Page 67 of One Impossible Moment
Chapter 26
Kallie
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Kallie leaned againstthe counter.The oddness of yesterday's fight between Finn and Mace still bothered her.Finn had tackled Mace like a man possessed, and the memory made her stomach cramp.
She hated how that one instance brought back a flood of memories and how Finn had claimed he was a bad man when she was ten years old.While she didn't believe he was bad, the thought came back to her.
Now, he warned her against all the men in Everstill.
Maybe he was right, and she should be afraid.When she stepped outside earlier, all eyes were on her.She wasn't sure if she was imagining it or if the men were really watching her.
Finn carried the laundry basket into the kitchen and slapped her ass as he passed.She managed a small smile, but all she wanted to do was crawl back in bed and try to forget what happened.
She wanted to believe she was safe, but the image of Mace dragging her toward the road kept flashing behind her eyelids, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong here.It was a personal attack, and she understood why she stood out.
If the men couldn't leave on their own and knew she could travel back and forth safely, it only made sense that they'd try to use her to leave Everstill.
It also terrified her that one day, one of the men would send her back through the rift before Finn could stop them.If that happened, she might never make it back to him.
It had taken her years to find her way back to him.What if she left and never found him again?
Finn returned to the kitchen and loaded his mug into the washer.She slipped into the bedroom and closed the door, needing a moment to breathe.She knelt beside her bag and dug through the contents until her fingers brushed the smooth edge of her phone.The familiar weight in her hand reminded her of a world where people didn't drag strangers toward shadow seams.She plugged it in and waited for the dead screen to come to life.
The phone stayed black, but a faint battery icon flickered for half a second, and relief washed through her.All she had to do was charge the phone.
She didn't even know what to say to Amy.It wasn't like she could explain to the woman who lived next door where she was.Every time she came to Everstill, time seemed to pause back home while she was gone.She didn't understand how it was possible.
Amy would find it odd that she was reaching out, but she wanted to hear someone's voice from her other life.She hated how desperate she felt for something familiar, something real, something that wasn't Everstill.
Last night rattled her.
The door creaked open, and Finn stepped inside, wiping his hands on his jeans.He paused when he saw the phone in her hands, his brow furrowing."What's that?"
She blinked at him, stunned that he didn't recognize a phone, and the next second, a cold ripple slid down her spine.
"My phone," she said slowly, holding it up.
Finn stepped closer, studying it as if it were a foreign object."There are no phone lines in Everstill."
"This is a cell phone."She lifted the cord."This is only to charge it."
Confusion tightened his features.She stared at him, realizing he wasn't joking about not knowing what a cell was.He'd served sixteen years in prison before finding Everstill.Weren't cell phones around at that time?
"Once it's charged, I can make calls off the nearest cell tower.No cord required."She opened her bag wider and pulled out the other things she'd brought.
She laid some gum, a map, her wallet, and a pen on the bed between them."Remember this?"
