I nod, feeling hopeful and doubtful all at the same time, and then stop. “Oh my goodness.”
Nessie freezes. “What?” she whispers.
“Don’t move.”
“Chloe.”
“Don’t move,” I tell her again.
She takes a step as she moves to look behind her. “If you’re pulling a prank…”
I grab her arm. “Stop moving.”
She goes still, her eyes meeting mine. “What is it? Is it a snake?”
I swallow, knowing snakes are Nessie’s greatest fear. “A small one,” I lie.
Her nostrils flare, and her shoulders go rigid. “What kind of a snake?”
I already know it doesn’t matter. Nessie is terrified of all snakes, and I have no idea how to tell them apart. “I’m going to hand you my bag, and you’re going to hold it in front of you, and we’re going to move backward really slowly.”
“Chloe, is it a rattlesnake?”
“It doesn’t matter. Everything’s going to be fine. You just have to move slowly, okay?”
She whimpers. “I hate snakes.”
“I know. But I’m here.” I slowly shift my bag so she can take it, the slight movement making the snake coil, and then it releases the warning as its tail shakes.
“Oh, God,” Nessie says, gripping my bag with her shaking hands and slowly moving it to cover her legs.
“Okay. Okay. Good. We’ve got this.” I place a hand on her hip and take a step back as I seek out any abnormalities that might be another snake, when this one had camouflaged so easily we nearly stepped on it.
“It’s hissing,” Nessie says, shuddering as she reaches back for me.
“I know. Just keep going.”
“Chloe, he looks pissed.”
“He’s probably just as scared as we are.”
“Doubtful.” She squeals as it starts to shake its tail again.
We’re about twenty feet away when I pull her a bit closer. “Okay, okay.” I hold her hand so tight my fingers ache. “We need to pay attention. Everything in the freaking desert is deadly.”
“Too soon,” she says, her gaze still focused on the snake that’s now a good thirty feet from us and still rattling its tail.
“Let’s go this way,” I say.
“You think it leads to the trail?”
“I have no idea, but the signs said to avoid plants because that’s where most snakes hide, and this way is pretty much just sand.”
“Should I mention now that there’s a hunting reserve near here?” She hands me my bag and holds my hand as we comb over the ground.
“At least we’re not in a cemetery near vampires and ghosts.”
Nessie chuckles. “I don’t know. Those ghosts don’t seem so scary right now.”
I cut my eyes to her. “They were, you’re just forgetting. I was willing to hold Tyler’s hand the whole freaking time. I’d say they were pretty damn scary.”
Nessie giggles so hard she pauses to gain her breath. “Do you really hate him?”
“Sometimes,” I admit.
She snickers again. “I think it’s because you guys are attracted to each other.”
“Oh, no.” I shake my head, temporarily forgetting to look at where we’re going because, like everything that revolves around Tyler, it takes too much of my attention.
“You don’t have to like him to think he’s hot.”
I shake my head. “Still not happening.”
“If he wasn’t best friends with Cooper, would you like him?”
I consider her question for too long, making her laugh again. “Maybe if I could duct tape his mouth shut.”
Nessie drops her head back, giggling so loud the sound becomes cathartic, and before long, I join in.
“Shit!” Nessie yells, jumping up and down.
We’ve been wandering for what feels like days. The sun is beginning to set, which gives me hope that Cooper will soon start to question our whereabouts and start looking for us and also incredibly concerning as I try to recall all the nocturnal desert animals we learned about while visiting the natural science museum in Austin. I have no idea how Cooper will find us even if he knows where to start looking. And if we know he’s looking, do we stop and wait for him? Do we keep walking? Is it safe to walk at night in the desert?
Nessie jumps again.
“What?” I ask, looking around. “What?” I ask again, more concerned when she continues screaming and jumping.
She points at a rock where a giant tarantula sits, spanning far larger than any spider should. “Oh, God,” I cry as goosebumps reign across my skin. We back up, and that’s when I see it: a trail marker.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Nessie says as I point it out. She wraps her arms around me. “We did it!”
I laugh, half delirious with the realization we had a hard enough time sticking to the path in the light, and the sun has almost set, and the signs warned us there would be more snakes once it started to get dark.
“Which way do you think we should go?” she asks.
I swing my attention in both directions, hoping something will magically point us in the right direction.
“Wait, do you hear that?” I ask.
Nessie moves closer to me, and I hear it again, the faint sound of a voice yelling.
“Please be Cooper,” Nessie says, gripping my hand and pulling me to the left toward the direction of the voice.
“Watch for snakes,” I remind her as we hurry along what we hope is the path.
“Vanessa! Chloe!” the person yells.
“Cooper!” we yell back.
“Watch, it’s going to be like a forest ranger. We’re going to get ticketed for getting lost in the desert, and we’re never going to hear the end of it,” Nessie says. “If it’s not Cooper, and we get out of here, let’s never tell him.”
“If Cooper isn’t looking for us, he’s getting coal for Christmas.”
As if on cue, we hear our names being yelled again. “It’s him,” Nessie says, putting her hands on both sides of her mouth as she calls out his name again.
“Chloe!” Cooper hollers, coming into view.
“Cooper!” we practically scream.
A second figure joins Cooper’s, and my relief is so instantaneous, I nearly cry.
Vanessa releases my hand and starts running, and like some cheesy scene out of a movie, Cooper catches her, and they kiss, and it’s so perfect and romantic and ridiculous that I can’t tear my eyes away for a solid minute.
“What in the hell have you guys been doing?” Tyler’s words are a slap of accusation. “Where were you?”
I kind of want to punch him in the throat, but I’m so freaking glad I don’t have to spend the night out here I also kind of want to hug him. Instead, I laugh. I laugh so hard I probably sound crazy, and still, I laugh harder.
“Fucking hell,” he says, shaking his head.
13
Tyler
“Six snakes,” Vanessa corrects Chloe as she recounts their day in the desert. “A tarantula, a few enormous centipedes, and some black flying bug that we didn’t get close enough to see if it played nice.”