Red Hill (Page 48)

“I saw you,” I said. Scarlet’s head jerked up to meet my eyes. “In that Jeep. I saw you heading toward Fairview on the highway. How did you get past them?”

“Past who?” Scarlet asked.

“The kids with the guns. On the bridge.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly, looking down. “I got past them.”

“You’re lucky,” I said. “We were stuck under the overpass. They opened fire on everyone.”

Scarlet offered a small, tired smile. “I guess you were lucky, too.”

“Who shot at you?” A deep voice said. I turned to see Joey standing in the dark kitchen.

“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me,” Scarlet said, blowing out a quick breath.

“Men—kids, actually—at the Anderson bridge had guns, shooting at anyone trying to get in,” I said, watching Joey sit on the carpet next to me.

“Good thing we ran out of gas. We were headed to Anderson. Dana’s dad lived there.”

“Small world,” Scarlet said, her smile fading.

Joey sighed. “Even smaller now.”

We sat in silence for a while, listening to the thunder rumble and the lightning crack across the sky. The sky opened up and rain poured down, drenching the farmhouse until it moved slowly toward Shallot and then Fairview. I thought of the dead ones, if they even noticed the storm, and of the small children in Shallot with the milky eyes that just a few days ago might have been terrified of thunder and lightning. They were now ambling outside, impervious to the rain, the wind, and the monsters walking alongside them.

“Dana liked storms,” Joey said. “She would have wanted to go outside and dance in the rain.”

“Dana is your wife?” Scarlet said.

“She was going to be.”

“You lost her,” Scarlet said, more a statement than a question.

“A couple of times.”

Scarlet’s eyebrows pulled together. I thought about explaining, but it wasn’t my story to tell.

“You saw my father?” I asked.

“I saw him at work,” she said. “He was really excited about you girls coming here for the weekend. It was all he talked about.”

Tears burned my eyes again.

Scarlet continued, “We were busy, so I didn’t get to talk to him much. Mostly just that morning . . .” Scarlet seemed to get lost in a thought, and then she looked up. “Joey?”

“Yeah?”

“You said your girlfriend’s name was Dana?” Joey nodded and Scarlet shook her head. “Was she at the hospital Friday?”

Joey nodded.

“I met her!” Scarlet said. She smiled and touched her chest. “I did her exam! She met Miranda’s dad!”

Scarlet’s smile seemed so out of place for the discussion, but I was waiting for Joey’s reaction. At first, he just stared back at her blank-faced, and then a small smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “She was beautiful.”

Scarlet nodded emphatically. “Oh my God, she was. Crazy about you, too. You being there was so comforting to her.”

Joey nodded. Even in the dim light, I could see his eyes fill with tears.

Scarlet yawned. “Wow. Crazy how we all ended up here,” she said. She lied on the couch, and used her bent arm as a pillow.

Joey and I stood; that was our cue. Joey walked a few steps toward the laundry room, and then stopped and turned. “I don’t sleep much. You’re welcome to hang out downstairs with me, if you want.”

I knew I shouldn’t. I looked to Scarlet for judgment or guidance, but her eyes were already closed. “Okay,” I said, following him downstairs. I’d been up and down that stairway so many times since my father had bought that ranch, but this time was different. My blood rose to the surface of my cheeks, and burned hotter with every step. When we walked into the vast space of the finished basement, Joey raised his arms.

“Welcome to my place.”

I smiled. “Technically, it’s my place.”

Joey sat on the floor, and I sat on the loveseat. I glanced to each side of me, amused that Scarlet had to guess if he would fit. His legs from thighs down would have hung off the end.

We spent hours talking about how long my father had owned the ranch, how Ashley and I spent our summers there, and the stupid predicaments we would get into, like the time she lost her shoe in the mud because we snuck out in the middle of the night to meet Bryce and his friends so they could drive us to the Diversion Dam for Matt Painter’s kegger.

It felt good to laugh and remember things that didn’t mean anything at the time. Any good memories were everything now.

Joey’s eyes began to redden and droop, and I was finally feeling the effects of exhaustion myself, so I stood and headed for the stairs. Something stopped me, and I turned.

“Joey?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did it make you so happy to know that Scarlet did Dana’s exam? Wasn’t she really sick then?”

Joey nodded. “Yeah, but . . . I don’t know. Talking to someone else who knew Dana when she was alive makes her real, you know? It’s easy to forget that our lives before weren’t a dream. This isn’t the reality, how we’re meant to live, or who we are. The people we were seven days ago . . . that is who we are, and Scarlet remembering Dana when she was alive makes that true.”

I shook my head. I still didn’t understand.

Joey shrugged. “It feels good to know she lives in someone else’s memory, too.”

I offered a small smile, and shoved my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. “Goodnight.”

Nathan

My eyes peeled open, and it took a moment for me to recall where I was and why. Simultaneously, I remembered that Zoe was supposed to be asleep next to me, and realized that her side of the bed was empty. In a panic, I scrambled over the bed and ran through the French doors to the living room. Zoe was sitting at the head of the dining room table, chomping away on Frosted Mini-Wheats and chatting Scarlet’s ear off.

Scarlet was sitting in the chair next to Zoe, her chin resting in her hand, listening intently to every word my daughter uttered. Zoe and Scarlet mirrored each other’s happiness in that moment, and I got a little choked up at the sight of them. Zoe’s sweet smile had returned, and Scarlet’s fiery red hair glowed in the morning sun that poured through cracks in the wooden slats on the window. I wasn’t sure I’d seen anything more beautiful.

Once Scarlet caught a glimpse of me, she pushed away from the table and went outside. Zoe took another bite, and I winked at her before joining Scarlet on the porch. She was staring down the dirt road, longing for her daughters, I imagined.

“My daughter Halle isn’t much older than Zoe,” she said, covering her mouth with a few of her fingers. Her pink nail polish was nearly completely chipped away, but her fingers were still elegant.

“How old is the other one? You have two, right?”

Scarlet cast a curious glance in my direction.

“The picture on the wall.”

“Just the two,” she said with a guarded smile. “Jenna is thirteen.” I laughed once, and Scarlet nodded. “Boy, is she ever.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“You will,” she said. Her smile faded. “They were supposed to meet me here if something happened. They were with their father when . . . I couldn’t get to them.”

“They know their way?”