Page 75 of Mark Us Little Bear
“Maybe she’s just known him longer,” I whisper.
“Come on Ronnie, help me up.” Amber’s voice cuts our conversation.
“Do you think my head is made of stone?”
Shooting her leg up, I catch Amber and yank her above the wooden awning.
“If my mother catches us, it’s game over prepare for war.” She settles next to me and I round my hand over her waist. “It’s been a while since I’ve been up here.” Her neck cranks up toward the skies.
“Ryan, I heard you have doubts but let me tell you this, my sister likes you so much that she refused to give you away and risked our mom finding out about you.”
“Your dad is awesome, but your mom is a little stressed.” Ryan nods with a small hopeful grin.
“She always talked about Josh like a brother but I never saw him here because it was easier to sneak out and meet her friends at the park or something.”
I trace every visible part of her as she reassures my brother. Warmth spreads across my hand where our contact starts. She has so many mixed feelings about this house that I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like to leave here as a kid. My house was loud, filled with laughter, and parents who spent most of their time with their kids because they wanted to be involved as much as they could. But two blocks away lived a girl who ran here and gazed at the stars because she couldn’t walk inside a house she called home.
It finally strikes me how big of an impact it had on her so I round my hand around her belly, tuck her closer to me, and kiss the top of her head.
Their conversation ends and Ryan goes inside to bring her something.
“I’m sorry.” I press my chin to her shoulder. “Kat has Josh to lean on. I know I’m two years younger than you but I could have been your crutch.” My voice slowly breaks.
“It’s not your fault, Bradley, you couldn’t have known. Andwe metwhen the time was right.“ She leans back against me.
Ryan comes back with a keychain the shape of a star in his hand. “I got two of these. One for you and one for Kat. I was going to give it to you before you left but I think you should have it now.” He hands it to her. “Kat said you put the stars on her ceiling and when she gazes at the skies, she thinks about the brightest star.”
“What brightest star?” Amber lowers her voice and pulls her eyebrows slightly.
“Stop gossiping about me,” Kat pushes to stand, “I’m going to sneak a glance outside the door to make sure mom isn’t around.”
“Okay,” Ryan answers her before he turns back to Amber. “Youare her brightest star.”
Of course, she is.
Amber clutches the keychain tightly and smiles. “Thanks, Ryan, it means a lot.”
“Sure. I knew who you were before you even came because of Kat. You are her favorite person.”
She quivers in my arms but doesn’t say a word about it to Ryan.
“I’ll leave you to your… session. Nice shoes by the way.” I fast forward our conversation, knowing she waits for the chance to cry.
“Oh yeah, some psycho gave them to me.” A condescending look encounters me. “See you at dinner, psycho.” He shakes his head, undeniably amused by this, and shuts the window.
With a streak of tears in her eyes, a silent sob breaks.
“Hey, I got you.” I cover her as a cool breeze makes her shiver. Ronnie climbs to us in seconds, hoisting himself and linking his legs together above the awning and I reach out to pull him.
He can’t run but he sure as hell can climb.
“We won’t let anyone hurt you anymore,” he says, scooting closer to us.
Damn right, we won’t.
Ronnie
Josh’s birthday dinner is starting and I’m more nervous than I should be.
