Fire Girl Part 1 (11 page)

“Beth hasn’t felt good for some time.”
Grandma wrinkled her brow. “Be nice.”

I held the pan tightly in front of me.
Grandma had insisted we walk the quarter of a mile down to their
home, something about the night air doing me some good. The aching
in my arms made me want to tell Grandma what she could do with all
the things that were good for me. “I
do
know how to be nice
to people.” What did she think? I was some kind of social
freak?

“I mean it,” Grandma whispered. “They’ve had
a rough go of it. They’re the nicest, kindest people you’ll ever
meet.”

I followed Grandma to the back of the house.
That’s what people did here—use the back door. I hadn’t ever
thought about it much, but I realized the front doors here were
only used for company. Everyone came and went through the back
door.

The people had a ramp that looked newer than
the rest of the house.

Grandma knocked lightly and gave me a warning
look. “Put the casserole on top of the stove and tidy up the
kitchen. I’m going to talk with Beth.”

I frowned. “Who are these people?”

In answer to my question the door flew open
and a small boy, probably around five or six appeared in the
doorway and then yelled back over his shoulder. “Grace!”

My pulse raced.

The boy stared back at us. “Grraace! Mrs.
Haven’s here. I’m going home.”

I couldn’t breathe. I surveyed the premises
for evidence of Grace or Zac.

The boy ran past us.

“Bye, Tommy. Tell your mom hi.” Grandma
bustled in and put the pan on the counter. She had gone into her
order and command mode. “Maddie, bring that food over here.”

My chest unclamped and I obeyed.

The floorboards creaked. Grace emerged.

Grandma went to her. “You get prettier every
day, Grace.” The previous trace of wear and tear had completely
disappeared from Grandma’s face.

Grace’s whole face lit up. “You shouldn’t
have come. How is Mr. Haven?”

Grandma put her hands on her hips. “This
takes me no time at all. And, Frank, he’s fine. Just fine.”

There it was.

The tiniest of stress wrinkles around
Grandma’s lips. She always got them when she tried to be extra
polite under stress. I would be the only one who would notice
them.

Grandma turned to me. “Grace, do you know my
granddaughter, Maddie?”

I avoided eye contact. “We’ve met.”

Grace’s voice was pleasant. “Yes.”

Grandma moved for the stairs. “Good. I’m
going to head up to see your mother.”

Something flashed over Grace’s face. It
reminded me of a kid that didn’t want to tell their parents about
something bad they’d done. “She’s doing better, Mrs. Haven. We
don’t need meals every week anymore. Plus, I can do it. I can. And
Zac helps, too. We are fine. Just fine.”

A sad smile played at the edge of Grandma’s
lips. She wagged a finger at her. “I like to do it. Don’t take away
an old woman’s usefulness.” She nodded to me. “Maddie, why don’t
you help Grace into the kitchen and you can chat while you give it
a shine.” She disappeared above the stairs into the hallway.

I didn’t move.

“I can move myself. I have hand controls.”
Her voice came out flat.

I stared at her. Didn’t Grandma notice that
this girl didn’t want us here and, obviously, didn’t want to hang
out with me in the kitchen? I held up my hands and moved into the
kitchen. “Whatever.”

A knock sounded at the door and it promptly
flew open.

The blond boy was back. He didn’t look happy.
“She’s still not home, Grace. Can I stay here until she gets
back?”

Grace’s whole countenance changed. She opened
her arms and beckoned the boy to her. “Of course.”

The boy went to her side and snuggled in.

“Shh, don’t you worry. She’ll be home.
Sometimes she has to stay on later and help do some cleaning.”
Grace nodded to the casserole dish. “Let’s get you some
dinner.”

He looked at me. “I don’t want any. Who are
you?”

I moved the dirty dishes out of the sink and
looked for dish soap. “Maddie.”

The boy materialized beside me. “My mom’s a
waitress. She has to work because my dad went on a business trip a
couple months ago, but he’ll be back soon.”

I gave him a look over. “Cool.”

He stuck his hand out. “I’m Tommy.”

I shook his hand and offered him one of the
butterscotch candies I’d taken out of Grandma’s never ending candy
jars.

