Chapter 414 Chapter 414
Emersyn walked around the yard, slowly, careful of how much weight she put on her ankle. There was no injury that would keep her inside today. She stayed close to the trees, avoiding buildings and the areas they were building. She didn’t know the rules of where she could go or shouldn’t go, and she didn’t want to do anything to make them regret bringing her here.
She was amazed that she could stand in one spot and smell so many things at once. The smells of nature were so new to her, that she was sure she’d never get tired of them. Years of the old house smells needed to be purged from her mind.
Facing the trees, she took a deep breath and realized the scents of others came to her. Three if she wasn’t mistaken, two she didn’t know, but the one she did. Noah was out there. If she hadn’t recognized his smell, she would have gone back to the trailer. There was no mistaking the male scents that were out there and she wasn’t ready to face unknown men.
Even with Noah among them, her body still shook as she fought to continue standing where she was. Before she could decide what to do, three men walked out of the trees. A tall redheaded man was pulling his shirt over his head. He said something to the one walking beside him and even Noah smiled. She hadn’t seen him smile at all before now. It didn’t erase that haunted look from his face, but he seemed a different man when he did. She sucked in a breath, trying to figure out what to do when she noticed he hadn’t yet put his shirt on. Her eyes locked on the marks on his chest. They were old and white welts, but they were plain enough among the muscle to see clearly. An image flashed in her mind, and she put her hand over her mouth to stop the cry of anguish that wanted to come out. She remembered that day when she was taken to a new house. Remembered it so clearly all the emotions came back with it. How could she have forgotten that night? Stumbling back a few steps, she tripped in a rut on the ground and fell backward.
All three men rushed toward her. Emersyn scrambled backward away from them as they got closer. The redhead stopped and said something to the other man, who stopped on the spot, but Noah continued until he reached her. He dropped down into a crouch and held a hand toward her.
“It’s okay, Emersyn, we’re not there.” His tone was soft and soothing. “Jake and Cale won’t hurt you.”
Moving just her eyes, she looked at one and then flicked them to look at the other man. they looked upset, but not in the way she was used to. “I—” she swallowed, trying to prompt her voice to work, “I remembered that day.” She whispered it, afraid if she said it too loud the pain would come back. “You fought all of them to get to me. To free me.” A tear rolled down her cheek. She looked at the lines and welts on his chest. “Look what they did to you.”
Noah dropped to a squat and held his hand toward her again, “it will never happen again.”
She searched his eyes and saw it there, an unspoken oath that he would never let her be harmed again. Swatting the tear away, she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. She pulled her hand away, unused to physical contact, but then she looked at his chest again, and sorrow filled her. She wanted to cry for him. Without knowing why, she stretched her arm out and placed it on his chest, just the fingertips, and touched a wide scar above his heart. He inhaled a sharp breath, and she looked up to see if it hurt him. The expression on his face said so much that her chest tightened. She saw fear in his eyes, the kind that she knew only too well. She pulled her hand away and grasped it in her other one so she wouldn’t bring him more pain. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” His tone was flat, telling her that it wasn’t at all.
She swallowed, trying to take the taste of anguish out of her mouth. “I thought they killed you.” She inhaled through her nose and looked back up at him. “The last time I saw you they were dragging you out of that house.”
He stepped closer and lifted his hand like he wanted to touch her face, then stopped and dropped it to clutch his shirt tight in both hands. “They tried.” The muscle in his jaw pulsed.
Emersyn didn’t know how long they stood there, their gazes locked on the others, silently reliving the commonality of their tortured past, but it filled her with both sorrow and strength that surprised her. They’d survived it.
Someone cleared their throat and made both turn away from the other. She looked from one man to the other, the emotion on their faces was the kind that only those that had been free their entire lives would have. Compassion and pity.
“I’m Jake.” The dark-haired man smiled in a friendly way. He motioned to the redhead, “this is Cale.” The other man bobbed his head in a greeting. “Uh, I’m sure some of the women will have breakfast started,” he looked toward the house, “if you’re hungry.”
Emersyn shook her head, “I ate some of the food from the fridge.” she paused, watching their reactions carefully, hoping it was all right that she did. None of them so much as blinked at that, she looked back to Noah, “and I like coffee.” She smiled at him.
Noah smirked; it was small, almost undetectable. “I remembered they don’t allow coffee in the,” he glanced down at the ground, “houses and thought you might want to try it.”
“I like it with sugar.” She told him with a smile.
“Me too.”
She turned to see Jake look horrified.
“No coffee.” He jolted as if someone smacked him. “That’s,” he made a strange noise, “I can’t.” he shook his head.
Noah looked at him, “ignore him. He thinks he’s funny.”
“I don’t think, I know,” Jake said with a smile. He stepped backward, “Nice to meet you, I’m going to mooch some coffee from inside.”
The other man, Cale didn’t say anything, just smiled at her and turned to the house.
“Are you staying here to help, Noah?” Jake called to him as he walked.
Noah turned, “no, I’m going over to the shop to give Gage a hand.”
Emersyn watched them leave, “the shop?”
Noah scowled, then moved with fast jerky motions to put his shirt on. Jerking it over his head, he looked down at her, “Yeah. It’s across the way,” he pointed, “five minutes. We work on big equipment.”
She wasn’t sure what that would entail. “Is that where you live?”
His brows creased, then he gave her an abrupt nod, “I’ll, ah,” he turned on his heel, “see you later.”
Emersyn watched as he moved with long strides to a truck and then got in and left without so much as a backward glance. His ghosts may even be more to bear than her own, she decided. Inhaling deeply, she turned back to the trailer, she needed to see her daughter, see the innocence and joy—it was the only thing that kept her going.