“Stop,” she laughed, trying to roll me off, but I pinned her beneath me.
She fought me, giggling uncontrollably and causing me to roar with laughter.
“Stop,” she sighed but her laughter was dying.
It suddenly got very quiet and we both stopped squirming. I was very aware that I was laying on top of Cricket Hunt. We watched one another, our chests rising and falling against each other. My hands found the pile of capes beneath us and I pushed myself up, rolling to my side and sitting up.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry,” I rasped, refusing to look at her.
She sat up as well and fixed her mussed hair. “It’s, uh, okay,” she acknowledged, staring at her lap.
“M&M? I asked, pulling the bag out.
I poured a few in her hand, careful not to touch her.
“Thanks.”
I laid down on the capes and tucked one hand behind my head while tossing M&M’s in the air and trying to catch them. I only missed one and only choked on two.
“How long do you think before the storm blows over?” I asked.
“Not sure,” she answered, laying down beside me.
“Think they’ll cancel the auction?”
“Nah, they’ll clear the roads and we’ll be out and about in no time at all.”
“You’ve lived through these often then.”
“Hundreds of them.”
“Cricket?” I asked after five M&M’s.
“Yeah?”
“Do you ever talk about your mom?”
She studied me. “Not really.”
“Cool.”
It was silent for seven more M&M’s.
“I was young when she died.”
“Sarah, right?” I asked, thinking on the first day I met Cricket Hunt.
She gazed at me, surprised. “Yeah. Sarah.”
I kept silent.
“I was seven, but I remember it like it was yesterday.”
“How sad. How old was she?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Too, too young.”