Chapter 7
SEVEN
Asia
“Morning!” I said as I padded into the kitchen.
It was stuffy, the windows were shut, but everything else felt like home. The smell of coffee—Aunt Kathleen’s life source, as she had liked to call it—and the noise of people moving around the house. It put me back in the mind of a teenager.
Back then, this place had been a sanctuary for kids who’d lost their way and were looking to scratch out some kind of life. It wasn’t really so different now.
“You’re up early,” Uncle Levi said.
He was dressed in flannel and heavy canvas work pants, and it struck me that I seldom remembered him dressing in anything else, even on those oh so rare occasions that Aunt Kathleen had gotten him to go to church. I appreciated that familiarity now. Welcomed it.
“Well, I’m not a kid anymore. Gotta get up and at ’em, like somebody used to say,” I said, smiling softly.
“Good morning,” Bridget said from her usual perch at the stove. She wasn’t wearing any makeup but looked refreshed.
“Should I ask what’s for breakfast?” Lourdes asked as she came into the kitchen.
Bridget laughed. “You can ask, but I think you know the answer. Besides, it shouldn’t matter too much. It’s not like you’re distracted and burning unnecessary energy while all this is going on.”
Bridget was focused on the stove, her face relaxed. She slipped her gaze to mine for a moment. The intensity I saw there made me flinch, but I blinked and shook it off, refusing to let misplaced guilt do me in.
Thankfully, Lourdes chuckled. “Right. Eggs and ham for us. Oatmeal for Uncle Levi.”
“Yup. Same as it’s been for the last week,” Bridget said.
“Probably not nice to say, especially since a few weeks ago we almost cried over a jar of pickles, but I’d love a frozen waffle. And not even the good kind. The cheap cardboard ones,” she said.
As we laughed, Caitlin walked in, Elliot two steps behind her.
But I didn’t really pay attention to either of them, as the air stirred around me in a way that told me that Jack was close.
I looked at Lourdes. “I’d trade my kingdom for some cereal. And I don’t even like cereal,” I said.
“Maybe on Sunday, I can make chilaquiles,” Lourdes said.
“Oh, Lourdes, you don’t have to do that,” Bridget said quickly. “You all do so much around here. I’m happy to do my part. Now grab a plate before it gets gold. Levi, here’s your oatmeal.”
We settled at the table while Jack leaned against the wall. “Miles is still outside?”
Jack nodded. “Wanted to finish setting up the rain barrels.”
“He was up before me,” Uncle Levi said.
I chuckled, not at all surprised. Miles was Jack’s number one fan, and though Jack tried to play it off, I knew he cared about the kid.
Uncle Levi ate his oatmeal, and I frowned at the slight tremble in his hand.
“You okay?” I asked a moment later.
The spoon slipped out of his fingers. He caught it, just barely, and now gripped it tight, the way he clutched it almost desperate.
He shook his head, then sighed. “How can anybody be okay?”
I knew what he was doing, but I pushed on. “Uncle Levi…”
“Don’t put me on the spot, girl. I’m an old man, and a tired one to boot, but I’m all right.”
To prove his point, he hefted another spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth, and the tremor was nowhere in sight.
I watched him chew, trying to ignore the ache of regret in my chest at all the time I’d lost with him.
“You got something else on your mind?” I asked, looking at my uncle’s frown.
“Those chickens might be a problem,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Jack said.
“You think the noise draws them in?” I asked.
Two days in a row, a zombie had wandered close to the farm’s perimeter. We took them down easily, but it was worrying.
Uncle Levi nodded. “They can’t be helping, but we need them.”
The farm was well supplied, but we were burning through more and more resources every day. I felt the pressure, and I knew Jack did, too.
“I’ll try to think of something while I walk the fence,” I said.
Jack pushed away from the wall. “Let me grab some coffee. I’ll walk with you.”
He didn’t look at me, but I knew his game.
“Did you sleep at all?” I asked.
The others shifted, but I kept my attention focused on Jack.
“Where’s the coffee?” he asked, like the coffeemaker had moved in the last thirty years.
He perked up when he spotted it and grabbed and filled a mug. But before he could press it to his lips, I grabbed and plucked it out of his hand.
“No. You’re eating eggs and then you’re going to sleep,” I said.
Jack’s eyes darkened.
The kitchen went quiet.
“Asia,” he said, his voice low, threatening in a way that had no impact at all.
I squared up to face him, holding his gaze. “Sit down, Jackson.”
I braced myself, ready for him to push back. Some vague part of me was aware of the others watching, waiting for the crackling tension to snap.
Something in his gaze shifted as he assessed me, and I realized what it was.
