Hurry Up And Wait (Owens Protective Services #24)

3. Isla

3

ISLA

“Seriously, this weighs more than it’s worth,” Riley grunted, hefting the other end of the armoire down the hall.

“Stop complaining. I’m not leaving without it.” My voice was strained, along with my muscles and my pride. But I was not leaving this damn house without what was rightfully mine.

My sister didn’t see it the same way, however. “Hold up,” she panted, setting it down at the top of the stairs. I let the other side down, shaking out my hands in the hopes that the tingling would cease in my fingers. Sweating profusely, she sagged against the wall and closed her eyes. “Why is this thing so fucking important to you?”

“Because I got it when we were first married.”

“And?” she asked, peeling one eye open to glare at me.

“And I’m taking it with me.”

“Because you want to remember the asshole?”

Riley wasn’t exactly a strong supporter of Shawn—not since he turned into such an asshole. But she hadn’t put all that work into the relationship, so it didn’t matter to her if we were married or not. She felt I should have left him a long time ago. I had stayed in the hopes of turning things around and getting back the man I fell in love with .

“No, because I refuse to let him have anything that I happen to like.”

Her eyes bugged out as her nostrils flared. “You’re telling me that we’re lugging this hefty hunk of wood around just so your ex can’t have it?”

“Precisely,” I grinned.

“Seriously, Isles? I don’t have the muscular strength for this. Have you seen me? I’m like spaghetti!”

“You’re stronger than you look,” I countered.

“I’m really not. These,” she pointed to her guns…or lack thereof, “are made for one thing. Hefting books. Books, Isles! This is most definitely heavier than a book or two.”

“But think of all the books you could store in it when we get it down the stairs.”

She stopped, her jaw hanging open before snapping it shut. She stared at it, then shook her head. “No, as much as I would love more space for my precious tomes, there is no way in hell I’m dragging this into my house.”

“My house,” I corrected.

“Your—what?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? We’re moving.”

“We’re…” She stumbled over her words, shaking her head in confusion. “And why would we be moving?”

“Because I don’t want to live anywhere near Shawn. So, I’ve decided to up and leave. And you’re coming with me.”

“Really. And when did you decide this?”

“About an hour ago.”

She snorted, shaking her head at me. “Okay. And where are we going?”

“Kansas.”

“Kansas?” she shrieked. “Are you fucking kidding me? I don’t belong in overalls and straw hats!”

“It’s not like when you move there, you’re required to wear that stuff.”

“But…why? Why would you do this to me?”

“Because I’m your sister and you love me. ”

“That’s debatable. Do I love you enough to move to the barren lands of the Midwest? I don’t think so.”

“They’re not barren lands. And I’m not sure you would consider Kansas the Midwest.”

“Do you grow crops there?”

“You can grow crops practically anywhere,” I countered.

“Do they have rolling meadows and wheat fields?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Can we finish this?”

“What about hoe downs?”

“Really, I doubt we’re moving to a town like that.”

“And just what am I supposed to do with cowboy boots?”

“We’re not living on a ranch, Riley!”

“Says you. I didn’t even know I was moving until five minutes ago! And what am I supposed to do there?”

“The same thing you do here, but in a nice, big house!”

“You decided an hour ago. You couldn’t possibly have someplace to live already.”

“Trust me on this.”

“Trust you, she says. You know, if I had a nickel for every time someone said that?—”

“You’d only have a nickel,” I grinned. “Now, let’s get moving.”

“Yeah, because you’re in such a rush to get out of here and move to the middle of nowhere.”

“Exactly.”

She held up a hand, taking a deep breath. “Before I commit to this, what exactly is in store for us in the Midwest?”

The smile on my face was instantaneous. “Kavanaugh.”

Her jaw dropped in shock. “Shut the front door!”

I shrugged, knowing I would have her the second I said his name. “I may have found out where he was?—”

“Wait, he knows we’re coming, right? You didn’t just decide on a whim to move us across the country for a man whom we haven’t seen in?—”

“A very long time. Yes, I know.”

“But does he know? ”

“Are we going to move this?” I bent over and tried to lift, but it was sort of pointless to do so on my own.

“Isles, tell me he knows.”

“Why wouldn’t he know?” I said, avoiding the question.

“He wouldn’t know if you didn’t tell him,” she countered.

“That’s true.”

“Isles…” The warning in her voice was much the same as when I told her that Shawn slammed me up against a brick wall.

“And what is knowing? I mean, do we really know anything?”

She groaned, thunking her head against the armoire. “You didn’t tell him we were coming?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“We haven’t seen Kavanaugh since?—”

“I know it’s been a while, but do you really think he’ll care?”

“Yes! He’ll think it’s stalking!”

I cocked my head at her in thought. “Can you really stalk someone you already know?”

“Yes! If he doesn’t know we’re moving to be in the same town as him, then yes, you could very much consider it stalking.”

I thought about it for a moment, but was already moving on. “I suppose some would consider it that way, but I choose to think of it as moving closer to a friend.”

“Isles…I’m gonna kill you for this.”

“Kill me after we get this to the moving truck.”

“Pod,” she clarified. “Because why would we hire someone to move everything for us,” she groaned as she bent over and lifted the armoire.

