Felix's friend stood at the top of the hill. Watching. Gazing. He continued walking towards us and I hoped he didn't see the kiss – well, the kiss that almost happened.
Felix stood and lowered his hand to me. We both walked to meet Tom.
"Heard you were leaving in the morning. Ella said I could find you out here."
"Yeah," Felix said. "Anna loves the trees."
Tom looked at me.
I looked away, praying he didn't see.
"I see," he replied.
We walked home and Felix and Tom spent the rest of the evening together. That night, after he left, I took a soothing shower and went to bed. I dreaded the morning. Felix would leave. And everything would be dark and gloomy. I was sure of it. So sure, that I couldn’t sleep. I stayed awake for hours, thinking, praying, and wishing it didn't have to be this way. Then it was morning.
"Felix is about to leave!" Jason shouted from the living room. I hurried, dressed, and joined them on the porch.
Felix had just said goodbye to everyone. He came up to me.
"Goodbye, LeAnna."
"Be careful," I said quickly.
"I will."
He whispered, "I love you."
Roger and Felix mounted the truck and we waved as they drove down the driveway and disappeared behind the tall murky trees.
Chapter 9
Almost Bitten
I stayed indoor the entire day scrubbing, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, whatever I could do to distract myself from the fact that Felix was gone. And the next morning, Jane and her children came over while Ella was at work.
Sarah greeted me. "Want to go outside? Moma will keep an eye on Jason."
"Sure." I opened the squeaky porch door and we headed out into the sunlight. It was red hot, but I felt a twinge of chill in the breeze. I couldn't wait for cold weather. It was refreshing to me.
"You should see the pond in the woods. It's so beautiful," I said.
"Okay, let's go see it now. You lead the way."
We walked through the entrance, and like before, its beauty awed me.
"You would have never guessed this was back here," she said.
Agreeing, I sat by the banks and we talked.
"So," I said, after silence fell between us. "Want to make leaf piles to jump in?"
"Sure!"
"Great, I know the best place to do it. Felix and I had fun for hours!"
Felix. My heart ached. I missed him already. I missed him as if he had been gone for a year.
Pushing those painful thoughts away, we trotted to the back yard and I filled my head with everything good that had happened to me. And I thanked God for my new family and life.
After building a mountain of leaves, jumping in, and building it back and jumping again. We laid on our backs to catch our breath.
"Sarah," I said edging up.
"Yes?"
"A couple of months ago, I would have never guessed I would be here doing this right now. Honestly, I thought I was going to die the very night I got saved.
Crawling over and crunching the leaves beneath her, Sarah wrapped me in a hug.
"I know and I'm so glad you didn't. You're my best friend now."
"Really? Best friends? I'm so happy."
Her eyes twinkled and I knew she was a real friend. A forever friend. Something I had never had before. Sarah Blank was my best friend.
A voice called from over the bank. "What are you gals up to?"
Sarah and I jumped up and gazed over the grassy ground. Tom was walking towards us with a plastic bag.
"Oh. Hi, Tom," Sarah said. "We were making leaf piles, want to join?"
His smile revealed something about him. He had a dimple in the center of his chin. It was there before, almost invisible. But now it was animated and proved his enthusiasm to join the fun.
"Love to. That is, after you eat the food moma sent." He held up the bags and I could see now that they were eggs salad sandwiches.
Sarah eagerly took hers, but I wasn't hungry. My appetite had been drained from me the moment Felix told me he was leaving.
"I think I'll pass this time. And actually, I'll be right back." I trotted toward the field and didn't stop until I made it to my favorite tree. There I sat and broke my own rules. I thought about Felix. Well, that wasn't necessarily breaking my rules. It was when I thought about how much I missed him. When that was the only thing I could think about. When it kept me from sleeping or eating. That's when I broke the rules.
It won't be too long, and he will be back, I told myself. In the meanwhile, I'll have fun with Sarah.
The next evening, we were sitting outside on the porch and the chill I felt yesterday had edged further our way.
"It won't be long, and we'll be wearing jackets and toboggans," Sarah said and stretched her sleeve over her hands. It was the kind of long sleeve with the little holes for your thumbs to go through.
I, in my t-shirt, lifted my arms and welcomed the wind. It walked over the hairs on my skin and gave me cheery tingles.
"I like it when the air stiffs and the ponds freeze. Then I can drink hot chocolate and eat chili by the fire and go outside and sled down the snowy banks." Jason smiled with the happy image of winter in his dark eyes.
My memories of winter weren't childlike and innocent like his. My stepfather wouldn't heat the house. He would only heat his room and I wasn't allowed in there. And one cold night, he made me sleep on the back porch. I survived because there was a cardboard box of clothes that I climbed in and buried myself. Otherwise, I would have frozen to death. Winter was the worst time of year. But I was hoping for
