red hill - jamie mcguire

had stopped, and Bryce was awake, staring straight ahead. I sat up and tried to stretch the knots out of
my back.
“Did you sleep” I asked quietly.
Bryce shook his head, and then looked over at me with a smile. “I might have dozed off for a few
minutes. I’m glad you did, though.” He leaned over and touched his lips to mine for the first time in
twenty-four hours. “You were incredible yesterday. I didn’t know you knew how to drive like that.”
I wrapped my arms around my middle to ward off the early-morning chill. Bryce cradled me to his
side. He wasn’t the most muscular guy at school, but he was athletically built, and his sweet smile
made staying mad at him impossible. His dark hair was about two months overdue for a haircut, and
when he leaned over to kiss me, some of it fell forward into his eyes. He used his fingers to comb it
away, refusing to do the incredibly annoying head jerk most guys did to get their hair out of their eyes.
They look like they’re having a seizure, he used to say. I didn’t like it, either, but I would ignore
it if it meant I could see his blue eyes. Bryce’s smile was amazing, and he was nothing less than
noble, but his eyes were my favorite part about him. I think I fell in love with them before I fell in
love with him.
Ashley and Cooper were cuddled together. With just a cardigan, white tee, and baby blue fashion
scarf, she wasn’t any more prepared to be without heat than I was in my cotton T-shirt and light
jacket. The guys didn’t show it if they were cold.
“What is that noise” Cooper asked, turning his right ear in the direction of the kitchen. His eyes
bounced around as he listened.
Bryce grabbed my hand and stood, leading me to the doorway of the kitchen. It was dark in there,
too, but there were a few candles around the room. The small flames provided just enough light for us
to see Skeeter McGee on his knees, weeping over the woman lying on the floor. He was trying to
keep quiet. If it wasn’t for him sucking in a breath every now and then, I might not have known.
“Oh my God!” Ashley said.
Bryce shushed her, and returned his attention to Skeeter. “Is she . . . ”
Doris brought a blanket from the hall and spread it over the top of the woman. “God bless you,
Jill. May the Lord open his arms wide for you and keep you.”
We all stood there and watched in uncomfortable silence while Skeeter sobbed quietly for another
twenty minutes or so. After a while he caught his breath, and then wiped his face. “So I guess uh . . . I
guess we better bury her.”
Doris shifted, nervous. “How are we going to do that with those things out there”
An older man with white hair spoke. “We can’t just throw her outside, Doris, and she can’t stay in
here.”
Doris fidgeted, finally putting her fingers to her mouth. “I’m . . . I’m so sorry, Skeeter, but I can’t
go out there.”
“I’ll go,” Bryce said. Skeeter looked up at him with wet eyes. “I’ll help you. We’ll need someone
watching our backs, and maybe a distraction, but I’ll help you dig.”
I crossed my arms, trying to keep the words I was about to say from falling out of my mouth, but
they came anyway. “I’ll help, too. I’ll distract them.”