Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Fifty-Seven

It's Christmas day.

Waking up to just me and my brother here with no one else around on this special day was weird. There were no presents to wake up to, no big Christmas morning breakfast and not even a church to attend to. It didn't even feel like Christmas when the usual snowy weather was replaced with a warm sandy beach.

"Do you want me to fry some bacon?" my brother asked me after scouring the fridge for food.

I nodded. "I can scramble some eggs," I suggested.

He grinned widely, pulling the bacon out of the refrigerator and slinging the door shut. "And we can put some bread in the toaster," he added.

We started breakfast and when the food was about halfway done, he said, "See? Life isn't so bad."

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at him. "Gavin. We are hiding from our murderous dad in our friend's beach house, isolated from the world and literally left by ourselves on Christmas with absolutely nothing to do."

He grinned again and opened his mouth to probably reply with a lame joke, but before he could, a knock sounded on the front door. Looking at each other, we both furrowed our eyebrows. Daniel or any other officer always call before they visit. Besides, it wasn't Saturday anyways. They were only supposed to come on Saturdays.

"Get down," Gavin whispered to me.

I crouched down behind the kitchen island as he had asked. Making sure to keep quiet, Gavin slid open a kitchen drawer and handed me a knife out of it before grabbing one for himself. With my heart pounding in my chest, I watched my brother creep up to the front door and look through the peephole. At first, he looked even more confused, but then a large grin stretched his cheeks before he let go of the weapon in his hand and hurriedly pulled open the door.

I didn't even have time to call out his name and ask him who it was before a girl who looked exactly like Marla jumped into his arms. He caught her gracefully before hugging her tight and spinning her around. Aria and Holden walked in next, both with wide grins plastered on their face and a pep in their step. Scrunching my brows, I stood up from my hiding place and stared at them. Just as Aria raced toward me for a hug, I tossed my knife down on the counter right before she threw herself into me, squeezing me in her arms. "I missed you so much!" she cried.

I chuckled. "You literally saw me like three days ago."

She giggled and pulled away. "Yeah, but the last time I saw you was pretty emotional, and we've all been so worried since, so..." I just smiled at her as I spotted Kason walking through the door.

There was a single pale pink rose in his hand and as my eyes met his, my heart melted. Grinning softly, I walked up to him. He met me halfway and picked me up, hugging me tightly as I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck. I breathed in his earthy scent. "I'm so happy you are here."

His gripped tightened around me and he kissed my head, careful to avoid the bandage still on my head. "Me too," he replied softly.

The next couple of minutes were filled with excited greetings from the twins. Marla was beyond excited to see me and Gavin, more so her boyfriend of course, but she still shed a few happy tears for me. Holden was trying to keep his cool, but I could tell that he was super happy to see us alive and well.

"You guys aren't supposed to be here," my older brother spoke up.

Holden shrugged. "We couldn't let you guys spend Christmas by yourselves...Oh! That reminds me!" With that, he took off running back outside. I looked around at our friends, who were just grinning smugly. A moment later, I understood the meaning behind their expressions, when Holden walked back in with his arms full of presents.