HIDDEN (Hidden Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

“Come on, I’ll show you the way.”  I followed her up the porch stairs and into the house, everyone else trailed in our wake.  I took a moment to admire the rustic but elegant design and structure before my attention was diverted to the couple standing in front of me near the foyer.  The man was tall, broad shouldered, physically fit, and handsome.  He exuded a sense of power that was quite intimidating.  The only comforting factor was that he was smiling which seemed to soften his features.  I could just imagine that Cade would look exactly like him in twenty years. 

My eyes drifted to the woman standing beside him and even though she was smaller, she by no means was any less intimidating.  She had the same powerful presence that the man did only hers was subtler, like it was waiting for the right time to assert itself.  Her features were similar to Cassie’s, brown hair and eyes.  Eyes that were alight with welcome. 

“Kendra, it is so good to finally meet you!”  The woman gushed.  “We have heard so much about you.”  She held out her hand and I shook it while smiling. 

“This is my mom, Mica,” Cade said moving to my side.  He motioned to the man beside Mica and said, “My dad, Liam.”  I moved to Liam and held out my hand.  “This is Kendra.”  Cade said absently to finish the introductions. 

“It’s nice to meet you both.”  I smiled, trying to keep my racing heart from pounding out of my chest. 

“Welcome to the McCoy lands.”  Liam said warmly, as he continued to smile down at me.  He studied me for a minute, as if he was trying to figure something out.  I pulled my hand back and looked around the house.

“You have a very nice home.”

“Thank you.”  Mica replied.  “It’s been in the family for generations.  Someday it will belong to Cade and his family.”  She said with pride as she looked at Cade. 
Family?
 
And
what about Cassie?
  I looked to her but she didn’t seem too perturbed about the revelation. 

“All right, if we are all done with the intros, let’s get this show on the road.”  Cassie said cheerfully.  She pointed to Brody and Hunter, “Grab the gear, would you?”  Both nodded and disappeared to the back of the house, my bag firmly held by Brody.  Bree looped her arm through mine and tugged me back toward the front door.  I looked back at Liam and Mica.

“It was nice meeting you.”  I called. 

“You two, honey.”  Mica replied warmly.  Just before Bree pulled me through the door, I saw both Cassie and Cade turn to say something to their parents. 

“When was the last time you went on a hike?”  Bree asked conversationally as we made our way around the side of the house.

“Um…probably last year some time.”

“Well, if we go too fast just tell us to slow up or you need a break.  We do this kind of thing all the time.  We could hike for hours and never tire.”

“How far is this waterfall?”  I asked a little nervously.  Yeah I was in shape, but hiking for hours?  Not my thing. 

“Oh no worries.  Two hours of lazy hiking should have us there.  We’ll spend a while there before heading back down.”  She smiled as we rounded the backside of the house and found both Hunter and Brody going over a couple of bags.  Mine was sitting on the ground beside theirs. 

“What do you have in the bags?”  I asked curiously as we came up beside them.

“Mostly lunch.  Few essentials just in case.”  Brody answered. 

“In case, what?”

“We get stranded on the mountain.”  Cade said from behind us.  I looked over at him.

“Does that happen often?”  I asked a little worried.

“No.  Not for us.  But it’s good to be prepared just in case.”  He reached down and grabbed my bag.  I watched as he started to lengthen the straps.

“Hey!  What are you doing?  Those were perfect!”  I made a grab for my bag but he swung it up out of my reach. 

“This won’t fit me.  You’re too small.”  He pointed out.  He maxed out both straps then slung it over his shoulders.

“It doesn’t have to fit you.  It’s my bag.  I didn’t bring it so you could carry it.” 

“I’m not letting you carry it.”

“It’s my bag.”  I ground out.

“And I’m carrying it.”  He said as he squared off with me.  I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.  Liam and Mica were standing on the back porch steps watching our exchange.  I noticed that everyone was watching us, some with amusement, and some with shock on their faces.  Realizing it was stupid to argue who was carrying the bag, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

“Fine.  Whatever.”  I turned away and muttered under my breath, “Next time I’ll put rocks in it.”  Giggles erupted from both Cassie and Bree.  I turned to them, surprised they heard me.  I glanced back at the boys to see all three smirking. 
Rare form for Hunter.
 

