Page 60 of Her Hidden Smile

“Breathe, Millie. Take a breath.”

I felt something stroking my throat, helping me suck down air.

“Something fell onto the couch. I couldn’t see what it was, but it was crackling. I had to get away. I had to. I tried to get up and run, but I was coughing too bad, and I didn’t know where to run. I tried to figure out where the back door was.”

“I yelled out for Mom and Dad, cause I knew they would be worried for me, but I couldn’t hear my screams over the roar, crackle, and spits of the fire. I crawled as fast as I could, then I finally touched the back wall of the house. I was close to the door. I tried to yell for Mom and Dad again, but my voice wouldn’t work.”

I sucked in a deep breath. Then another. It tasted smoky.

“I reached up for the door handle, but Dad’s coat was in the way, then I had to open it with the coat over my hand. As soon as I opened it, I heard an explosion. The fire grabbed me. I screamed for Mom. I screamed for Dad. Then I screamed for someone to kill me as the pain burst through me. I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t crawl. I could only roll away from the house. That was another good thing according to the doctors.”

I lay there, panting, with Renzo stroking my hair, my shoulders, and my back.

He kept saying something but I couldn’t understand. I was too exhausted.

I don’t know how long I lay in his arms.

A minute?

Forever?

“I think about them… my mom and dad… every time I go into the orchard,” I whispered.

“You do?”

“The house was burned to the ground with them in it. Nothing but ash was left. Most of it drifted over the trees. I like thinking that when I’m in the orchard, they’re there with me.”

He tightened his hold on me again.

“They’re watching over you, Millie.”

Chapter Fourteen

She was staring at me again. It was Wednesday morning. I’d carried her from the blackberry bushes on Sunday. Considering how willing she was to kick me out of her house back in May, it shouldn’t have been too tough to kick me out now, but she hadn’t.

I’m getting to her.

“We are not going to watch soccer again,” she griped as she tried to grab the remote from me.

“It’s not soccer. It’s fútbol.”

“This is America, bub. It’s soccer. And another thing; when did I start getting this cable channel?”

“I put it on my credit card.” I grinned. I held the remote over my head. She had two choices, she could get off the couch and get it, or she could lean over me and try to get it. I was hoping she would try for number two.

“And how come you have extra clothes over here? How did that happen?”

“Simon brought them. He was worried about you too, so he brought me clothes so I could watch over you.”

“Simon? Bella’s father?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would he be worried about me?”

I looked at her, then I realized we hadn’t really discussed much about her rescue on Sunday. “Simon, Roan, and I were the ones who found you on Sunday.”

“Roan? Lisa’s Roan?”