* * * *
At some point during the night, I woke with a start. I lay sandwiched between Liam and Aden. Breathing quietly, I listened for what might have woken me. The apartment remained quiet.
After several minutes of silence, I tried going back to sleep, but my imagination wouldn’t let me. Every time my eyes closed, I saw Blake’s face peering through the window, his canines extended like vicious, ivory blades.
I knew I wouldn’t sleep again until I checked the apartment. Heart hammering, I untangled Aden’s fingers from my hair and crept from the bed. I was still dressed from the day before. It made me feel safe. Ready. Despite my overwhelming desire to stay, I knew I needed to limit our time here to protect these people.
My wild imagination drew me toward the window. There, I stood torn. I had to know, yet I feared what I would see. Heart thumping painfully, I slowly pushed the shade to the side. Blackness filled the window frame. I panted with relief and let the shade fall back into place.
I left the bedroom and went to check the apartment door. There was no peephole so I pressed my ear against the panel. I didn’t hear anything but that didn’t stop my imagination as I gripped the knob. Would I open it and find Blake there? Maybe David again?
A light tap on the other side of the door almost made me pee myself. A startled squeak escaped me.
“Michelle?”
I recognized Emmitt’s voice and opened the door with shaking hands. Emmitt stood barefoot, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.
His dark eyes roamed my face, and a worried frown creased his brow.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I heard someone moving around up here and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
My stomach did its flip routine, which I ignored. “The walls are that thin?”
He shrugged. “I have good hearing and couldn’t sleep either.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I stared at him while the silence and my discomfort grew. His eyes never left mine.
“Do you want to come down for pancakes tomorrow morning?”
I nodded. I hadn’t thought about what we would eat while we were here.
He smiled, just a slight tilt on one side of his mouth. “Okay, then. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and quietly went back down the stairs, his steps somewhat reluctant.
I closed the door and went back to bed, oddly reassured that Emmitt listened below. Smiling slightly, I realized that for the first time in four years someone had made me feel safe. In spite of that happy feeling, my mind wandered to thoughts of the things we needed like food and clothes, to the envelope on the floor next to the bed, and to everything that tied me to the life from which I ran.
Chapter 4
Little tugs at my hair woke me. Aden lay next to me, eyes wide open as he stroked my hair. Sunlight peeked around the drawn shade.
“Morning, buddy. Did you go to the bathroom yet?”
He shook his head.
“Come on.”
I sat up and helped Aden from bed. Liam, who was also awake, followed us. While they used the bathroom and brushed their teeth, I went to the kitchen to check the time on the microwave. On a typical day, David let us out of our rooms by seven. I’d slept past nine. They had to be starving.
After they allowed me a little time in the bathroom, we went downstairs. Both Nana and Jim’s doors stood open. From Jim’s apartment, I heard a shower running and someone singing boisterously. Aden giggled, and I looked down at him in surprise. He caught my look and grew serious again. I felt horrible that my glance had killed his amusement. I gave him an encouraging smile and his hand a light squeeze, but the moment was gone.
The sudden sizzle of frying food came from Nana’s apartment and interrupted the singing. I led the way into Nana’s while calling out a tentative hello.
“Good morning, sleepyheads,” she called from the kitchen. “Come in and eat.”
Only three settings waited on the table.
Nana caught my puzzled look. “As soon as they smelled the food, they started snitching. I told them they might as well eat,” she explained. She then smiled at the boys. “I saved some for you.”
Emmitt came in while we ate, followed closely by a still damp Jim.
“Ready to head into town and do some shopping?” Emmitt said.
Mouth full of pancake, it took me a second to answer. The thought of clean clothes appealed to me, but the likelihood of Blake finding us remained lower if we stayed hidden in Emmitt’s home and tree-enclosed yard.
“Not today,” I answered. Maybe not ever. I could live in these clothes forever if it meant Blake never found us.
Emmitt tilted his head and studied me for a moment. “If you’re worried about money, I—”
“On Saturday’s, I usually comb through the paper,” Nana said, interrupting him. “This morning I found a few family rummages. Would you like to come with me?”
I set down my fork, feeling a little interrogated. “Thank you, but I think we’ll stay here and play if that’s okay.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Emmitt frown.
Nana smiled reassuringly. “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Would you mind if I looked for things for the boys?”
I eyed my brothers and knew I couldn’t say no. I wanted to stay here for a few days, at least, before moving on. It would help to have some spare clothes.
“I don’t mind.”
She and I talked sizes while Liam and Aden finished eating. Jim and Emmitt stayed in the kitchen, listening. I felt Emmitt watching me and resisted the urge to meet his gaze.
Jim sat next to Aden and mischievously eyed Aden’s plate. Aden pulled his plate away and shifted his body to give Jim his back. Jim grinned but left Aden’s food alone.
After cleaning up our places, the three of us followed the rest outside. Nana wasted no time pulling her small car of out the driveway, and I wondered if I should have given her my sizes, too.
Emmitt ambled to the garage where a riding lawnmower sat with its deck removed. Old, dried grass clumps littered the area around it. Jim joined Emmitt, and they started talking lawnmower care. Emmitt pointed out the need to do general maintenance, and Jim congratulated Emmitt on his new job.
Liam, Aden, and I lingered on the porch and stared at the yard. Our eyes saw freedom, but our minds didn’t quite believe it. Clasping hands, we walked down the steps together. At the last minute, I sat and pulled off my shoes. Liam and Aden did the same.
Grass tickled the bottoms of my feet as I stood. I smiled at the feeling and took a slow deep breath. The grass felt just as I remembered, and I wanted to do cartwheels and summersaults on it. A feral desire to hold onto this place claimed me, and thoughts began tumbling in my head. Maybe Blake wouldn’t find us here. Maybe we could just stay. The boys held my hands, walking circles in the grass with me.
Eventually, I realized Jim and Emmitt’s playful banter had stopped. When I looked up, I found both men watching us.
I self-consciously cleared my throat and turned to the boys. “What do you want to play?”
“There’s no swing,” Liam said as he looked around the yard with a very serious expression.
Without Jim and Emmitt’s gazes, I would have shown my brothers the things I wanted to do. Instead, I bent and plucked a blade of grass from the overgrown lawn.
“We don’t need one to play. Here.” I handed each boy a blade of grass and proceeded to teach them how to make a whistle using the grass, their thumbs, and cupped hands.
I entertained them with simple things I remembered from a long time ago, until Aden’s stomach growled.