Arianna Smith's Arc

Chapter 19 of 23

The next morning, Arianna sat at the kitchen table with her laptop open. Kylie stood by the window, peeking through the curtain. Two cars idled on the street below. A camera lens flashed off a windshield. "They're still down there," Kylie said. "They've been there since six." Arianna watched her hunch away from the glass. Last night Kylie had said it plain. They needed a place no one could reach. A real home, with a gate. Arianna turned back to the screen. She had spent hours searching while Kylie slept. Most listings were wrong. Open yards. Low fences. One had no fence at all. She needed walls a camera couldn't cross. She scrolled past twenty more. Then one stopped her. "Come look," she said. Kylie left the window. On the screen was a wide white house. It sat right on the sand, close to the water. A pool curved beside it. A small waterfall ran down rocks near the front. Tall palms leaned over the roof. Around it all ran a stone wall with a locked iron gate. Tucked at one side stood a little building with a door. "A studio," Arianna said. "You could record there. No one could see in." Kylie leaned close. Her red-streaked hair fell against Arianna's cheek. For a moment she didn't speak. Then her finger touched the gate on the screen. "That locks," she said. "Nobody climbs that." "No one parks on a beach you own," Arianna said. "The gate keeps them out. The walls keep them out. We could be us in there." She felt her heart pound the way it had at the restaurant. This was another promise. A home she could offer, not a one-room apartment with a camera on the street. Kylie pulled back and looked at her. "You found this for us." "I looked all night," Arianna said. "I didn't want to grab the first thing. You've had people hand you fast answers before. I wanted it to be right." Kylie's eyes filled, the same as when the ring went on her hand. "Call them," she said. "Today. Right now." Arianna picked up her phone. Her fingers shook, so she set her other hand flat on the table, the way she always did. She dialed the number on the listing. A voice answered. Arianna said the address out loud. She said they wanted it. She said they could come sign today. The voice said yes. She hung up. For a second neither of them moved. Then Kylie grabbed her hands and laughed. Down on the street, a car door slammed. A camera flashed again at the window. But Arianna didn't flinch this time. Soon none of that would reach them. "We have a home," Arianna said. "A real one. With a gate." Kylie kissed her. Outside, the cameras kept clicking at an apartment the two of them were already leaving behind.