His eyes widened and he undid the wrapper and
popped the candy into his mouth. “Grace and I hang out when my mom
is going to be late.”

I pulled out a convoluted mess of cleaning
products and nodded at him. “Cool. Where’s the dish soap,
Tommy?”

Tommy peered into the cupboard. His clothes
were rumpled and it didn’t look like they’d been washed for a
while. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“It’s over on the counter by the fridge.
That’s where I saw it last.” Grace’s voice was soft.

I stood up.

She didn’t smile.

I acquired the soap and squirted some into
the sink. “Thanks.”

Tommy pulled on my shirt. “I can tell you
where to put everything. I do that for your grandma sometimes.”

I gave him a nudge with my hip and smiled at
him. I immersed my hands into the water. “Sounds good.”

“I like it when your grandma comes.” He
looked thoughtful. “She makes really good dinners.”

A proud warmth spread through my chest. I
thought about my dad and how he bragged that Grandma could feed any
amount of people at any moment. I opened their dishwasher and
started to load the bowls and cups and silverware into place.
“That’s like her superpower.”

Tommy smiled. “Yeah.”

I gave him a knowing smile.

Tommy ran to the wall and pressed his body
into it. “Spiderman is my favorite. Do you know how strong spider
web is?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Tommy pointed at me in the air like a teacher
would do to explain something very detailed. “Different spider silk
is different levels of strength, but I read this article about how
the webbing could hold a person up to five-hundred pounds.”

“Wow.” I put on my extremely interested face.
Cause it did seem interesting. “What grade are you in, Tommy?”

“Second.” He moved back to me. “What’s your
superpower?”

I had to think about it. “Don’t have
one.”

Tommy tapped the side of his face.
“C’mon.”

I took bubbles and perched them on his nose.
“You’re silly.”

He threw back his head and giggled.

I put more bubbles on his nose.

Tommy stayed beside me. “Mrs. Cannon is my
teacher and she is really nice, but today she had this black thing
in her teeth and I didn’t want to tell her.”

I bent over and found rubber gloves and a
scouring pad in the cupboard. “That’s probably good. Most people
don’t want their flaws noticed.”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah.”

There were several pans that looked like they
had been used a few days ago and food was caked on them. I took one
and filled it with water. I’d let them all soak while I scrubbed
the counters and swept. I avoided looking at Grace, even though I
could feel her staring at me.

Grace cleared her throat. “Tommy, I don’t
think your teacher would have minded if you would have told her she
had something in her teeth. She might have appreciated you telling
her. It’s good to be honest, most people aren’t.”

I moved the pan I had filled onto the counter
and started to fill another one.

A knock sounded at the door and Tommy ran for
it.

The door flew open.

A small girl in a pink dress and piggy tales
ran through the door and straight to Grace.

Grace cuddled her up and let out a light
laugh. She put her hand to the little girl’s head. “Hey Lisa, how
are you tonight? I’ve missed you.”

Lisa kept her head against Grace’s hand. “Are
your fingers working better today?”

My heart fluttered.

Grace lifted her hand and wiggled her
fingers. “Right as rain.”

Lisa beamed at Grace. “Mommy and I said a
prayer for you last night that your fingers would work today, and
they do.” Her voice held an awed tone.

Grace squeezed Lisa into her. “Prayers always
work.”

Lisa hugged Grace back and closed her eyes.
“I love you, Grace.”

Grace blinked. “I love you, too.”

Lisa turned to Tommy. “Can you swing?”

Tommy shook his head. “I have to help clean
the kitchen.”

I cleared my throat. “No, go ahead, Tommy. I
got this covered.”

Tommy turned to Grace in question.

She waved him out. “I’ll help her.”

Lisa laughed and her piggy tales bounced as
she ran with Tommy out the door.

I took a wash rag and started to wipe around
stacks of mail on the counter. “You think it’s smart to give her
false hopes that God is real and that He answers prayers?”

Grace cocked an eyebrow. “I heard about your
little incident with my brother in the hallway.”

I flinched.

“And don’t look surprised. Don’t think that
everyone in this town doesn’t know everything about everyone else.
If you spit, ten people will talk about it by the next day. I don’t
know why you accosted him, but let’s be clear, I’m fine. You need
to stay out of things that don’t concern you.”

