No one seemed in a talkative mood after their near-death experience. None but Aaron, who moved from person to person, spending time getting to know everyone and making them laugh at some silly joke he told. What a kind man. Thomas had even heard him apologizing to Tori for not being fast enough as they’d raced up the stairs that morning. Like he could help it. He’d also befriended Sara, offering her words of comfort and encouragement, telling her she was brave and strong and would make it. But whenever he approached Brianna, Callie would cry, and Carla would shrink away from him. Brianna profusely apologized, and Aaron said he understood that many children were frightened by the way the elderly looked. What an understanding man. Much more than Thomas would be. In fact, Aaron was like a gentle father figure to them all, especially to Thomas, whom he spent the most time with. Thomas had never met anyone like him. He rarely talked about himself, like most people did. Rather he wanted to know more about Thomas, his dreams, ideas, accomplishments. And he never failed to show his approval of the things Thomas told him.
Thomas hadn’t realized up to this point how much he needed an older and wiser man’s approval. But Aaron was a Deviant and that troubled Thomas…troubled him and also made him begin to wonder if there wasn’t something to this God of theirs. Especially after what he’d seen earlier.
“So, what’s for dinner?” He smiled playfully at Tori as she settled Sara on the floor of an old closed-down diner, one of those fifties remake places, complete with jukeboxes and soda fountains. None of which worked anymore.
They’d found an empty room in the back next to the kitchen that must have been used as an office but had been stripped of all its furniture.
She smiled, placing her hand on her hip. “I don’t know. How about a burger, fries, and a milkshake?”
“I could go for that.” Brianna laughed as she grabbed a few pieces of used carpet and formed a bed for Callie and Carla.
“I second that,” Sara added in a weak voice, while Aaron nodded his enthusiasm.
“Well, let me go see what I can scrounge up.”
“Wait.” Thomas put his shoes back on, wincing at the blisters. “Let me help.” He might not be a real part of the group, a Deviant, but he should at least act like a man, a leader, and help her out.
“But you just took off your…” Before she could finish her sentence, he was by her side. Her smile was worth the ache in his legs and pinch in his shoes.
They searched the kitchen, in cupboards, pantries, even the stove for a scrap of anything. The massive walk-in freezer was as dead and hot as a tomb.
“Now what?” he asked, staring at her in the fading shadows. She was truly beautiful, even with her messy hair and dirt streaked across her cheek. Even with her torn, stained shirt and muddy jeans—jeans that molded perfectly to a figure that had filled out nicely since he’d been familiar with it years ago.Veryfamiliar. A spray of black lashes surrounded eyes the color of a lush forest, eyes looking at him now with a mixture of confusion and…care?
“We pray. God will provide.” She said the words so matter-of-factly that he almost believed them himself.
But four hours later when darkness invaded and most everyone had fallen asleep, Thomas's stomach shouted in revolt and his minuscule faith dwindled.
Tori still wandered about, checking on everyone and looking outside to make sure no NWU troops were about.
“May the Lord shelter us beneath His wings this night,” she whispered as she sank to the carpeted floor beside Thomas.
He’d been hoping she’d join him again, so he ignored the foolish prayer. “Come for more cuddling?” he teased.
“I wasn’t…” Rising, she started to leave, but Thomas grabbed her hand before she could. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to embarrass you. I enjoy it when you’re near.”
Releasing a deep sigh, she sank back down. “Sorry. I’m just edgy, I guess. And I don’t want people getting the wrong idea.”
“What idea would that be?”
“That we are…an item…intimate.”
He wanted to ask her why that would be a bad thing, but instead simply said, “God forbid.”
She sat up, staring at him, though he couldn’t quite make out her features. “Yes, He does. You’re a nonbeliever, and worse than that, your job is to kill people like me.” She swatted hair from her face. “Even worse, you already broke my heart once. I’m not letting you do it again.”
“Whoa. That’s a ton ofworsethings.” He smiled.
She leaned back against the wall with a huff. “You’re impossible.”
“I’ll attest to that. And to the nonbeliever thing. But my job isn’t to kill anyone anymore, and it wasyouwho brokemyheart.”
She half-laughed, half-snorted. “I wanted you to come to San Fran with me, but you went off to seminary instead.”
“If you had stayed in Florida, I could have seen you most weekends.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter now.”
If that was true, why did she keep bringing it up? More importantly, he longed to know more about their time apart. Fifteen years can change a person, and it certainly had in her case. “What happened to you over there? In San Fran and then LA?”
