red hill - jamie mcguire

know whom I would be attracted to because I’d been with Bryce for so long.
“I like you, too,” he said. And then he walked away, leaving me in a puddle of holy shit and
inappropriate thoughts.
After several moments, I walked to the porch and sat on the top step. The storm door opened and
closed, but it wasn’t until I saw two perfect legs that I knew who it was.
“Hey,” Ashley said.
“Hey.”
“You know what I miss”
“Your flat iron”
“Date night. You and me getting all dressed up and meeting Bryce and Coop somewhere fun. Just
hanging out and talking about all the stupid stuff we used to do when we were kids.”
I smiled. “Yeah, that was fun.”
“You know what else I miss Music.”
“Cheeseburgers.”
“Facebook.”
“Movies On Demand.”
Ashley laughed and shook her head. “I miss the mall.”
“In about a week, we’re going to miss toothpaste.”
Ashley looked at me in horror. “Are you serious”
I shrugged. “Dad had a few boxes, but between nine people . . . it’s almost gone.”
“You know what else I miss” she asked. I waited. “You being in love with Bryce.”
I craned my neck in her direction. She met my glare. “You don’t know anything about anything,
Ashley.”
“I know what I saw in the field a minute ago. You better be careful. That guy in there loves you
more than life itself. You don’t want to mess that up.”
“I’m not trying to.”
“Then stop.”
“You stop.”
Ashley narrowed her eyes at me, and then shook her head. “We’re all stuck here. No sense in
everyone being miserable.”
I picked at my nail. “No, just me, right”
“Are you miserable with Bryce”
“No.”
“Okay, then.” With that she stood up and went inside.
Movement just over the hill in the field caught my eye, and before I could yell to the others, Scarlet
blew past me, a hatchet in her hand. She took care of the ted, and returned to the porch like she’d just
picked a flower or something. She stood next to me, staring at the road. Since she was outside,
anyway, she probably thought it was as good a time as any to wait for her girls.
“You still think they’re coming” I asked, feeling awful as soon as the words fell out of my mouth.
“Yes,” she said without pause.