Chapter 7

• Evanna paced back over to the window and opened the curtain an inch so she could see him. She’d never been so shocked as she was when she’d opened her eyes to see him standing there in front of her. A man. Here. A real man. Not a bad one, either, she’d sensed that in the first minute of talking to him. There was something in his eyes that let you see to the bottom of his soul and he was good. His eyes were so pale they almost looked like they were looking right through her at first, it was startling, not in a bad way though.
• He leaned back against the fence as he talked into the phone. She still couldn’t believe that was a phone. When he glanced in her direction, she jumped back from the window.
• “This is crazy.” She mumbled as she went over to the other window and peeked out it. “Papa Low said if anyone from the Alliance came to trust them.” She nodded. She did, but she wasn’t sure how Leah was going to handle being around him. The first few attempts hadn’t gone well. Men represented everything wrong in her past. She was not aware of all of it, but there was enough of it there that they freaked Leah out when they were around. Biting her lip, she peeked out again. She’d have to stay close and keep watch.
• Moving away from the window she went over and quickly poured the water into the percolator. Leah had talked to him, that was something though. It was her job to protect Leah and keep her safe, so she was going to have to wait and see. She still didn’t know if he was just checking in or planned to move them. He’d said it was their choice. Could Leah leave the mountain? They’d tried a few times in the last year, even gotten as far as the town once. That hadn’t ended well. She frowned, still unhappy that they’d lost the purchases they’d gone down for.
• Rubbing her hand over her forehead, she blew out a breath. “Stay close, just see how you feel.” Evanna wanted off this mountain, not because of the isolation, she was fine with that part, but their supplies were limited now and the trip was too hard to take. Maybe the Alliance would bring them supplies from time to time if Leah couldn’t leave.
• She added more water to drip through. Aunt Tillie told her when the Alliance came to give them her journals, the ones she’d saved specifically for them. Evanna glanced at the window and then went over slowly. Should she give them to Jesse? Would that make a difference? Leaning on the ledge, she tapped her fingers on it. Would he be willing to stay for a few days? There was too much left to do before winter, and even more, if they were going down the mountain.
• Her heart picked up as she watched him walk back this way. “Okay, Mister Jesse whoever with the intriguing eyes, I’ll give you one chance to prove there are good people out there.” She straightened away from the window. “One chance.”
• She opened the door when he reached it. “Coffee’s ready.” Leaving the door open, she walked back into the kitchen.
• Pouring two mugs of the hot black liquid, she went over and set one in front of him. “Did you reach your friends?”
• Jesse nodded. “I did. They’re going to call back in a few hours, but they’re happy I found you.”
• “Was it hard?” She sat down, “finding this place? Papa Low let the trail grow over on purpose.”
• “It was touch and go for a little while.” He grinned, “Once I found the truck, I knew I was going in the right direction.”
• The truck. She frowned, she’d have to go down and put fresher growth around it. “There used to be more cars and trucks at the bottom, but Papa Virgil sold them off one by one,” she shrugged, “with no one to drive them.”