Page 58 of Forgotten Dreams

Chapter 25

Sierra

I walk down the steps with the empty coffee cup in my hand, looking over at Theo, who is in the living room with the broom in his hand. He looks up and smiles. “Hi. Mitchell just left.” He points over his shoulder at the new window.

“That was fast,” I observe once I get to the bottom of the steps. The movement from outside has me looking at the front door.

“Caleb had a couple of words with him.” Theo snickers, and I can just imagine. “The guys are almost done putting up the cameras too.”

“Cameras? As in plural?” I walk to the front window, seeing three people on my porch.

“He’s got four in front,” Theo starts to say, “four on the side, and I think four in the back.”

I gasp out, “Isn’t that…”

The front door opens and my head whips around to look at Caleb. “Hey,” he greets, looking at me, then looking at Theo. “Everything good?” he asks, putting down the black duffel bag he was holding in his hand.

“I’m great,” Theo replies, “but I don’t know if I’m the one you should be worrying about.”

He looks at me with a confusion filling his face. “Can you explain to me, please?” I try to remain as calm as I can, but today has been a roller coaster of emotions. I’ve been on fucking edge all day long. Even though Theo has been here with me, every single noise made me jump. “How did one door cam equal out to, I don’t know, a thousand?”

“It’s not a thousand,” he defends himself. “There is one at the door, which you need, and another on top of the garage. Then I got two more in the front at the corner and a couple in the back.”

“So a thousand. I don’t think I need all of that.”

“Better safe than sorry,” he says, then turns to Theo. “You going to head out?”

“I am now.” He scoops up the dust that was made putting in the window. We don’t move from our spot as Theo goes to the garage to grab his things. “Call me if you need me.” He opens the front door. “Actually, scratch that, I don’t want to hear from you.” He walks out and slams the door behind him.

“What’s with the bag?” I ask him, my eyes going to the duffel.

“My stuff.” He picks up the bag and starts to walk to the stairs, avoiding looking at me.

“What stuff?”

“Clothes”—he walks up the steps—“shaving shit, shower shit.” He gets to the top of the stairs and looks down at me. “I’m moving in.”

“Um, excuse me?”

“Until this is all fucking over and you aren’t scared out of your skin, I’m moving in.” He starts to walk toward my bedroom, and even though what he just said sounds really, really nice, we should have maybe discussed it.

“Um, shouldn’t you have asked me before you just showed up here with your stuff?”

He tosses the bag gently into the bedroom before turning and coming back down the stairs and straight toward me, grabbing my face in his hands and bending to kiss my lips. “If I tell you to pack your shit and move in with me, will you do it?”

“No.”

“So this was the only way that it was going to happen.” His thumbs rub my cheeks.

“What if I don’t want you to stay here?”

“Then I’ll sleep in my truck in the front.” My mouth hangs open. “Bottom line, I’m not fucking leaving you by yourself.”

“Caleb, they are just?—”

“You said you aren’t going to stop,” he cuts me off. “So this is what we have to do until you get the answers to whatever it is you are looking for.”

“You can’t be sweet and annoying at the same time.” My voice comes out soft and he laughs before he bends and kisses me just as softly. “It’s an either-or situation.”

---