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wrong.”
Linyah knew what she was saying was true, but she also didn’t want
anyone helping her. But she kept her mouth shut. It was never going
to happen anyway. Her parents wouldn’t buy a home there and Nic
would be bored soon enough and push the outpost onto someone else.
But it was a good plan. Her sister would hate it simply because
Linyah had some input on it.
    Her mother was walking toward the door
when she turned back. “We leave in the morning for the Lanning
leap. Are you going to be well enough to travel?” Tomorrow? She
nodded at her mom. “Good. I will have your things taken to the
transport and they will be there when we arrive. Do try to act like
a woman for just the first few hours, my child. I would very much
like to make a good first impression.”
    Linyah stuck her tongue out at the
closed door. She was going to be herself and if they didn’t like
it, then tough shit. She wasn’t going to dress up for anyone.
Besides, she was pretty sure that she’d never see the Lannings
again and didn’t care to dress to impress. Maybe she’d get a call
to go out and be on a mission until they were ready to come back
here. Not that she wasn’t looking forward to going, but she wasn’t
going to be made into something she wasn’t. She reached for Phillip
to tell him they were coming tomorrow morning.
    Your things will be
brought to my brother’s house. He’s got all the rooms assigned and
everything all set up. I hope you like my family. She told him she didn’t care about all that, and
he laughed. Yeah, I didn’t think you’d
care. But my mom is looking forward to you guys coming. She’s been
baking her famous sugar cookies and pies.
    Her downfall. Sweets. Linyah had asked
the kitchen here not to bake them any longer. She could sit and eat
them until she popped. And then eat more just because she could. It
wasn’t like she gained any weight or anything, but they did make
her have such a sugar rush that it was like being drunk on liquor.
She had made such a fool of herself the last time she’d eaten any
that she’d had to stay at home for days in fear someone would laugh
at her.
    I don’t know how long
we’ll be staying, but there is a chance that I’ll get called away
when a problem arises. She’d told Phillip
that she was in charge of security, and he told her that was great.
What she didn’t tell him was that not only did she run the security
team, but did most of the runs on her own. She’d been running away
as far as she could since her mother retired some years ago. But
Linyah was bored with the job and she was pretty sure her mother
was with retirement as well. Maybe they’d all get lucky and her mom
would come out of retirement and her sister would find a male.
Yeah, right, she thought. And she’d turn into a beauty
queen.
    Whatever happens it’ll be
nice just to have you here as much as we can. I’m looking forward
to everyone meeting you and your family. Linyah smiled. There wasn’t a nicer person she knew than this
young man. And she supposed that he wasn’t really young to others
like him. But to her he was just a babe. Misha said we might have a call or two as well to go out on.
I guess we might miss seeing you as well. There is always someone
who needs us.
    Me too. She looked out over the grounds that were home to
so many now. I have seen some of your area
in your mind. I hope someday that I can bring you here. It’s so
different than yours. We don’t have a lot going on that’s different
than you have really. Just bigger houses and less people. I guess
we’re still hoping that someday we’ll be as populated as we once
were. She didn’t mean to sound so snobbish
and started to apologize to him when he laughed.
    It is okay here. I don’t
know where there is, but I’m sure you’ll like our little piece of
the world. It’s nice, quiet, and we have a lot of woods we can run
in. I’ve been telling Mom about you and she can’t wait to meet
you. Pressure seemed to weigh