Page 9 of Searching for Valor

Noah wrinkled his nose. “No way. That thing looks old. Probably full of spiders.”

She chuckled, ruffling his hair. “So we’ll share. Just like when you were little and afraid of the dark, huh?”

She missed those days when Mom worked nights, and he’d come running to her room in his little footie pajamas, his blond hair a mess.

Noah ducked away from her hand, but she caught the hint of a smile on his face. “Yeah, whatever. I call the side by the window.” He flopped down on the bed and looked at his phone again. The dramatic sigh told her everything she needed to know.

Still no signal.

“Give it a rest for tonight,” she said. “There’s gotta be wi-fi here. We’ll figure it out in the morning. How about some hot chocolate before bed?”

Noah perked up slightly at that. “With marshmallows?”

“Of course.”

As Grace busied herself in the kitchen, Noah wandered into the living room. She could hear him rummaging through drawers, probably searching for the TV remote.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” she called out. “I doubt they have Netflix way out here.”

Noah groaned in response. “This is going to be the longest vacation ever.”

Grace smiled to herself as she stirred the hot chocolate. Despite his complaints, she knew Noah would come around eventually. Maybe not tonight, but give it a day or two, and he’d be exploring the woods and skipping stones on the beach.

She carried the steaming mugs into the living room, where Noah had settled onto the worn leather couch. He accepted his mug with a mumbled “thanks” and took a cautious sip.

“How long do we have to stay here?” he asked after a moment.

“A week. Mom thought it would be good for us to get away for a bit.”

“But why? She’s never taken me out of school for a vacation before. And why was she so... weird about all of it?”

So Noah wasn’t as oblivious as she’d thought.

She sank onto the couch beside her brother, cradling her mug in her hands. “I don't know,” she admitted softly. “Mom’s been... stressed lately.”

“So if she needed a break, why didn’t she come with us?”

“I don’t know. Things have been tough since Dad left. Mom’s struggling, and I think she just needed some time to herself. To figure things out.”

“So she shipped us off to the middle of nowhere? She practically threw us out the door.“ Noah’s voice rose, a mix of anger and hurt. “And why couldn’t she tell us that?”

So many questions and Grace didn’t have any answers. At eighteen, she knew she was legally considered an adult, but inside, she still felt very much like a little girl, and she wished her mom was here with some answers more than anything.

Grace sighed and set her mug down on the coffee table. “I know it’s frustrating, Noah. I’m confused, too. But Mom loves us, and I’m sure she has her reasons. Maybe... maybe this is her way of protecting us from whatever’s going on.”

His eyes widened. “Protecting us? From what?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. Adult stuff, you know? Bills and work stress.” But even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t true. The fear in her mother’s eyes when she’d rushed them out the door... that wasn’t about bills or work or even about Dad leaving them.

“Grace?” Noah said after a long moment of silence, his voice small.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Mom’s okay?”

Grace swallowed hard. “I’m sure she is.” Suddenly restless and unable to stay seated, she popped to her feet and picked up her half-finished hot chocolate. “I’ll go clean up the mess I made in the kitchen.”

At the sink, she scrubbed the cocoa pot with more force than necessary. Something about this whole situation felt off.

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