Page 143 of Rescued
After what feels like a lifetime, his body slumps, his back shuddering under my hand.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers again. “I’m really so sorry.”
“I know,” I say, trying to soothe him. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
“I want to go home.” His voice breaks on the word home, and my heart thunders in my ears. “Will you please take me home? I want to see Arlo. I want to hug him.”
“Of course.”
He untangles himself from my arms, then wipes at his face.
I push to my feet, then hold my hand out to him. “Austin drove me here. So, let’s go tell him we’re ready to go home, okay?”
“Okay.” Despite saying the words, he doesn’t move.
“Everything alright?”
He nods. “Do you really think Arlo is gonna forgive me?”
“Of course. Siblings have issues sometimes. Like I said, he’s worried. He’ll just be happy you’re home safe.”
His throat bobs, his eyes falling to the hay in front of him. “Do you have siblings?”
My heart clenches at his words, and with a soft sigh, I sit back down beside him. “I used to.”
For a few seconds, he’s quiet, and then he glances at me. “What do you mean?”
No bullshitting probably applies to this too, so I take a deep breath. “I had a younger sister, Sarah. She passed away when I was sixteen and she was eleven.”
Salem frowns, darting his gaze away again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to Nora. Was she sick or something?”
“No. She died in a house fire.”
Snapping his eyes to mine, he cocks his head. “Is that why you became a firefighter?”
I nod. “It is. I was stupid and left her home alone, and when I got back, the house was on fire and she was in the yard. I tried to help her, and so did the doctors and EMTs, but I was too late. I couldn’t save her.”
He sniffles again, turning his head away from me. “I’m real sorry about your sister. Does… Does it hurt sometimes? Bein’ around Nor?”
I’m sure that it could. If I let it. “No. It doesn’t hurt to be around either of you. I’m happy that I have you in my life. Both of you.”
Salem shifts a little, picking up a piece of hay and tearing it apart. “You really mean that, huh?”
“I do. I’ll prove it one day.”
He shakes his head. “I believe you.”
Fuck, I think my heart might explode from those words.
We sit together in silence for a few minutes before I stand again, holding my hand out. “Let’s go home, kid.”
Picking up the bottle of water from the hay, Salem places his hand in mine and lets me pull him to his feet. We’re almost to the door when he speaks, and his softly spoken words nearly rip my heart in two.
“Sarah would forgive you too, y’know?”
Chapter 35
Arlo
