Page 77 of Everything Under the Sun

“It’s a long way from here,” she pointed out. “You’re as good as dead if you try to make that trip on foot—even with a horse.”

She moved in closer, shrinking the space between us, her darkly-painted eyes pleading. “Your sister can stay too,” she added. “I’ll talk to my uncle and my momma—they’ll agree to it. You’ll both be protected here. Just say you’ll stay.”

I stepped around her, intent on leaving her there, but I stopped again when I felt her hand on my arm. I looked at her, long and hard and contemplatively, and she looked at me with the same intensity.

“I’m clean,” she whispered, her eyes sweeping over the curvature of my mouth. “You won’t find a woman like me out there on The Road.” She slipped a hand into her pants, touched herself, and then put her fingers to my lips.

Jesus Christ…

I grew so hard I knew I’d regret it later, but I released her hand and went inside the house.

Thais was sitting on the sofa with Emily and Shannon, her legs drawn up beneath her, laughing and smiling and looking like an angel.

“Atticus, come sit with us,” Thais said, gesturing me over.

Without a word, I walked past them all and went into the kitchen, grabbed the backpacks we’d left on the floor during breakfast, and hoisted them both over one shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Thais called out when I came back through the living room.

“Nowhere,” I answered, in motion toward the door. “I’ll just be outside. Stay here and enjoy yourself.”

The screen creaked closed behind me.

27

THAIS

The smile instantly dropped from my face. What was that all about?

Rachel entered the house then, her mouth pinched on one side.

“What’s goin’ on?” Emily asked.

Rachel marched toward the hallway.

“Rach? Come over ‘ere.”

“I’ll be back,” I told them, and I slipped outside to find Atticus walking through the field.

“Atticus!” I ran after him. “Atticus, please.” I moved around in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. “What happened? Why are you acting this way?”

“I told you to enjoy yourself.” He tried to walk past me, but I wouldn’t let him. “I’m just going to the barn—that’s all.”

I pressed my hand to his chest. “But that’s not all,” I said raptly.

He looked down into my eyes.

“Thais,” he began, “we need to leave within the hour. We have a lot of miles to cover if we’re going to make it Shreveport before Wolf’s men make it to us. All I’m going to do is sit in the barn and take stock of our supplies. And think. I need to look at my map, figure out where the hell we are, and get my head together. For now, go back in and enjoy yourself—it may be the last chance you get for a while.”

I shook my head, my hand still pressed to his chest.

“Atticus”—I paused, and my hand fell away—“maybe we should ask them if we can stay here”—Atticus flinched—“they have so much, and they’re very kind. I like them.”

I moved closer, peering up at him. “We could offer to make ourselves useful—I have many skills. And you can fight; that skill alone is worth more than all the things I can do combined. Look at them, Atticus”—my hand jutted out in gesture—“David and Emily are getting old; none of them look like they could defend this place if someone wanted to take it. They’ve been attacked before; with just the few left, the next time could be their last.”

“We can’t stay here,” he said firmly. “It seems safe for now—a godsend, I admit—but we’ve got men looking for us, and we’re not far enough away from Lexington City. It’s too much of a risk.”

I pressed my lips together in a hard line.

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