“Even rocks wouldn’t slow me down.”  Cade boasted, and then winked at me.  My eyes widened in response. 
Did…CADE…just wink at me?
  Before I could formulate a response, he turned to Brody and Hunter and motioned to the bags.  Without a word, they each took the remaining two and strapped them to their backs.  All three of us girls didn’t have to carry a thing.

“And who said chivalry was dead?”  Cassie grinned my way as we set off towards the trees. 

The hike wasn’t too bad.  The trees gave a nice, shaded path to walk under.  The trail we followed was narrow which forced us to walk single file.  Hunter led, while Bree, Brody, Cassie and I followed.  Cade brought up the rear.  It was a little unnerving having Cade at my back the whole way.  It made me more than a little self-conscious. 

I caught myself glancing back at him a few times to either see him watching me, or the rare times he wasn’t, he was looking at our surroundings and then his eyes would snap to mine the second I looked at him.  About the fourth or fifth time that happened, I tried to cover my tracks and strike up a conversation.

“Steve was telling me there have been some large cat sightings in the mountains around here.  Does he mean, like, mountain lions?”

“Probably.  But they won’t bother us.”  Cade said reassuringly as he brushed a limb aside to pass.

“How would you know that?”

“Mountain lions, or cougars, are normally solitary creatures.  Six people tramping through the woods would scare them off rather than attract them.”

“Normally?”

He hesitated before answering.  “There have been some cases of the cats grouping together.”

“Really?  I didn’t know that.” 

“It’s not a problem for us.”  Cassie said over her shoulder, making me look forward to her.  “We know this land like the back of our hand.  There aren’t any cats around.”

“So, your family owns all this that we are hiking on?”

“My dad’s territory butts up to the National Forest and extends for miles.”  Cade replied.  “He believes in space and the preservation of the forest.  Owning the land ensures that logging is kept under control and the natural resources thrive.”  I nodded in agreement.  It was smart to look after the land but his term of “territory” was a little weird.  Most people would say land or property, not…territory. 

“What do your parents do?”  I asked.

“They oversee the property and buildings they own in town.  They employ our…neighbors…in the businesses, as well as some of the town folks.  They also have a wood shop near the house that Dad works in.”  Cade replied. 

“What does he build?”  I slipped a little on the path but caught myself in time.  I noticed Cade was closer than he’d been two seconds ago.  Because I’d slipped?

“Furniture mostly.”  He replied, bringing me back to the topic at hand.  “People order his projects online and he ships them all over the country.”

“That’s so cool.”  I replied impressed. 

Cade nodded.  “I like to help him after my school stuff is done.”

“Really?  You like woodworking?”

“I like building stuff with my hands.  Creating things with wood is one of them.”

“Could I see your work sometime?”

“Sure.  When we get back to the house I’ll show you sometime.”

“Thanks.”  We continued along for a few more paces before Cassie looked over her shoulder at me.

“What about Steve and Nicole?  What do they do?”  I looked at her as I noticed she didn’t say “parents”.

“Cade told you, didn’t he?”

“That Steve and Nicole aren’t your parents?  Yeah.  We know.”  Cassie smiled reassuringly.  “Someday I hope you can tell us about your birth parents, but only when you’re comfortable.”

“Afraid there’s not much to tell.”  I shrugged.  “They left me when I was two.”

“Like, left you with family?”

“No, like left me on the doorstep of a church.  Who then handed me over to child services.”  I replied evenly.  I’d accepted my beginnings a long time ago, but it didn’t mean it made it any easier to talk about.  The group stopped in front of me and Bree made her way back to stand beside me. 

