“So where is this place, anyway?”
Esmeralda dumped a pan of eggs onto the plate already covered with bacon and potatoes, smiling. “North Dakota.”
My jaw unhinged. “North Dakota? That’s a significant way from Denver!”
She shrugged. “Not too far.”
“Yeah,” August piped in. “Like eleven hours or so.”
I gave him a dry look. “How do you always know these things?”
“I drive a lot.”
“Ah.”
Jim entered, then, scratching at his stomach. “Morning, everybody! What’s for breakfast?”
“Whatever I put on the table,” Esme replied, which caused Jim to laugh.
“Reckon I can deal with that.” He scooted in and turned his gaze to me. “How are your aches and pains, Ellie?”
The bandages still felt inhibiting whenever I moved, but I guessed they served some greater purpose. “About the same as yesterday,” I responded.
“Oh. Well, at least you’re not worse!”
August rolled his eyes. “Way to be optimistic.”
A small smile curved my lips, and I took a moment to step back and watch the dynamics in the kitchen. It almost seemed . . . normal. Was this what a regular morning was like? Did the family argue and bicker and laugh together? Did they share breakfast? Those were things I had never experienced before. In my family it was always just me, and we weren’t the most close-knit people.
I found, in that kitchen, I quite liked being a part of something bigger. Something that seemed outside myself, with people who weren’t trying to hunt me down.
Jim and Esme got into it by the stove, arguing about useless things and pointless things, and decidedly stupid things. I watched with a happy smile, unsurprised to find tears welling in my eyes, because watching instinctual normalcy was a beautiful thing.
August noticed my silence and saw the unshed tears in my eyes, and leaned into me. “Everything okay, Ellie?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because, look at them.” I gestured to the bickering duo. “They’re arguing.”
He frowned. “Uh, yeah . . .”
“Over spoons.”
“So I’m hearing.”
“Isn’t it great?”
August cocked his head, casting me a funny look. His deep blue eyes sparkled with mirth. “You’re something else, Ellie Armstrong.”
And then I just laughed, because I could, and because it seemed to be the only thing missing in the current situation.
I laughed long and hard, until my body ached from the strain, and even then I didn’t care. Laughing was a natural human phenomenon that I didn’t do all that often, and it was absolutely liberating.
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Alive (Book 1)
Action(Ellie Armstrong Trilogy Book #1) Ellie Armstrong was alive, and that was the problem. She was alive, and different, and for some reason, that made her dangerous. On the run from those who wish her harm, all she wants to do is survive and find answe...