All of a sudden it dawned on me. “It’s not
them ignoring you—it’s you ignoring them.”

Grace’s penetrating glare deepened.

“You think by shutting people out you’re
protecting them.”

Grace pressed her control and reared
backward. She crashed into the table.

I moved around the counter. “You said you
didn’t need a friend, you didn’t need pity. So you shut people out
of your life.”

Grace’s brown eyes went back to the slits
from the first day. She held her hand poised over the controls,
ready to blast me over with the slightest touch. “You would never
understand.”

I wouldn’t understand? I wouldn’t understand?
Had she MISSED the whole parents died, girl went crazy motif? The
engagement picture on my grandparents’ wall cut into my brain like
a fireman’s ax—severe and painful. “Yeah, just keep telling
yourself that.”

Grace let out a laugh. “Listen, Fire Girl, my
life is done. Done. But Zac—” She let out a soft word. It sounded
like a curse. “All I can tell you is that you better help Zac with
the music project and then stay out of our business.”

I watched her face.

Her features had contorted into something
scary. "I'm serious." Her volume increased. "You better help him,"
she yelled.

I paused into the kind of frozen statue I'd
practiced when the therapist asked a question I didn't want to
answer.

Tears bubbled into her eyes. "Get out!"

A sound came from the top of the stairs.

Grace gripped the metal bars of the chair.
“Get out.”

A woman wearing a fuzzy pony tail at the nape
of her neck stumbled down the stairs. “What’s the matter, Grace?”
Her voice was frantic, worried, like she thought Grace ran into the
street and she couldn’t find her.

Grandma followed.

“Nothing.” Grace’s voice went to a steel
calm. “Nothing, Mama.”

Grace’s mother turned fierce eyes to me.
“What did you say to her?”

I couldn’t speak.

Grandma moved forward and placed a soft hand
onto Grace’s forearm. “I’m sorry, Grace.” She grimaced at me.
“Let’s go, Maddie.”

Grace’s mom followed us. “Don’t bring that
girl back. We don’t need help anymore, you got that?”

I rushed backward out of the door and things
got even worse.

Chapter 10 Unwanted

Okay, I wasn't as bad as Bella in Twilight.
But, being completely in control of my coordination at all times,
I'll admit, had never been one of my strong points. I tripped over
my feet down the stairs.

And then…he was there. And there was no
resisting it—the strength of his arms, the warmth of his breath,
the vulnerability in his eyes. For a brief moment, our eyes locked,
and the walls weren't there. Stunned happiness and surprising
laughter played through his gray. But, so quickly that later I
would question if I'd even really seen it, his face registered that
he’d met an enemy on the battlefield. “You.”

I started to feel light-headed. “Let go!”

Zac released me in one motion.

I tumbled in a heap onto the hard gravel.
Pain jarred into my back. “Ouch.”

His hair fell into his eyes and the tooth
around his neck looked like a fang reaching out to strike.

“Come along, Maddie.” Grandma had slowed at
the end of their driveway.

Any pain in my body instantly gave way to
anger. I jumped to my feet. "Thanks for breaking my fall."

Zac’s mother emerged in the doorway, her pink
robe tied around her and a few wiry curlers stuck up around her
head. “Don’t come back here!”

Zac narrowed his eyes at me and pasted on a
counterfeit smile. "No problem."

I whipped away from him, them, her--I rushed
to Grandma's side.

Grandma walked fast. “Do you even think about
what your behavior does to other people?” She rounded the driveway
and started toward home.

Did
I
realize how my behavior affects
others? I trotted to stay with her.

The sound of yippy barking, the kind that
only came from small dogs and always annoyed everyone, flew next to
the row of bushes at my feet.

“You don’t even see it.”

My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I reached
for it. “Are you really blaming me for what just happened?” I
opened the text from Carrie.

911!

The barking got loud and tiny knives sunk
into my flesh. I stumbled and fell forward. “Get off!”

My phone went flying.

“Rosie!” A gruff, scratchy voice called out.
An older, grizzly-looking man emerged.