Satisfaction.
And a promise we’d revisit this discussion later.
“I’m fine, Asia,” he said, his response to my unspoken question.
“You’re so fine that I managed to get a mug of coffee out of your hands before you could react,” I said.
He smiled faintly, but then the expression dropped.
“First time for everything,” he grumbled.
“Here you go, Thorne,” my uncle said, handing him a plate with steaming eggs piled on it.
“Not gonna try to fight him?” I said.
“I’m not a dummy, Asia,” he responded. I took a sip of his coffee, and he shook his head and frowned. “Got ice water in your veins, huh?”
I just smiled and kept sipping.
“This coffee is amazing, Uncle Levi,” I said, glancing over at Jack.
He didn’t look at me, but I saw the small shake in his shoulders.
“We gotta talk about—”
I cut him off. “You have to go to sleep.”
“She always been this bossy?” Jack asked.
“Don’t pull me in your mess, Thorne,” Uncle Levi said.
“Go, get rest. We can handle it,” I said, looking at Jack.
I reached out and rubbed my hand over his. His fingers twitched beneath mine, then he turned his hand, tangling his fingers with mine.
But only for a second.
He pulled away and grabbed his plate, eyes not meeting mine.
“Need to check the perimeter one more time,” he said a few minutes later.
He finished his eggs, washed his hand in the sink, and stopped, looking at what was now my cup of coffee with lust in his eyes.
He stood rigid, muscles tense, at the ready.
But there was faint redness in his eyes, a dip in his shoulders that would have been imperceptible to almost everyone, but I saw it.
“Sleep, Jack,” I said.
I stood directly in front of him and locked eyes with him. Not a conversation I wanted to be having right now, but if Jack forced the issue…
I tensed. The moment thick.
And even though everyone else was suddenly very interested in their plates, I knew they were all waiting.
“Fine,” Jack said, brushing his hand over his hair. “Two hours.”
I nodded, then watched him walk away. He headed to the back bedroom, the room that all the kids got when they first came to the farm.
I’d have to tell him that he was in the equivalent of a juvie cell when he woke up.
And thank him for keeping up the image, though I was sure everyone knew where he actually slept on those nights he let himself do so.
“No one bother him,” I said. I looked at Miles, who’d come into the house. He smiled sheepishly. “Especially you, Miles.”
“What?” he asked, his face turning red under his golden brown skin.
“I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff for you to do,” I said.
“Yeah. Jack said we should—”
“I know, and we will, but let’s focus on trying to make this place work in the long run,” I said.
“You need to eat your eggs, too, honey,” Bridget said.
I sighed. “I almost forgot.”
Bridget leaned over, her eyes twinkling conspiratorially. “Men will do that to you,” she whispered.
Uncle Levi didn’t react, and everyone else was nice enough to pretend they hadn’t heard. I ate my eggs, vaguely enjoying the flavor but my mind was racing.
“We should look at the supplies, figure out what we’re going to do with space. How many hands are left after we lost that one yesterday, Uncle Levi?”
“Had fourteen total before this mess. There’s the crops, and you know Kathleen and all her horses. Plus the other animals. Most of them ran off, but there’s still a few.”
“Maybe we should bring them to the main house,” I said.
“Don’t you think I have a say in that, Asia?” Uncle Levi said.
“Of course. I’m just thinking…”
I trailed off, then looked around, realizing that everyone had stopped.
And were looking at me.
Looking to me.
Caitlin had an almost smirk on her face, and I focused on that.
“Got something to say, Caitlin?”
“Am I allowed to speak?” she asked.
“Caitlin, I don’t think there’s a thing in the world that could ever stop you,” I said.
I took a sip of coffee, making a show of how steady my hands were. It was the perfect kind of bitter after the creamy, indulgent scrambled eggs. Uncle Levi always made strong coffee, and it cut through everything, which was exactly what I needed.
“It’s just funny, somehow you’re back in charge,” she said.
“Caitlin, I’m not trying to be pushy, I just want to make sure that everything’s okay,” I said.
“Yeah, something about the road to hell and good intentions, right?” she said with a shrug.
The room was silent, the others not even pretending not to pay attention.
They were waiting to see how I’d respond.
Caitlin was, too.
I met her eyes. “If you have a problem, say it directly. I’m right here.”
Caitlin gave me one of her dazzling smiles. “No problem at all. Just an observation.”
I matched the wattage with my own smile. “Observation noted. Since you excel at observation, I’m sure you won’t mind starting the inventory for today?”
Her smile faltered for just a second. “Of course not.” She stood, then looked at my uncle. “Thanks again for your hospitality, Uncle Levi.”