Laurie, Alicia and Hunter were waiting for us when we arrived. They looked away from me uncomfortably as I entered the room.
“I'm fine," I promised them, throwing my boots into a corner of the room. “Just needed some time to cool down.”
“The shower's lovely," Alicia said with a grin.
“Subtle Liss," Coal grumbled. "You can go first," he said to me.
I opened my mouth to object, but I couldn't bear to wait any longer so I thanked him instead and headed straight to the bathroom.
I washed my hair three times and scrubbed myself until I was bright pink. By the time I emerged I felt cleaner than I had in weeks. I sighed and slipped into some of Alicia's clothes. It crossed my mind that I would need to get some more things of my own now that I was going to be staying out here for good.
Coal was waiting outside the bathroom door as I left and I smiled at him before he headed inside to get cleaned up too.
"You might like to know that we just got a message," Laurie said, sounding strangely cheery as I joined them again and Alicia gave her a stern look.
“About?" I asked.
"Taylor. They think he's waking up." She grinned, ignoring Alicia.
“When can we go?" I asked, stepping towards the door.
"In the morning, I promise. He's safe but we can't travel at night, not around here." Alicia caught my arm to stop me and shot a dark look at Laurie under her lashes. "I thought we agreed not to tell her until the morning so she wouldn't try to go charging off?"
"I never agreed," Laurie said simply.
I took a deep breath, ready to argue but I glanced at Alicia and knew there really wasn't any point. I let it out in a huff and moved to slump on the lumpy couch.
Coal emerged from the shower wearing a pair of black sweat pants and I fought against the temptation to drool over the sight of his body.
Hunter was busy preparing us something to eat and my stomach rumbled loudly as I realised I hadn't eaten all day.
Alicia and Coal started having a whispered conversation behind me and I was fairly sure I knew who they were talking about, but it didn't really matter.
Laurie sauntered past the counter casually and tried to steal a bite of food. Hunter's hand shot out so quickly that I almost didn't see it. He caught Laurie's wrist and pulled her close to him.
“Try it again and I'll put you on your ass." He smiled broadly and released her.
She pursed her lips and stepped away before coming to sit down next to me.
“Why am I tempted to take him up on that offer?" Laurie whispered and I giggled.
“I can't wait to get back to Fairview," I said with a smile. I hadn't had much time to focus on Taylor but I missed him so much that it almost hurt. I was bursting to tell him everything that had happened and waiting until tomorrow seemed like eternity.
Laurie glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at the siblings bickering behind us.
"Taylor's not awake yet anyway. At first light we can hit the road and make sure we get there for when he is," she promised. I could see some of the same excitement and trepidation on her face that I was feeling.
“He's not going to believe all of this," I said, trying to imagine how I would explain everything to him.
“Do you think he'll be happy to see me?" Laurie asked after a moment.
"What?" I narrowed my eyes at Laurie, sensing that she was trying to hide something from me.
"You know, just because I only met him a few times and I probably didn't really register with him, considering..." She trailed off and looked away.
"Considering what?" I regarded her curiously.
"You know, just it was a busy time and he was preoccupied with, you know - everything." She waved a hand vaguely.