James waited until her breathing had evened out and gone shallow, then reached over and turned off the lantern that had been casting a circle of light around them. She’d been brave, far braver than most of the men he’d met, when the fire woke them. He still wondered how it hadn’t woken him, but it didn’t matter now. All they could do was wait and see. From what he’d seen when he’d checked, he felt pretty good about their surviving, but like he’d told her, he wasn’t so sure about the house. Time would tell.
He had to give her credit. She’d put on a brave face when he’d told her he thought the house would probably burn, but he’d seen the cracks and the fear shining through. But she’d held it together. After a while she’d laid down and she looked so sad, so lost, he couldn’t just let it go.
