Page 36 of Last Light

“Can we make a fire, do you think?” It’s not cold in the room, but I’m shivering from being so wet. “Not all night. Just enough to warm up our soup.”

Travis hesitates, his eyes moving from my face to the hearth. “Guess it’d be all right. No one’s likely to see the smoke in the dark and the rain. Let me check the fireplace first to make sure it’s clear. And it has to be a small one. And we let it die out as soon as the soup is warmed.”

I grin up at him. “Deal.”

Pleased with this development, I go over to my bag and pull out a long T-shirt and the leggings I took from the house earlier today. Without thinking, I shuck my wet jeans and pull the leggings on instead.

I glance over at Travis. He was watching me, but now he turns his back and grabs a fistful of his wet T-shirt and pulls it off over his head.

Beyond shame, I turn away from him and do the same to my own shirt and tank, replacing them with the dry shirt.

When we’ve changed, I hang up our wet clothes in the bathroom shower so they’ll dry overnight. I return to see that Travis has already inspected the chimney and made a small fire using only one log.

Earlier today, we found some good vegetable beef soup. Not the condensed stuff but the thicker soup with big pieces of meat and vegetables in it. I open two cans and pour them into our pot, and Travis holds it over the fire until it’s warmed up.

While he’s doing that, I run downstairs and grab two bowls and spoons from the kitchen so we don’t have to eat from the pot.

We have our meal on the floor in front of the dwindling fire. The soup is thick and warm and full of big chunks of meat.

It’s the best meal I’ve had in ages.

I’m warm and satisfied as we finish. The rain is tapping steadily on the roof. I’m wearing clean, comfortable clothes. I feel full.

I smile at Travis in the firelight, and he almost smiles back.

“Don’t barricade the door yet,” I say. “I’m going to need to go to the bathroom again before bed.”

“Yeah. Me too. Drinkin’ more water than usual.”

“I guess that’s a good thing.” I stand up, stretch, and suddenly feel self-conscious. Travis’s eyes are on me, and I can’t read the expression in them.

Having nothing else to do, I flop onto the bed and stare up the ceiling, enjoying the feel of a full stomach and trying not to wonder what Travis is thinking about.

When I hear crinkling, I sit up to look.

He’s got something in a plastic bag. “Found these at that drugstore. Thought we could give ’em a try.” He walks over to dump a few brightly colored packages onto the bed beside me.

I gasp and clasp my hands together.

Candy.

Candy!

He sits down on the bed and slants me a sheepish look. “The chocolate wouldn’t be any good after four years, so I stuck to the other stuff. Bet some of this lasts forever.”

I’m giggling as I rip open a pack of Skittles and let the little disks of color fall like pebbles into a pile on the comforter. We both pick one up and meet each other’s eyes before we put the candy into our mouths.

“Oh my God,” I moan, falling backward as I chew. “It’s so good.”

Travis grunts.

I grab a few more and chew them, the pleasure from the sweet taste washing over me.

I might have moaned again. But who could blame me?

It’s been ages since I’ve had any sweets.

Travis opens a bag of jelly beans and eats one but makes a face as he chews. “Tastes okay, but it’s really hard. They didn’t hold up so well.”

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