Rorey's Secret by Leisha Kelly Read Free Book Online

but hit the pillows and go to sleep. But that night was different, and neither of us had a thought of sleeping.
    “Maybe I should’ve stayed down there,” I whispered to Samuel. “In case the baby—”
    “Shhh. Sam’s there. If they need anything, we’ll hear them.” He pulled me gently across his chest and petted my hair with his callused hand.
    “I thank God for you,” he whispered.
    “Oh, Sammy. I thank God for you.”
    I lay against his shoulder a while, and we were both quiet. This is the way things should be, I thought. No matter how much of the day crowds over your mind, there should be times just like this to wipe away the load.
    I would’ve been sleeping soon. I would’ve just floated away into dreams of bliss. But Samuel suddenly stiffened beside me. He lifted his head, looking toward the window.
    “What is it?”
    “I don’t know.” He sat up, still looking out the window. And I could see an eerie glow in the sky out across the timber.
    “Fire,” Samuel said, springing up and grabbing his shirt. “That’s at Hammonds’.”
    He was dressed before I could even think. I jumped up and dressed too, but he told me I had to stay here, that I had a newborn in the house, and Thelma, and they might need me.
    “Robert John!” he yelled. “Sam! There’s a fire!”
    He ran down the stairs two at a time, and I could hear Sam Hammond and Robert stirring down below. Sarah stepped out of her room, looking bleary eyed, and asked me what was wrong.
    “A fire at Hammonds’. I just hope it’s the barn or one of the outbuildings and not the house.”
    Katie came up behind Sarah, looking so sleepy I wasn’t sure she heard. But Sarah stared at me, looking scared. “I can help. Mom, I can go help.”
    “I’m not sure your father—”
    “I can sit with Emmie Grace! None of them will have time for her if they’re fighting a fire! She’ll be so scared—”
    “All right,” I told her. “All right, go. Hurry. Your father won’t be waiting on anything.”
    “What about me?” Katie asked. “You want me to go too?”
    “You oughta stay,” Sarah told her before I could answer. “In case Georgie wakes up and Mom’s busy with Thelma or the baby.”
    Katie nodded. I nodded. And quick as anything, Robert and Sarah and Sam Hammond piled in the back of our truck, and Samuel wheeled it around and went racing down the lane. I’d never seen any of them move so fast.
    I wished I could have gone with them. I suddenly was afraid not to be there too. But I knew that Samuel was surely right. It was too soon. Too soon to leave Thelma and little Rosemary. They seemed weak, both of them. Not bad. But enough that it wouldn’t do, me leaving them.
    I stood in the kitchen and cried, wishing I had Samuel with me still to hold. What would this mean? Losing a barn, maybe, or worse yet, their house. I prayed that all those Hammonds were awake and out and that we didn’t lose not one of them.
    I could hear sobbing somewhere else in the house. Thelma. The poor dear. I ran to her and found her crying on the bed. “Thelma, honey, are you all right?”
    “I’m scared!” she cried. “What if it’s the house—oh, Mrs. Wortham, what if they’re all inside?”
    “They’re not. You just calm down. They’re not. That’s all there is to it. You hear me?”
    She was shaking, and I tried to calm her, but I was probably shaking a little too, at least on the inside. I started praying out loud, and she got calmer and calmer. Pretty soon Katie came downstairs with Georgie awake in her arms. I thought surely they’d all go back to sleep, but they didn’t. They just sat. We all just sat, until the baby woke up and there was something I could put my hands to.

4
    Sarah
    The barn was burning. I should’ve been relieved it was the barn. But all I could think about was Rorey.
    “ In the barn at midnight ,” she’d said. “ He’s my boyfriend .”
    Oh, God, I should have told.
    Sam Hammond and Robert jumped out of the truck