Page 75 of Avalanche
“Are you serious? You’ve made us dinner nearly every night for the past couple months. You’re going to sit on that couch, and you’re going to let us look after you. Understood?”
“You tell him,” Seth’s mom laughs, a light, cheerful sound that reminds me of my grandmother’s wind chimes. “I’m always saying he needs to stop trying to look after everyone.”
“Well, now he has to listen,” Antoine points out, carrying a plate laden with homemade pizza and salad from the kitchen. He waits as Seth’s dad positions Seth’s leg across the couch, then carefully settles the plate on Seth’s lap.
“There’s food for you too, mom and dad,” Matty calls out from the kitchen. “Come take a seat.”
Seth’s parents both start in surprise at being called ‘mom and dad’ by Matty, then glance at Seth, clearly concerned at leaving him alone.
“Lily and I will sit with him,” Liam offers, dropping to sit cross-legged on the floor beside the couch, indicating for me to join him.
“Shit, this is good,” Eddie announces from the dining table around a mouthful. “Pete and Penelope, you guys are in for a treat.”
“Wait until everyone has their food,” Matty chides, frowning over his shoulder as he carries plates to me and Liam. “Stop being such a pig.”
Liam and I exchange a look and I feel my lips quirk into a smile. Matty is always the first to start eating, and often lurks in the kitchen whenever someone else is cooking, just so he can grab whatever mouthfuls he can find before dinner reaches the table.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” I tell Seth after placing a brushing kiss on Matty’s lips in a wordless thank you for dinner. “I missed you so much.”
Seth gives me a watery smile back, his eyes lowering to his plate of food. “I missed you too.” His throat bobs, and he shoots Liam a soft look that has my chest squeezing. “I missed all of you guys.”
Liam tries to wave off Seth’s words, mumbling something I don’t quite hear before scrubbing at the back of his neck and clearing his throat.
“Can we tell him the news?” Eddie calls out from the table. “Now that he’s home.”
The softness in Liam’s expression sharpens into a glare.
“What news?” Seth asks.
“Sheesh, Eddie,” Liam grumbles. “You didn’t want to wait until after he’d eaten?”
“What? It’s good news, isn’t it?”
Liam huffs, then rips off the end of his pizza with his teeth, chewing furiously as if that will alleviate his frustration at his friend.
“You might as well tell them now,” Antoine points out. “Since you brought it up.”
The room falls silent as Eddie launches into his tale about Tom’s capture. I watch Seth’s face, watch as each conflicting emotion moves like shadow over his bruised features. Anger. Anguish. Relief. Resignation.
“So that’s it then?” Penelope asks, an uncertain waver in her voice. “He’s locked away? Won’t be able to hurt anyone?”
I watch as Seth’s jaw clenches, his lips flattening into a grim line.
“For now,” Antoine tells her carefully, echoing what Eddie told us all earlier.
“For a long time,” Liam counters, sounding more certain than any of us feel. “He won’t hurt Seth ever again.” He pauses, giving me a look that is heavy with meaning, then adds: “He won’t hurt anyone ever again.”
Chapter 23
Matty
“Look at this place.” Eddie pushes his phone screen in front of me for the hundredth time this morning, reaching across the middle of Lily’s car to show me his latest find on one of the many real estate websites he’s been trawling. “This one has a hot tub. And lake views.”
I obligingly give the phone a cursory glance, the images impossible to see with the vibrations of Lily’s car.
“Is it a rental?” Liam asks from beside him in the back seat. But we all know the answer to that.
Eddie retreats to his seat with an annoyed huff.
