HIDDEN (Hidden Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

 
    “I know he can be a little much at times,” Cassie said, glancing at her brother, who slowly assessed the house, Steve, and Nicole, before looking back at me.  “But he is a born protector and looks out for those around him.  He won’t stop, so sometimes it’s just easier to accept it.”  I raised my eyebrow but didn’t respond. 
    “Hello!  I’m Nicole.”  She smiled warmly at Cade and shook his hand before she turned and smiled approvingly at me.  Cue face flaming in embarrassment.   She looked over to Steve before introducing him.  “This is my husband, Steve Henkens.”  Both Cassie and Cade shook his hand before Cade spoke up.
    “It’s nice to meet you.  I’m Cade McCoy and this is my sister, Cassie.  We met Kendra in town and just wanted to make sure she made it back home safely.”  The last was said while looking at me.  I rolled my eyes.
    “Oh, well that was nice of you.”  Nicole paused before adding, “I’d invite you in to stay a while but the place is a mess since we just moved in.”
    “That’s okay.  We have to be going anyways.”  Cade said as he moved down the sidewalk.  “It was nice to meet you all.  Welcome to the town.”
    “Thank you and it was great to meet you too.  Don’t be a stranger!”  Nicole called after him.  She looked to Cassie before adding, “You are welcome any time too, dear.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Henkens.”  Cassie smiled. 
    “Please, call me Nicole.”
    “Nicole.”  Cassie nodded.  She turned to me before asking, “I’ll see you next week at school if not before, yeah?”
    “Sure, sounds good.”  I replied and couldn’t keep the smile off my face.  Her fun, go happy nature was a tad catching.  It might be fun to actually have a friend going into the first day of school.  She beamed in return as she skipped down to Cade’s truck.  Both of them climbed inside and were soon out of sight on their way out of town. 
    “The McCoys, huh?”  Steve said, scratching his chin while looking off to where Cade and Cassie had disappeared.  He turned to me before adding, “They own quite a bit of land around here.  As well as half the town shops if I remember right.”
    “Cassie said they’ve lived here her whole life.”  I supplied. 
    “Decades I’d imagine.”  Nicole commented.  She grinned ruefully before adding, “The McCoy boy is quite a looker, isn’t he?”  She teased.
    “I suppose some girls would find him attractive.”  I hedged. 
    “Not enough to tempt you, huh?” Nicole asked.
    “Boys are the last thing on my mind.”  Even if his deep brown eyes seem to peer right into my soul.
    “Good.”  Steve replied, then added with humor in his eyes, “I don’t know if I could handle that one if he came knocking on our door.”
    “Steve!”  Nicole admonished before laughing to herself.  I rolled my eyes, again.  I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. 
    “No worries.  I’m just going to focus on school this year so I can get into college.”
    “That’s what I like to hear.”  Steve nodded approvingly.  We all filed into the house and started the arduous task of unpacking. 
     

Chapter Two
     
    The week before school flew by and before I knew it, Monday morning rolled around.  My alarm went off at 6:40 am and woke me from a fitful sleep.  I’d been having weird dreams the past couple nights.  I knew it was the same one, over and over again, but as soon as I woke up, I couldn’t remember a thing about it.  Knowing that I didn’t have time to ponder what my subconscious was trying to tell me, I rolled out of bed and into the bathroom across the hall.  Within thirty minutes, I was dressed and ready.  Best thing about being a low maintenance girl, all I had to do was run a brush through my hair, apply a little mascara, and I was good to go. 
    Nicole was downstairs making breakfast as I made my way to the kitchen.  She didn’t start work until the following week and she was nice