Country Mile

NOT ANYMORE

Anne pulled a plate of hot food from the microwave as Delilah entered the kitchen. Her hazel eyes darted back and forth between the tearful girl and the stone-faced man trailing her. She slowly laid the plate on the kitchen island, unsure if she should speak first or just listen.

Delilah came to stand on the opposite side of the island, still twisting her shirt nervously. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and go right back up the stairs. She knew she was supposed to be apologizing, but all she could think about was whether or not the sounds of what had just transpired upstairs, carried down. Shame and embarrassment about the entire situation turned her face a shade of red that she was sure rivaled the color of her burning bottom.

Despite her inner thoughts, Adam's overbearing presence behind her urged her on. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier, Ms. Cutler. It.. it was uncalled for and unkind. I won't say nothin' of the likes again. I'm sorry."

Anne's head tilted to the side as she gave an understanding smile. What the girl had said was pretty out of character for her, so she knew she was merely lashing out on her sister's behalf. "Thank you for your apology. And it's just Anne when we're anywhere other than school, Delilah."

Delilah gave her a small smile then turned large, pleading, eyes to her father. His glare remained for a moment, then his eyes softened as he gave her a slight nod, signaling her dismissal. "Straight to your room."

She nodded and quickly scooted past him up the stairs.

Anne blew out a breath while pushing a plate of food toward Adam. "I told you this was a recipe for disaster."

He gave her a smirk and pushed his plate to the side. "Well then, I ain't about to eat it."

Rolling her eyes, Anne smiled despite how serious she was trying to be. "You know what I mean. I told you this was a bad idea. It's been absolute chaos since I stepped through the door, Adam. Nobody needs this kind of stress in their life."

"Anne, half your house literally burned to the ground this mornin'. That is a stress no one needs in their life. Therefore," he reached out and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "You're gonna stay here, and they're gonna behave like I said they would."

"And if they don't, I'll go."

"You'll go for a walk while I tan their hides, that's about the only place you'll be goin'."

Anne let out a slight laugh and shook her head. "You're so stubborn, you know that?"

Adam's dimples went on full display. "Only when I got a real beautiful reason to be."

***

Instead of heading to her room, Delilah quietly snuck into Genna's, softly closing the door behind her. The brunette was sitting criss-cross in the middle of her bed with a large avocado toast plush pillow on her lap. She spared a split second glance at the intruder before resuming staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

"You alright?" Delilah asked.

Genna shrugged.

"What happened outside?"

Genna sighed and flopped backward. She stuffed the plush under her head, turning sad eyes to Delilah. "What happened is Dad finally realized I'm fucking stupid."

Delilah sat down at the foot of the bed. "Oh sweetie, he's always known that."

A smirk pulled at Genna's frown. "Dude. I got my ass tore up, kept running my mouth because apparently I don't know when to shut the fuck up, then ran into the pen of an evil dick trying to escape apologizing to an evil bitch. He didn't know I'm that stupid. Hell, I didn't even know."