Fragile(38)
Author: M. Leighton

As he sat in the dark thinking about her—the way she made him feel, the way her eyes sparkled with mischief, the way she viewed the world, her strength, her kindness—he realized that all he wanted from her was time. Time with her. Time in her presence. All the other things he thought about were things he’d like to do for her. Well, with the exception of the long list of things he wanted to do to her.

Hardy felt himself harden just thinking about sex with Miracle, so he pushed the thoughts aside. Miracle deserved more than just his lust, too. And she would get it. What she probably didn’t realize was that she already had it. She just had to accept it. He was already hers for the taking.

Impulsively, Hardy typed a response.

Can I see you?

He didn’t care that his father would freak if he found out. He didn’t care that it was over an hour’s drive each way. He didn’t care that it was the middle of the night. He didn’t care that he was technically at the lake house with someone else. His heart was already back in Middleton. With Miracle. The rest was just logistics.

He held his breath as he awaited a response. The screen went black in its silence. He hoped she didn’t cuss him out for his audacity, although he couldn’t imagine Miracle doing any such thing.

When finally she responded, Hardy’s pulse thrummed with anxiety. And anticipation.

Now?

Hardy smiled. At least it wasn’t a no.

No, in about an hour.

Viewing her answer as a good sign, Hardy got up and hurriedly pulled on jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. They’d been having unseasonably cool weather, where the temperature would drop down into the fifties at night. He was sure if she agreed, he’d have to see her outdoors.

He was pushing his feet into tennis shoes when his phone sounded again. He held his breath as he picked it up to read the display.

Park at the dead end and text me when you get here. I’ll come out.

Hardy pumped his fist in the air then felt ridiculous for being so inordinately pleased. He wanted to tell himself that Miracle was just a girl, but he knew that wasn’t the case. Miracle wasn’t just a girl. She was…something special.

He paused only long enough to text her on my way before sneaking quietly out his bedroom door to peek down the hall. Thankfully, the house was quiet. It appeared everyone had gone to bed.

Carefully avoiding all the squeaky boards he’d identified over the years, Hardy made his way silently from the house. The one thing he didn’t take into account was the sound of his engine cranking. He considered the amplitude of it, which was fairly low since it was a newer model, and the proximity of his car to his parents’ bedroom. He was fairly certain he’d wake them if he attempted it, so he decided to throw the car into neutral, push it out of the driveway and down the road a ways before starting it up.

It sounded like a solid plan, only the driveway was gravel. The deafening crunch of the rocks under the tires made it necessary for Hardy to go slower. It also made getting purchase with his feet more difficult. That plus the slight downward slope of the grade made it harder to push. By the time he rolled the car out into the road, he was already winded and sweating.

Once he got it going on a level surface, the car moved more easily. At that point, it was the power steering that posed a problem. It made it nearly impossible to make even small corrections in the car’s direction. Hardy gritted his teeth as he struggled to turn the wheels.

It occurred to him that a lesser-determined person would’ve given up already. But not Hardy. He was apparently willing to go to possibly unhealthy lengths just to see Miracle for a few minutes, but that realization didn’t stop him either. He could practically smell her lavender skin, taste her sweet mouth and hear her infectious giggle and that spurred him on. No, there was no stopping him tonight.

Once he had distanced himself enough from the house to start the engine, Hardy jumped into his car and did just that, speeding away and hoping that his father didn’t get up and notice his car missing. He maintained a fairly dangerous speed all the way back to Middleton, arriving almost a full ten minutes ahead of schedule. When he parked at the dead end, he cut the engine and texted Miracle just as she’d instructed. His heart was flying as he watched out the window for her.

He got no response to his text and had begun to think he’d been stood up when almost fifteen minutes had elapsed with no sign of Miracle. He wasn’t angry, as he should have been; he was just incredibly disappointed. He felt like he’d been starved for sunshine and had now been deprived the chance of standing in its warmth.

He was debating whether he should send another text or just leave when movement caught his eye. He saw a small dark figure darting between houses across the street. His stomach twitched in excitement. Surely it had to be Miracle.

He watched for the shape to come out the other side of the house he’d seen it go behind, but it never did. After several minutes, he realized that it hadn’t been Miracle after all.

“Probably a deranged psychopath that stalks people in parked cars,” Hardy mumbled under this breath, not entirely sure his jest had been that humorous. Strange, awful things happened like that all the time in cities across the country. He could very well be the first incidence in Middleton.

Just then, something popped up and smacked the glass of his windshield. Hardy jumped like he’d been shot. His heart didn’t slow its erratic beat until long after Miracle had dissolved into peals of laughter.

After he regained his breath, Hardy’s pulse still skipped, but for an entirely different reason. Miracle was standing outside his window in black jeans and a black sweatshirt that had the neck cut out of it. She was wearing the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

“Come on,” she said, loudly enough for him to hear through the closed window.

Without hesitation, Hardy removed the keys from the ignition and hopped out to follow her.

“Where are we going?” he asked in hushed tones.

“There’s a trail that winds along the river. We can get to it without going through the woods. I thought it would be pretty at night.”

“Sounds good.” Hardy didn’t care where they went, as long as he was with her.

They walked back up the street in silence. After a while, Miracle turned off the road to cross a field that lay at the other end of her small subdivision.

“So, what are we doing here, Hardy?”

“What do you mean?”

Miracle stopped, closing her eyes and tipping her head back as she deeply inhaled the cool, lightly scented night air. When she exhaled, she looked up at Hardy.