CHAPTER1
FALLING FOR THE AMBUSH
MACKENZIE
Youare killing it,Mackenzie!Itell myself asIunlock my apartment door.Whosays positive reinforcement isn’t effective when used on yourself?Notme.Ido it all the time and it works.
Itake a right into my bedroom, kick off my running shoes, and then swap my jogging shorts and top for my baby blue t-shirt and knit shorts that are made out ofthesoftest fabric.Iheard once that if you let yourself feel positive emotions after doing a task that you want to cement as a habit, you’ll have more success.SoIsmile and think about how great it is to be done with my run for the day.
Okay, it was a walk.Iwalk.Whenwalking, there’s always at least one foot on the ground at all times.Whenrunning, there’s a moment with every step when neither foot is on the ground.Youalways hear that it’s wise to stay grounded.Iprefer to think that keeping at least one foot on the ground is what they mean.
Plus, every once in a while,Idecide to run, andIlast about ninety seconds beforeIam convinced thatIwill die ifIcontinue.Which, quite frankly, is a little embarrassing.So, instead,Ipower walk like a sixty-five-year-old in the mall thirty minutes before they open.
But, hey, at leastI’mconsistent.Ihave an app whereIrecord my walking streak, andIam on day one thousand two hundred and thirty-seven of walking without missing a day.
Ihead back into the hall.Justpast my bathroom, the hall widens enough thatIcan consider it my living room.ThenIturn the corner to my kitchen and dining room area.Thething is, my apartment is actually a garage. (Asevidenced by the giant garage door that can be partially seen just beyond my little kitchen table.)
Specifically, my sisterMaggie’sgarage.Thisapartment was already built whenMaggieand her husband,Rowan, bought this house, andImoved in the same weekend that they did.Ilove it here— for being a garage, it still has everything.Anenclosed bedroom, a full bathroom, a kitchen sink, a fridge, and a freezer.
Well, everything but an oven and stove.Butthat’s okay becauseI’vegot a long kitchen counter that holds lots of trusty appliances.Iturn on my waffle maker, put in a bit of butter, and then pour on some frozen hash brown potatoes.Iadd a bit of salt and pepper, then close the lid and open the top of the rice cooker.BeforeIleft for my walk,I’dwhisked some eggs right in the rice cooker bowl, then threw in a bunch of diced vegetables.Nowthis frittata looks and smells like perfection.
Myphone lights up with my best friendLivi’sface andIswipe to answer the video call. “Thisis your mission,Mackenzie, should you choose to accept it.Turnon yourTVand click the watch party linkIsent you.”
Ican’t help the giddy sound that escapes me asIrace back to my living room and grab the remote to bring up our movie. “Ican’t believe we are finally going to re-watch the firstMission:Impossiblemovie.”
“Theone that started it all.”
Itwas the first movie thatLiviandIeverwatched together.Wewere maybe three weeks into being randomly placed together in the same dorm our freshman year of college, and we decided we needed a movie night.Somehow, that started aTuesdaynight tradition of watching a spy movie orTVshow.It’sbeen eight years, and the tradition is still going strong.
Weshared an apartment after leaving dorm life behind up until nine months ago whenImoved here to work at a physical therapy clinic and she moved to aBaltimoresuburb to work at a mechanical engineering firm.Butwe weren’t about to let a little thing like living a thirty-minute drive apart stop our tradition.
Ipush my coffee table, which stays pressed against the couch wheneverI’mnot using it, out into the walkway so thatIcan sit on my couch.Asthe first trilling notes of the theme song play,Iremember thatIstill have food cooking.Irush with my open phone back into the kitchen and fling up the lid of the waffle maker, flapping my hand to clear away some of the smoke. “IthinkImissed the ‘these hash browns will self-destruct in five seconds’ message.”
“Theystill look edible,”Livisays, squinting into the phone screen.
Inod.They’reonly a little bit blackened.Totallyfine.Iput them onto a plate, then cut the frittata into fours and add one of the wedges to my plate.
“Itstill looks way better than my dinner,”Livisays. “I’vegot a full kitchen, yetI’mhavingCap’nCrunchcereal.”
“Roughday with the machines?”
“Ithink one of them is trying to kill me.Readyto start?”
“Youknow it.”Itake my food into the living room, curl up on my couch, and start to eat asTomCruisepulls off his mask, revealing that he’s not, in fact, an olderUkrainianman.
Asusual,LiviandItalk all through the movie, throwing in our own witty commentary and jokes, pointing out plot holes, cheering for the characters, and acting shocked at all the big reveals, even though we’ve seen the movie before.
Myphone sounds the queen’s royal trumpets text tone that my sister set for herself (even though we both know that our older sister,Mari, is the bossy one) andIswipe to her text.It’sa picture of my five-month-old niece,Adelaide, with tears streaming down her face.Thetext readsAddirequires emergency kisses.Areyou free?
Isend a quickBeright there, and say toLivi, “Addineeds the kind of love that only her favorite aunt can give.I’llbe back in a minute— keep the movie running.”
“Areyou sure?Ican pause it.”
“I’msure.Weboth have an early day tomorrow.Iwon’t be long.”
Iclimb the three cement steps in the corner between my kitchen and living room, open the door toMaggie’s, and then hurry through her kitchen and down the hallway toward the bedrooms and the sad sounds of my distraught niece.
ThemomentIwalk intoAddi’sroom and she spots me from her mom’s arms, her crying stops and she tries to smile through tears and jagged, hiccupping breaths.Sheholds her arms out to me andIimmediately scoop her up.