Vanished

Family

Ellie was still asleep with her leg thrown over mine and her arm over my chest when I woke up the following morning. It was early and even though my body was tired and wanted to rest, my mind raced. We'd had another real discussion about a future together before we fell asleep and both admitted we wanted it.

Ellie hadn't specifically said she didn't want to leave her family, but I knew if she had a choice she'd like to stay in Georgia. I questioned whether it would be safe for me to move back, not just for my sake, but for Ellie's and my brothers as well.

We hadn't heard or seen anything from the guy from Boston since our dad died, and I didn't think that was a coincidence. I hoped he got what he wanted and that he'd moved on. Because I wanted to do the same.

Lloyd and the agency seemed to think that it was over. And that the murder was related to what happened in the casinos all those years ago. In their opinion, it was a revenge thing. I wasn't so sure, but my brother hadn't been able to locate anything different despite his expertise.

Lloyd kept saying that no news was good news, but again, we'd been doing this for half our lives and knew things could change in a second. But I did have to agree that there had been absolutely no sign of anything suspicious whatsoever for over six months.

Still, it was the fear of bringing trouble to Ellie and her family that was holding me back from moving to Georgia. And well, maybe that my brother wouldn't want to go. I wanted him with me. He was the only family I had, and the only person who mattered to me, except for Ellie. We both worked remote jobs, so that was no longer an issue. I just needed him onboard when the time was right.

"Morning," Ellie's groggy voice mumbled into my shoulder.

"Good morning," I responded, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, thoroughly enjoying the fact that I could.

"Mm," she sighed and stretched her body out next to mine. "I love that you're here with me."

"Me too, babe. Me too."

And because I could, I took the time to show her just how much.

***

Ellie drove us through town to her sister's house that afternoon. They had invited us for dinner, and I was excited but anxious to the meet the people that meant the most to her.

It was strange to see the town I'd lived in for a couple of years during my junior and senior year of high school. To remember things and see how others had changed. It was familiar and brought back memories I'd forgotten, and people I'd been forced to lose touch with.

My silence did not bother Ellie. She hummed along to the radio while I reminisced.

Me and my brother had been happy in Willow. Our parents had fought, but nowhere near as bad as they did after we left. And we'd had some good times too.

And then there was Ellie, of course. She was the start of all the good...

Ellie took some extra precautions on the way, even though everything seemed normal. I knew it was to appease me and I appreciated it, even though it felt silly to enter a supermarket parking lot just to exit the same lot at the rear. Her side windows were tinted, so unless someone knew what car she drove and was specifically looking for us, there was no way anyone would know where we were.

"Are you ready?" Ellie asked. She'd pulled in and parked on a driveway in front of a two story home in a family friendly neighborhood. It looked to be a great place to raise children.

It was strange for me to picture Ellie's sister Aubrey as a married mother. The last time I'd seen her before we were forced to leave Willow, she'd been a self-absorbed college student.

"Yeah."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Ellie's niece was her favorite little person in the world, so I wanted everything to go smoothly and I'd do my best to get along with everyone.

Ellie nodded, unclipped her seatbelt, and exited the car. I followed behind her. She retrieved cupcakes she had baked for her niece out of the backseat, which I took out of her hands.

"I got them, babe."

The front door flung open before we got to it.

"Aunt Ellie," a little girl with dark hair in pigtails, dressed in a pink dress, shouted as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Hi Brielle," Ellie responded with a smile.

A man appeared behind her. "Hey Ellie," he said with a smile, then turned to who I assumed was his daughter. "Come on, princess, let them in, will you?"

The little girl giggled and took off down the hallway. "Momma," she shouted, "Aunt Ellie is here with a boy."

The man shook his head with a big grin on his face while me and Ellie laughed.

"Brian, this is Austin," Ellie said and gestured towards me.

"Hello," I said. I'd shake your hand but..."

He rolled his eyes. "I know, Brielle needs to bake," he said and used his fingers to symbolize quotation marks around "bake". "Come in, we might as well let her get to it."

I followed Ellie down the hallway into a large and bright kitchen where her sister stood at the island. Brielle was next to her, still bouncing on her feet.

"See momma," Brielle whispered loudly, "a boy."

"Mm hm," Aubrey giggled. "He's Auntie Ellie's friend, Mr..." and then she stopped and looked at me, probably wondering what name to use.

"Austin," I said knowing that would be easier. "It's nice to meet you, Brielle."

She smiled shyly.

I put the cupcakes down on the table and watched how her eyes widened.

"Oh, big ones! We're gonna need a lot of icing, momma."

Ellie and Brian both laughed while Aubrey just shook her head with a smile. "Hey Austin," she said, and reached her hand out to shake mine. "It's really nice to see you again."

"It's really nice to see you, too," I responded and meant it.

"Want a beer?" Brian asked.

"Yes, sure, thanks."

"Me, too," Ellie called out from where she was digging through a cabinet like she lived there, just to appear with three different containers of icing in her arms.

Brian handed me and her a beer and took out a bottle of wine for his wife.

"Thanks," she sighed with a soft smile.

"All of these need pink, Aunt Ellie," Brielle announced, and gestured to all the cupcakes in front of her.

"Alright," Ellie said and rolled up the sleeves of her sweater.

"Did you wash your hands?" Aubrey asked Brielle, as the little girl reached for a cupcake the size of her face.

"No," she grumbled, but got off the stool she stood on to wash her hands. Aubrey handed her an apron while Ellie removed the lids on the icing containers.

"I got the game on," Brian said to me and nudged his head toward the livingroom. I could see part of the tv from where I stood and saw he had the hockey game on.

I gave him a grin as I followed him over to the couch. Hockey and beer sounded a lot better than icing cupcakes.