“Do you have any family, Kendra?”  Bree asked softly.  My throat seized with the concern I heard in her voice.  I shook my head, unable to vocalize anything.  She enveloped me in a hug that surprised me, but I returned her embrace.  I felt the tension in my body lessen and I could finally take a deep breath.  She pulled back and smiled up at me.

“Better?”  She asked. 

“Yes, thank you.”  I smiled weakly at her.  I felt heat at my back and knew that Cade was standing close, but I refused to turn around and look at him.  Brody shuffled from up ahead on the trail which made me glance at him.

“You’ll always have us.”  Brody reassured, in a very serious, totally un-Brody-like, tone. 

“Uh, thanks.”  I replied hesitantly. 

“Yeah,” Cassie nodded in agreement.  “We can be your family now.”

“So, you not only adopted me into your group of friends, I now have brothers and sisters?”  I teased to lighten the mood.

“Absolutely.”  Brody smiled, back to his old self.  What sounded like a grunt of frustration came from behind me.  Before I could turn around and look at Cade, Hunter spoke up. 

“If we’re done, we should probably keep moving.”  I looked to Hunter and found him almost scowling.  What was his problem?  “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can eat.”  He then turned and started walking again. 

“Hunter’s always hungry.”  Bree commented as they all turned and started up the trail again.  I chuckled, glad the somber mood had passed.  Just as I was about to follow Cassie, a hand on my arm stopped me.  I looked back at Cade to see him looking down at me with concern in his eyes. 

“You sure you are all right?”

“Yeah.  I’m fine.”  I stated. 

“If you ever want to talk about your parents, or past, I’m good at listening.” 

“You may be good at listening, but I’m not good with talking.”  I commented.

“Offer still stands.”  He nodded and motioned for us to catch up with the others.  I smiled my thanks and turned to follow the others through the forest. 

There was little wildlife, which surprised me.  Either there wasn’t much in this area or six teenagers walking through the forest was loud enough to scare everything away.  I took a moment to listen to my surroundings.  There were a few birds and squirrels in the trees, but no deer or small animals scurrying around.  I also noticed that I could only hear my footsteps, none of the others, as we walked up the path. 
That was weird.

“You guys have got some serious stealth moves,” I commented to no one in particular.  Cassie glanced over her shoulder at me.

“What do you mean?”

“When I step, it sounds like a herd of elephants crashing through the forest.  When you guys walk, there’s not a crunch or twig snap at all.”

“Oh, well,” she hesitated before continuing, “that’s because we’ve practically been raised in the woods.  Dad and Mom take us hunting all the time so we learned at a young age to walk quietly.”

“That makes sense.”  I nodded.  “What do you hunt?” 

“Deer mostly.  Elk or moose.  A few rabbits.”

“What season is in right now?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”  She admitted.  “I haven’t checked lately.”  She turned back around and continued up the trail.  I frowned.  If they hunted as much as they did, wouldn’t they know what seasons were in? 

“It’s deer.”  Cade replied from behind me.  I glanced back at him to see him watching me.  I nodded that I heard him and looked forward again, not wanting to trip over anything. 

Before long the path led to the cascading waterfalls known as White River Falls.  I caught my breath at the sight.  The water probably fell about ten feet, not gigantic by any means but still breathtaking.  There was a pool where the water fell before flowing down between boulders and rocks down the hillside.  Wildflowers dotted the rocky hillside as I looked around.  A grouping of rocks off to the side of the pool was level enough to have our picnic. 

“Oh my God!  This is so beautiful.”  I breathed, my eyes widening. 

“Told you, you would like it.”  Cassie smiled as she trailed out onto the rocks.  I found myself following, running my hands through the taller grasses surrounding the edge as I passed.  I couldn’t help my glance back at Cade, to see what he thought of this place.  He was staring at me, like he’d never seen me before.  His head was cocked to the side, feet braced shoulder width apart, hands at his side as he gazed at me.  I turned to fully face him and studied him right back.  The picture that came to life in my mind was familiar.  He was silhouetted just within the trees, half in shadow.  His piercing eyes watched me, reminding me of the drawing from last night, of my wolf in the woods.