by K. M. Fawkes
So, that was a yes. He wished that she had told him that she was getting cold. He wished that he’d thought to ask.
“There should be some in the attic,” he said. “We can look in the morning.”
“Before we do everything else in the world?” she asked with a grin.
“Exactly.” He stood and scooped Sammy up, laying him down on the couch and covering him up with an afghan. The kid stretched out and immediately went back to sleep.
Brad dropped into the chair beside Anna. They sat like this a lot in the evenings, her shoulder just brushing his.
“I think he liked the party,” she said, looking up at him. “I was afraid it would be a huge let-down.”
“With fudge like that?” Brad asked. “No way.”
“The fudge was okay. The games were the best part,” Anna returned. “I really should have thought of that…and thanks. I’m not used to someone else helping with him.”
“It’s no problem,” Brad said. He could tell that she felt a little awkward at having to say it, but he was pleased that she had opened up enough to thank him. He changed the subject to make it easier for her. “I celebrated my ninth birthday up here, too, you know.”
“You did?” Anna asked. “When’s your birthday?”
“October eleventh,” Brad said. “I only saw my dad in the summer, though, so the year I turned nine he got me an early birthday present. A really nice mountain bike. He taught me how to ride on the walkway.” Brad smiled at the memory. “We spent the weekend riding some of the trails out there and camping out.”
“That sounds really fun.”
“It was,” Brad agreed. Lee had let him make s’mores that night and he hadn’t even insisted that they talk about any survival-prep. They’d just talked about Brad’s upcoming school year and some improvements Lee wanted to make to the cabin.
“Riding that bike was the one thing that my dad wanted me to be good at that I actually was good at.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh when Anna looked puzzled. “I know that sounds ridiculous. It took me years to learn to shoot. I couldn’t even gut a fish till I was twelve. But I learned to ride a bike in about five minutes.” He remembered Lee’s shocked and exuberant laughter as he’d watched his son ride easily.
“Is that how you stayed so in shape?”
Brad wasn’t quite sure, because of the red glow of the fire they sat in front of, but it looked like her cheeks had reddened slightly. It was the first thing she’d ever said that led him to believe that she noticed him for something besides his knowledge of survival. He cleared his throat and then nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “Well, that and running. I did marathons back in Bangor. Usually two or three a year.”
She was still looking determinedly into the flames. “It shows.”
“Thanks.” A wave of the good old-fashioned awkwardness he’d spent most of life feeling around women swept over him. It hadn’t showed up a lot lately, but it appeared to be back with a vengeance, now. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say in return.
“Well…” Anna said into the sudden silence. “That’s a really good present. My ninth birthday wasn’t nearly that cool, gift-wise.”
“Oh yeah?” he angled himself around so that he could look at her more closely. “What’d you get?”
“A scarf.”
“A scarf?” he repeated incredulously. “Who gives a nine-year-old winter gear on their birthday?” His father had always given him practical gifts, of course, but he’d always included at least one thing that Brad could play with, too.
“My sister knitted it,” Anna said, her voice soft with fond memory. “She was the crafty twin.”
“Twin?” Brad asked in surprise.
Anna nodded, looking into the fire. “We decided on a German chocolate cake,” she went on.
Brad wanted to press for more information about the sister that he hadn’t known she had, but he decided to take what he could get. Anna didn’t talk about herself very often.
“All of the grownups went off into the other room for drinks after dessert, so we grabbed the rest of the cake and hid under the table with it. We ate till we felt sick,” she admitted with a laugh.
“No one caught you?” Brad asked.
“We had this really long, fancy tablecloth,” she said. “It hung down nearly to the floor, so they didn’t even know we were there till I let out a giggle.”
“What happened then?”
“The usual. They sent us up to our rooms, but it was okay because she snuck into my room a few minutes later. We were up till midnight just laughing and talking. Totally jacked-up on sugar.”
“Lucky,” Brad said without thinking before he spoke. “I always wished that I had a brother for stuff like that.”
Anna’s voice broke slightly as she said, “I don’t know. Sometimes it’s better not having to worry about anyone but yourself.”
“Do you know what happened to her?” Brad asked as gently as he could. “Were you separated during the outbreak, or…before?”
Anna’s lips parted, but then tears sparkled on her eyelashes and she shook her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.” She stood up. “Sammy and I should probably be getting to bed.”
She was out of the room almost before she’d finished speaking, leaving Brad even more curious than he’d been to begin with. There was still so much about her that he didn’t know, and it didn’t look like that would be changing anytime soon. He stood up as well. It had been a long day, and bed didn’t sound like a bad idea.
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