Keep Me Safe

Chapter 29: Home Sweet Home

It was 9:00 when they finally pulled into the snow covered driveway of their home.
"Home sweet home," Spencer sighed. "But can we go back? Or visit Emily in Florida?"
She hated winters. The bone-chilling cold, the roads covered with salt, and how hard it was to get to school.
She grabbed the suitcase from the trunk and pulled it inside.
Their home smelled intoxicatingly theirs. The familiar scent of caramel, sawdust from the basement, and something she couldn't place but was always there.
They bought their house after Alison was killed. Escaping all memories of Rosewood seemed like the best idea. But the four friends all missed each other so much, that they had discussed moving closer. But they didn't want to say goodbye to the town they loved and all the news friends they'd made.
Spencer loved carpooling to school with Brooke on Mondays and having her over for dinner, or how she and Toby holed up in the living room for days on end when they were snowed in. Or how easy it was to get to Madison for school- she took extra credit classes there every month- and Chicago for business- Toby attended semi-annual carpentry conventions there.
She ripped clothing and toiletries out of the suitcase and put them in the laundry or bathroom- respectively- in record time. Because she knew that as soon as she finished, she would have some alone time with Toby.
Sure enough, she found him sitting on the couch, blanket over his legs.
"Hello handsome. What are you looking at?" She asked, noting his attachment to his phone screen.
"Teiah invited us to a New Years Eve party tomorrow," he said.
"Yes! I feel like it's been years since I saw her!" Spencer exclaimed.
She used to babysit Teiah's son, Adam, every day last year. She and her son had moved to Madison to be closer to the hospital where her husband was being treated for cancer. Unfortunately, he had passed away soon after they moved. She had met with Teiah for lunch a few times since then, but it was forever ago.
"What dress are you gonna wear?" Toby asked cheekily, his fingers tracing up her thigh.
"Um," she moaned. "I don't know. Maybe I'll have to buy a new one."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll look sexy as hell in it."
They fell asleep on the couch that night.