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Cecily took the tote bag off her shoulder, heavy with bottles of water and various road snacks, and hoisted it up onto the floorboard of the passenger side of the moving truck cab. The truck rocked slightly, but not because of the load she’d just added, Callum and Scott were in the back putting the finishing touches on their efforts to secure the contents and ensure their safe arrival in Seattle.
She shut the door with a resounding slam and redid her messy knot of a ponytail as she headed toward Zander, who was standing some feet away from the back of the truck with her hands on her hips. Her short, dark hair was on-purpose-messy, and the darkness was now barely visible beneath her eyes—so much lighter than it had been for the first couple of days after she’d woken up.
Cecily sidled up alongside her with her hands in the back pockets of her cut offs.
Rhia, who’d been lounging in some shade in the grass hoisted her big dog body up and lumbered over to stand next to her.
“Admiring the view?” Cecily asked her sister with a smirk as she gave Rhia a pat on the side. Cecily likewise admired the view of Scott and Callum doing whatever the hell they were doing in the back of the truck. It looked like a lot of tugging on knots, and rearranging boxes. All things Cecily was happy not to be participating in.
Zander shrugged with a smirk of her own. “Hasn’t gotten old yet.”
Cecily smiled but chose not to continue down that vein. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” Zander replied. “I feel good. Better every day. Thanks again for letting Callum take your plane ticket.”
Cecily shrugged. “Not a problem. I had to call to change the return date anyway—why not change the whole thing?”
Zander gave her a sideways glance with a smile. “It was cool of you. Not that you’re coming out totally raw in the deal.”
Cecily fought a wicked grin but kept her mouth shut in response.
“And four days, instead of the originally scheduled three,” Zander remarked suggestively.
Okay, she had to respond to that. “Because Scott won’t let me drive the truck!” she exclaimed in mock defense. “Because I’m not twenty-five years old or some shit.”
Zander’s chuckle was low.
“Hey, Callum got to go say bye to his mom yesterday, right?” Cecily asked.
Zander nodded, eyes trained on Callum as he jumped down from the back of the truck and went around to the side like he was looking at the tires or something. “We both went, yeah.”
“She really can’t see the other side now?” Cecily didn’t know that could happen. She’d just figured once a medium, always a medium.
“It seems that way,” Zander replied. “She’s a lot calmer now but... a lot more disconnected too. Even Callum said so. He thinks that’s why she can’t see spirits anymore. But the silver lining was that she didn’t freak out when she saw me, so... that was nice.”
Cecily chuckled. “That’s a considerable plus. Does that mean she’s she getting better, or...?”
Zander shook her head. “The doctors said it’s actually progression of her condition. Some people become more agitated—others, less so. Which is what they think is happening with her. Beginning of the end, I guess.”
Cecily’s chest ached. “God, that sucks.”
Zander only nodded.
The two stood, side by side, for a moment or two longer. Cecily watched Callum lift the hood of the truck, do something she couldn’t see, then slam it shut again. She watched Scott shift the last couple boxes, his tattooed arms flexing.
“You realize we’re sisters, dating brothers, right?” Zander remarked out of the blue.
Cecily scoffed. “They’re not technically brothers,” she said, “so we managed to skip that particular cliché, I think.”
Zander laughed as Callum drew near, coming around the side of the truck and making his way toward them. Scott hopped down from the back of the truck a moment later and did the same.
“What’s funny?” Callum asked as he reached them. Cecily saw him discreetly slide a hand onto the small of Zander’s back.
“Nothing important,” Zander replied, turning toward him.
“Well, probably time to head out, huh?” Callum said as Scott joined them.
“While we still have some daylight left for the first leg, yeah,” Scott agreed. “Otherwise we’ll be driving until midnight to make it to the first stop.” He slid a hand onto the back of Cecily’s neck, letting his fingers trail into her hair. Her skin warmed pleasantly. But with the next breath, he was letting her go so he could step forward and clasp hands with Callum. Then the two went in for a quick boy-hug, slapping one another on the backs while they did it.
Cecily took the opportunity to turn to Zander, who raised her arms at the very moment Cecily did.
“Be safe,” Zander said as Cecily hugged her.
“I will,” Cecily replied.
“And text lots of pics along the way,” Zander added as she stepped back.
“You got it.”
Then all that was left was to go.
Cecily opened the door and let Rhia jump up into the cab of the truck, where she settled herself nicely into the passenger seat.
“Uh, no,” Cecily said, motioning her to the back of the dual cab. “Back seat. Maybe you can chill at my feet—if you’re good.”
She could have sworn Rhia rolled her eyes before gracefully bounding between the two front seats into the back.
Cecily pulled herself up into the cab of the truck and plopped down on the passenger seat, which bounced slightly in response.
The driver’s side door opened, and she looked over to see Scott do much the same thing—only with more grace because he had a number of inches on her that made the climb into the cab require less effort.
“Ready?” he asked after snapping on his seatbelt.
“Ready,” Cecily agreed. “I’ve got waters, snacks. Rhia is in back, and seatbelt is—” she reached, took the seatbelt in her hand, pulled it across and snapped the end into the base, “on and secure.”
Scott laughed and cranked the ignition, and for a flash of a moment, Cecily hoped the thing wouldn’t start—wished she didn’t yet have to go back to the real world.
Not that the return would be immediate.
And not that the real world she was returning to wasn’t something to look forward to in and of itself.
She’d spent the last year on hold. Now she was finally moving forward—no more holding pattern. No more not knowing what to do next. She was on a path she loved, a path she couldn’t wait to travel down, to see what came next around every turn, and it felt so good to be here. It felt so good to be living her life again instead of just existing within it.
“You’re gonna let me drive a little, right?” she asked as Scott checked and adjusted his mirrors.
“Nope,” he replied. “But I will let you adjust the mirror on your side. Angle it up, like, a couple degrees?”
Cecily rolled her window down and did as he instructed. “Good?”
“Good,” he agreed. “And no, you still can’t drive the truck.”
“Because I’m a chick?”
He gave her a look of disgust. “Jesus, no. Because your name isn’t on the paperwork and I don’t want either of our assess on the line if something happened while you were driving.”
Damn, that was sound reasoning. Still, she sighed dramatically for effect. “Fine, no driving. But, yes to sex in every state we pass through though, right?”
Scott laughed as he put the truck in drive. “Oh, hell yes. At least once.” Then he laid his hand on the console between them, palm up, wordlessly asking for hers, which she gave without pause. He closed his fingers over the back of her hand and gave a squeeze.
But then he paused when she expected him to go, his eyes glued on the side mirror beside him.
“Hard to close a chapter?” Cecily surmised.
He shook his head, like shaking himself out of a thought, and smiled. “Sort of,” he replied. Then he looked at her and squeezed her hand again. “Not so hard when I think about the chapter that’s opening, though. It just feels monumental somehow. Doesn’t it?”
He was right. It did feel like a big step. The perfect, giant jump of a step. “We’re moving in together,” she said. “If that’s not a leap forward, I don’t know what is.”
He laughed, took his foot off the break, and let the truck start rolling. He paused at the end of the driveway, peering down both directions on the street, even though it was a one way, before trundling them forward again, turning onto the small road.
“I’m not worried about living with you,” he said, throwing her a glance.
She smiled, glad to hear him say what she’d been thinking. “I’m not worried either.”
No, she wasn’t worried. Just eager to start.
