If they didn’t come back, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. My mouth opened, but the door closed inches from my face.
I pressed my palms against the door and looked down. My eyes burned, and the back of my throat stung.
“Are you worried about them?” Sam asked, stepping up behind me.
“Yeah. I am,” I said without looking up.
She rubbed my back for a second. “They’ll be fine. Two strong, armed men. Trust me, you don’t need to worry about either of them.”
“A bullet can take out a strong man,” I muttered.
“They’re smart too,” Sam said. “Archer knows where to go. He’s familiar with the area.”
I drew in a deep breath and pushed myself away from the door. “Eat something. Take a nap. We’re going to need our strength on the road.”
“You remember how long it took us to get here, right?”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “With all of us, we’ll just drive straight through.”
“You’re assuming we’ll have enough gas to do that.”
Sam placed her hands on my shoulders and physically turned me toward the kitchen. “Stop worrying!”
“It’s what I do best,” I groaned as my head fell back.
“Tell me about it,” Sam said. “Seriously, though. Relax before you give yourself a heart attack.”
My shoulders dropped heavily. It was my mom’s bad heart that had killed her. Was I doing the same thing to myself that she’d done?
I did need to be careful. There weren’t doctors, hospitals, or machines that could diagnose me. No medical care to help me get healthy again.
“Oh!” Sam said. “Let’s do some yoga. Then we can meditate.”
“I’ll catch up with you two later,” Dorian said. “I’m going to take a nap.”
“You don’t want to do yoga with us?” I asked.
Dorian laughed. “I’m going to pass. Thanks, though. I do like that I was included for once.”
Sam rolled her eyes.
It felt as though the day dragged on. I found myself looking out the window far too often to see if Archer and Erik were on their way back home.
“A watched pot never boils,” Sam said from the couch. “Or something like that.”
“Are you painting your nails?” I asked, looking at her over my shoulder.
She gently blew on her bright pink fingertips. “Maybe.”
I crossed my arms.
“We all pass the time in different ways,” Sam said, getting to her feet. “You like to stare out the window, and I like to keep busy. Don’t judge me.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I just thought they’d be back by now.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what time of day it was, but based on the sun, it was well after noon. At the very least, they needed to be back before dark.
“We’ll go make dinner soon, and they’ll probably be back before we even finish,” Sam said.
“Maybe we should just have canned food,” I said. “Erik didn’t want us to leave.”
“We’re not going to leave,” Sam said. “The grill is like five feet away. It’ll be fine. I’m sure they’ll both be happy to have hot food when they return.”
Dorian came into the room, rubbing his eyes. “You guys talking about dinner?”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “What should we make?”
“We?” Dorian raised a brow.
“Sure,” Sam said. “We’ll be out there with you.”
Dorian yawned. “They aren’t back yet?”
“No,” I said, pacing in front of the window.
“Huh,” he said, combing his fingers through his hair. “I thought they’d be back by now.”
“That’s what I was just saying to Sam,” I said, throwing my hands into the air.
Dorian patted his stomach. “How about canned meat, corn, and mashed potatoes?”
“I’d much rather have a cheeseburger and fries,” Sam said.
“Don’t we all,” Dorian said. “But alas, we must utilize what we have.”
“Let’s go make dinner,” Sam said. “I call holding the shotgun.”
My nose wrinkled. “You sound far too excited for that.”
“Maybe we should just wait for them to get back,” I said.
“Oh, come on, Mel,” Sam said, her mouth twisting. “We can take care of ourselves. If we see anything suspicious, we’ll just come back inside.”
My eyes narrowed. “It’s like you completely forgot that someone threw a rock through the window.”
“They didn’t come in,” Sam said. “It was probably just that guy with his dad trying to scare us away. Besides, I doubt they’ll do that during the day.”
“If we don’t get started, it won’t be day anymore,” Dorian said.
“Fine,” I said, letting my suddenly heavy shoulder drop.
Dorian clapped his hands together. “Okay, you two get the food, and I’ll get the grill going. Meet me outside.”
“Erik is going to be so mad,” I muttered.
Sam ignored me and walked downstairs. I reluctantly followed her without bothering to hold in my heavy sigh.
She gathered up the food while I stood there, twisting my fingers together. I wanted to tell her we should just start the generator and use the microwave, but she wouldn’t have listened.
It was like Sam had something she wanted to prove to Erik.
“What do you think about Archer?” she asked with her back to me.
“He’s nice,” I said. “I really don’t know him well.”
Sam turned, her eyes sparkling. “Hot, right?”
I nodded.
“Are you going to help me?” she asked.
“Oh, sure,” I said, scooping up some of the food.
“I think he might be interested in me,” Sam said, meeting my gaze.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah?”
“It’s not like I want anything serious,” Sam said, her eyes widening. “Like, look around. That’s not even an option, right?”
“Right,” I replied instantly.
“It would be cool with you, right?” Sam asked.
“Hey!” Dorian called from the top of the stairs. “What’s taking you two so long? Fire’s roaring.”
Sam’s brows snapped together. “He’s so impatient,” she whispered. “We’re coming! Keep your pants on.”
“So, I should put them back
