Page 14 of The Secrets We Left Behind
And then she realized that Jack’s body was curved to hers, the blanket over both of them, and embarrassment heated her cheeks. That certainly hadn’t been planned.
“Is it time to go?” she asked.
He grunted, his voice rough from sleep. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
She pulled the blanket up and attempted to ball it, given she couldn’t fold it in such close quarters. And she stuffed the bandages into her pockets, desperate to stretch her legs and her back as claustrophobia crept up on her.
“Let me go first,” he said.
Cate was happy for him to take charge, knowing that her knees would be knocking as soon as she hauled herself out. She waited for him to give the all-clear, and within seconds he was telling her to join him.
The rain had reduced to a thick drizzle now, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before her nurse’s uniform was soaked through, leaving her shivering and wet. And Jack wasn’t exactly going to fare much better in what he was wearing, not to mention being only a handful of days post-surgery, and should have been on strict bed rest to recover.
“Do you know the direction we’re supposed to be going?” she whispered.
“Yes, I’ve been there before,” he said. “It’s fifty miles, give or take.”
Cate decided to spread out the heavy wool blanket and draped it over her shoulders, offering the other side to Jack.
“Here, let’s walk with this over us. It’ll keep us dryer for longer.”
“I’m fine, you take it,” he said.
Cate watched him limp beside her as they started walking, and decided not to take no for an answer. “Take the blanket, Jack. If you don’t, you could die on me. You shouldn’t even be out of bed walking, and I don’t want to have to add hyperthermia to your list of ailments.”
That stopped him in his tracks. He took half the blanket and draped it over his shoulders, meaning it lifted off one of hers as he was so much taller. But she didn’t care. They were as dry as could be, given the circumstances, and for now, they couldn’t see or hear the enemy. It wasn’t dark yet, but she knew it would be soon, and she strained to adjust her eyes to the fading light. Cate’s foot slid from beneath her on the mud, but she managed to quickly right herself.
“I have no idea how long it takes to walk fifty miles,” she confessed as they set off slowly, side by side.
“A long while,” Jack replied, but from the grunt that came along with it, she realized it wasn’t going to be easy for him and they hadn’t even walked a quarter of a mile yet.
“Lean on me,” she offered, ignoring his protest as she slipped an arm around his waist. Cate refused to be embarrassed about touching him or pressing her own body so close; surely they were past that by now. They were two people doing their best to survive, and she needed to forget any romantic thoughts she may or may not have had about him in the past.
“We can do this, Jack,” she whispered up at him. “We’re not dying tonight. Not here. We’re going to make it.”
She was answered with silence, but when his arm slid around her shoulders, letting her take some of his weight, it was all she needed, just to know that he believed the same. They’d survived so far, and that was all the evidence she had that they could stay that way. And so they kept walking, connected at the hip, as they bumped along in the dark toward Le Paradis, wherever that might be.
CHAPTER FIVE
ADELAIDE
Adelaide couldn’t stop shaking. It had started when they were upstairs under the bed hiding, and ever since her body had trembled as if she were shivering from the cold. She glanced over at her sister, who was busying herself in the kitchen, preparing a meager meal for the pair of them, and even though she knew she should help, she couldn’t seem to move.
She shut her eyes for a moment then quickly opened them, the sight of all those men walking out with their hands held high coming straight back to her, their little white flag on a stick.Boom. She kept hearing that, too, the loud explosions as they were gunned down, one after the other after the other.
“You need to do something to keep your mind off it all,” Elise said.
Addy looked up at her sister and nodded. She was right—Elise always was.
“Set the table for me,” Elise suggested. “The soup is almost ready.”
Addy did as she was asked, taking out place mats and spoons, and then sitting to wait for her sister. She placed her palms flaton the table, pleased to see the shaking become slightly more controllable.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
Elise set two steaming bowls on the table and sat down across from her. Addy watched as she folded her napkin on her knee and reached for her spoon before looking up and finally acknowledging her question.
“We’re going to eat our soup and then do the dishes,” Elise said matter-of-factly.
