Page 3 of Ember

Chapter 1

Two years later…

Fingering the scar on her wrist, Danica’s teeth sank into her bottom lip. She was so zoned out that she didn’t even hear her sister calling her name. “Dani!” Miesha shouted at the top of her lungs, finally snapping Danica out of her daze.

“Hmm?” She hummed, letting her wrist go.

Frowning slightly, Miesha placed the dish she was holding in her hand. “I asked you if this was the cabinet where you wanted the plates to go.” She repeated, brushing her hair out her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Danica sighed, getting back into gear and focusing on the tedious task of unpacking her kitchen. After spending a year and a half away from her hometown, she was finally back and getting reacquainted with Brighton Heights. While she was happy to be reunited with her family, she couldn’t help the pain that engulfed her every time she fell into the trap of remembering why she was home in the first place. “I’m okay, and yes, that’s the right cabinet.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Miesha placed the china in her hands down on the counter.

“Dani,” she spoke quietly, tapping her nail against the counter. “You know that no matter what, there’s nothing you could have done, right?”

Despair took hold of Danica, wrapping itself around her and squeezing as if it were a snake preparing to devour its last meal. Tears sprang to her eyes as she worked to swallow the choking sob fighting to escape.

Sucking in a deep breath, she turned to the island, placing her hands down on the cool, marble surface. Danica cleared her throat, using every bit of self control she possessed to keep her composure.

She didn’t answer Miesha until she was one hundred percent sure she wouldn’t break down.

“Yeah, Miesh.” Danica finally responded. “I know.”

“Okay.”

Knowing her sister as well as she did, Danica was sure that Miesha wanted to press the issue, and was grateful that she didn’t. Times had been hard enough for her recently. She’d just gotten to the point where she could make it through an entire twenty four hours without crying, and didn’t want to set back her healing process.

“Yoooo!” A deep voice rang out, bringing a smile to Danica’s face and breaking up the tense moment. “Where y’all at?”

“In the kitchen, loud ass!” Miesha yelled with a smile, and Danica spun around to see the tall, lanky frame of their younger brother, Casimir, strolling into the kitchen with a Henry’s bag in one hand, and a case of beer in the other.

“Your ass was supposed to be here an hour ago to help,” Danica frowned.

Casimir shot her a crooked smile, holding up the items in his hands. “I am helping, I brought the necessities.”

“Thank you,” Miesha swiftly relieved him of the food and beer. “While we take a break and eat, there’s a couple more boxes in the moving truck that were too heavy for us to grab. Enjoy.”

His face dropped, but he knew better than to try and battle his two sisters head on. Grumbling under his breath, Casimir exited the same way that he came, while Miesha washed her hands before removing two beer bottles from the case and digging into the bag to sort out the food.

“Oh my God,” Danica’s stomach flip flopped as Miesha handed her a beer. “I haven’t had Henry’s in so long.”

“Hometown staple,” Miesha grinned. “You know fried chicken ain’t hitting unless it’s from Henry’s.”

“You ain’t lied about that.”

Finally getting the food onto a couple of paper plates, Miesha and Danica popped open their beers and clinked them together before digging in.

“Oh, before I forget,” Miesha began through a mouthful of yams. “The fire station is having their annual family and friends cookout in a few days. Ma and I go every year to take them a pie and show our gratitude, and I figured maybe this year you might want to tag along.”

Danica froze as memories of the night when she was saved by a handsome stranger flooded her brain. It didn’t happen often, but there were moments when she could vividly remember every detail about the accident that almost cost her, her life.

The stench of the fuel was sometimes so overwhelming that she had to remind herself it was just a memory and not her reality. The thing that she remembered most, was the face of the man that put his life on the line to save hers.

Forever burned in her memory was Keaghan Tucker’s strong, square cut jaw line, his sparkling brown eyes, and smooth chocolate skin.

“Dani,” Miesha’s head dropped a fraction as she once again pulled her sister back to reality.

“Yeah?” She answered hurriedly, plastering a smile on her face. “I would love to go.”