out a long whistle. “Loraine didn’t do this place justice. It’s fantastic.”
Amanda is beaming now as she looks around the room with Hayden. “Well, thank you. We’ve been doing some renovations and trying to get it going again. This was once the biggest resort in the area.”
“What happened?” Hayden seems truly interested. He eats up this kind of stuff.
Amanda’s pretty smile dims but only slightly. “My grandparents built it, and it was glorious.” She smiles again, but I don’t miss her sadness. “But then they moved. Retired and left it to my parents, who tried to keep it afloat but struggled.” She walks behind the guest counter. “When they died, they left it to my brothers and me. Now we’re trying to restore it to its former glory.”
I walk toward her. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
“Thank you. It’s okay. It happened a few years ago.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Hayden joins me.
“Three. I’m the youngest. You’ll meet them soon.”
“Maybe we should stop quizzing her,” Law says as he moves to my side. “I mean, we’re the ones here for a job.”
She gazes up at him, and again, I want to poke her eyes out. I mean, she’s nice and all, but she’s going to have to stop drooling over my boyfriend. “You guys have the job. For sure. I won’t turn down good help. And if Aunt Loraine says you’re great, I believe her.”
“She’s your aunt?” I ask.
Her eyes meet mine again. “Well, not technically, but she was close with my mom.”
I nod in understanding. “So, what are we going to be doing here?” I look around at the large interior.
“Well, I need a bartender, a waiter or waitress, and someone who would like to clean the rooms. I don’t care which one you all do.” She turns to Law, her eyes all gaga. “Although, I do think you’d make a great bartender.”
Law’s eyes meet mine nervously, and then he nods. “Depends on what they want to do.”
Of course, he’s going to give us our pick of jobs. I turn to Hayden, who raises his hand in the air. “I’ll clean. I have no problem with that.”
Amanda’s grin widens at him and then looks at me. I briefly glance at Law, who raises an eyebrow in question, and then I turn back to Amanda. “I could waitress.”
“Great.” She claps her hands. “We all kind of switch up around here, but I promise the pay will be decent, and tips are usually good. Also, the room and board are free.”
“That’s the part I’m looking forward to,” Hayden says. “This place is stunning.”
“Let me show you guys to your rooms so you can get settled.” Amanda steps out from the counter, and we walk through a hallway as she gestures to a door on her left. “Okay, Jack here’s your room.” She opens it and then hands him the key card.
We step inside, and my jaw drops at the beauty of the room. There’s a kitchenette, a sitting room, and a separate door I assume leads to his bedroom. The view though. There are patio doors leading outside to a closed-in patio overlooking the lake.
“Wow,” I say, and I can tell Law and Hayden are thinking the same thing.
“It’s not much, but all the staff living quarters are the same.” Amanda turns to me. “I have you next door.”
“Wait.” I look over at Lawson and then turn to Amanda. “We each have our own rooms?”
She looks slightly confused by my surprise. “Well, yeah. I didn’t think you’d want to sleep with your brother.” I wince and hear Hayden snicker. She turns to Hayden. “Oh, unless you and Hayden would like to . . .”
Hayden holds up a hand to stop her. “I’d much rather sleep with her brother.”
Her cheeks turn pink, and she smiles. “Well, okay then. You three have your own rooms on this floor.”
She shows us where we can find towels and toiletries before leaving us to it. Hayden goes to his own room, and I drop down on the couch in Lawson’s room. “Can it really be this easy?”
He sits next to me, brushing my hair out of my face. “Easy? I wouldn’t use that word to describe much about this past year.”
“You know what I mean. I keep waiting for something to go wrong.”
I lean my head on his shoulder and feel him nod. “I thought you had a good feeling.”
“I do.” But I keep waiting for Colin to find me. I don’t say that out loud though.
“Hey.” I look up at him. “It’s going to be okay. He’ll never look for us here. We’re going to save up and maybe someday reclaim our identities. It’s going to be okay.”
Of course, he knew exactly where my head was.
“Yeah well, I’m not a huge fan of Amanda.” I say her name mockingly, and he laughs.
“Jealous?”
I straddle his lap, my fingers locking behind his neck. “She thinks you’re my brother. And she clearly wants you.”
His eyes darken at that. “We could get into serious trouble if anyone sees us like this.”
I nod, knowing we have to be careful and hating that we’re still in hiding. That we can’t be us. “We’ll be careful.”
His lips brush over mine. “Very careful.”
“I hate this part.”
“Someday, Rae . . . We’re going to be us again, except we’ll be free.”
His hands thread through my hair, and I believe him.
Because I always believe Lawson. I know Hayden didn’t mean to add another obstacle to our journey by making us brother and sister. I believe he had nothing to do with it and that his friend probably didn’t even know how difficult this would be for us.
But Lawson and I, we can get through anything.