“Why…pay for others to…” But I never finished the thought as the gigantic wooden box tilted forward. My eyes widened as I watched in slow motion as we both lost our grip. “Riley!”

“Uh…”

We both screamed as we lost our grip and it went tumbling down the stairs, hitting the wall on the way down until it came to a crashing halt at the bottom of the stairs. Pieces of it splintered off, laying in a heap as it blocked the stairs .

I winced, looking over at Riley as I massaged my hand. “I think I sprained my wrist.”

She snorted out a laugh, and then we both burst into a fit of giggles that couldn’t be contained. “At least it happened here and not once we got to the land of cotton.”

“Grain. I doubt they grow cotton that far north.”

“Either way,” she chuckled. “Well, now it’s his problem.”

“Do you think we should patch the wall?” I asked, gesturing to the rather large hole that wasn’t there moments ago.

“I think this is exactly what he deserves. So, when are we leaving?”

I grinned at her, knowing I had her. “Today too soon?”

“This is it?” she asked, looking up at the house I’d rented.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked. I shifted into park and looked out the window at the cute house that sat in a quiet neighborhood. It was two stories tall and a little on the old side.

“It’s ancient!”

“It’s vintage,” I corrected.

“Isles, it’s gotta be at least a hundred years old.”

“A hundred and ten, actually. Which makes it perfect for us. We’ll get to enjoy all that charm of the old world.”

She glared at me. “The old world refers to like…Italy or Greece. Are we in Italy or Greece?” Before I could answer, she did it for me. “No, we’re in Kansas. Kansas, Isles!”

I winced at the screech that left her mouth. “Okay, geez, there’s no need to yell.”

“You dragged me halfway across the country for a boy!”

“A man,” I corrected, “and why do you care? You used to love Kavanaugh.”

“Did not.”

“Did so. You used to lift your dress so he could see your underwear!”

She shoved me into the door, gasping in horror. “I was five! ”

“Seven,” I corrected. “And I’m pretty sure that lasted for several years.”

“Isles, we haven’t seen or heard from him in years. Why would you do this?”

“Because I wanted to see an old friend.”

“Then you call him on the phone. You don’t move across the country when he doesn’t know we’ll be coming!”

I shoved my door open, refusing to listen to this anymore. I perched my sunglasses on the top of my head and grinned at our new old digs. It was perfect. “Come on, let’s check it out!”

I rushed up the sidewalk, feeling elated with my new circumstances. Riley would get used to it. She followed me anywhere. That’s what sisters did. Well, maybe not normal sisters, but we never liked to be parted. Yet another reason Shawn had to go. He never understood my relationship with Riley.

By the time I was standing in front of the door, I was giggling with excitement. I grabbed the lockbox and entered the code. The little door popped open, revealing the key inside. This was so exciting. When Shawn and I moved into our house, it was all his decision. I had no say in the matter. But this was all mine.

Well, mine and Riley’s. I knew she didn’t actually care about where we lived. As long as we were away from Shawn, that was all she cared about.

“Ready?” I called over my shoulder.

I heard her footsteps pound up the stairs and her heavy panting as she pretended that this was a hard journey she would never get over. She was so dramatic like that.

“Alright, let’s do this,” she said, rubbing my shoulders like she used to do when we were preparing for something big. I put the key in the lock and twisted it, sliding the door open. My eyes widened in amazement as I took in the old-world beauty. It was amazing.

“What a dump,” Riley said, shoving past me. She walked over to the built-in bookcases and swiped a finger over it. “It’s fucking filthy.” She brushed her fingers off in disgust, then threw herself against the bookcase and squealed in glee. “It’s mine! I call it!”

“I get to choose my bedroom!” I called out, running up the stairs. Her feet echoed off the stairs as she chased me up the wooden staircase, grabbing my ankle. I fell, hitting my chin on the edge as she climbed over me and scrambled to reach the top first. I hauled myself to my feet and raced after her. She went right and I went left. I squealed in glee when I saw how big my room was.

“I call it!” I shouted.

“No!” she yelled behind me, crumpling on the floor in a heap when she saw how big my room was in comparison to hers.

“Ha! Loser!” I called out, holding my finger and my thumb in an L shape on my forehead.

“You suck!”

I stuck out my tongue and tossed my head back, laughing at my victory. Blood coated my lip from where I bit it when I hit the stairs, but I didn’t care. I was the victor!

I slumped to the ground in exhaustion. “Let’s unload everything tomorrow. I’m exhausted from running up the stairs.”

“Grocery store?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.

“Jujyfruits?”

“Hells yes!”

We both jumped to our feet, rushing down the stairs to get to the car.

“Should we unhitch first?” she asked, sliding into the passenger seat.

“What for?”

I slammed the driver’s side door and cranked the engine. Grinning, I turned on the radio, nodding to the beat as Never Gonna Give You Up blared over the speakers.

“RickRoll me!”

Although, technically, we weren’t RickRolling, we’d developed our own meaning. In fact, anytime a Rick Astley song came on, we considered it being RickRolled. That was mostly because we weren’t entirely sure what RickRolled even meant. But it worked for us.

“Should we lock the doors?” Riley asked.

I laughed. “Girl, we’re in Kansas now. What’s the worst that could happen? ”

We took off down the street, hauling our moving pod after us and laughing as we shouted out the lyrics without a care in the world.