Free The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel by A.M. Hargrove Page B

takes a step back and offers me the
biggest smile I’ve ever seen. It brightens up her usually sad
face.
    “You should smile more often, Emmalia.” I
grin back at her.
    “If Sister Helena will allow it, do you
think I could volunteer at your place? I’d love to be able to pay
you back somehow for the music lessons. This could be my way of
doing that. I could help you with computer stuff, if you need
it.”
    “We have an IT person, but let me check with
him. If I take you up on that, I’d be willing to pay you.”
    “Oh, no. I wouldn’t take your money. It
would be in payment for the lessons. Not to mention what you’ve
done for Ethel.”
    “Then, in exchange, would you at least let
me get you a cell phone? I worry about you.”
    She instantly has that fearful look in her
eyes again. What could she possibly be afraid of? And what does it
have to do with a cell phone? I make a decision that I’m going to
make a phone call the next day to my brother about her.
    “I’ll think about it.”
    “Come on then. Let’s check out that
movie.”
    “You don’t happen to have Alien do you? I’d
love to watch that instead.”
    “You’re an Alien fan?”
    “Oh yeah! I love those movies.”
    “I would never have taken you for a
fan.”
    “Yeah. Ever since college.”
    “I have it. Come on.”
    An hour later, we both scream as the baby
alien busts out of the guy’s stomach and skitters away. Then we
look at each other and laugh our asses off.
    “Like we didn’t know that was coming,” she
says.
    “Yeah, but it gets me every time.”
    “I know. It’s just so gross how he starts to
spaz out and then, wham. Baby alien. Ew!” She shudders and we laugh
again.
    “This was such an ingenious creature. What
an imagination.”
    “I know, right?”
    “My brothers and I would pause the movie …
oh, wait, I’ll do it when we get to the scene.”
    So we continue to watch and then at the end
when Ripley is on the shuttle, making her escape, and she slips
into the space suit because she realizes the alien is on the
shuttle too, I start to slow-mo the movie. “Right here. When the
alien starts to move. This is where we would do it.” We watch in
silence. “We could never figure out exactly what the damn thing
looked like until we did this. The movie was so dark and obscure
and then when it opened its mouth and that second set of mandibles
came out and started snapping, we would scream our bloody heads
off.” We watch it unfold slowly and I turn to Emmalia and see how
captivated she is by the film. Her mouth and eyes mimic each other,
forming large circles.
    “Holy double decker crap! I never realized
this before because it all happened so quickly.”
    “Holy double decker crap? What kind of nun
language is that?” I tease.
    “Bad nun language?” She asks sheepishly.
    “Look at Ethel over there, watching you.
You’ve tainted her innocent puppy ears.”
    Emmalia giggles. “I suppose I have.”
    The movie ends, Ripley escapes with the cat
intact in the shuttle, sans alien, and we both decide Ethel needs
one more turn outside. When I come back in, I remark about the
snow.
    “It’s as bad as I can recall in my two years
here. I’m wondering if you’ll get home tomorrow.”
    “If I can’t, Sister Helena will be one bad
mess to deal with.”
    “Let’s not worry about it now. We’ll see how
things are in the morning.”
    “Would you mind very much if Ethel slept
with me? I know you don’t like that idea, but I’ll probably never
get this opportunity again, and I would really love it.”
    “Sure. It’s your bed for the night.”
    She picks the fur ball up and looks at
me.
    “Do you have a blanket?”
    “A blanket?”
    “Um, so I don’t get cold.”
    “There are blankets on the bed.”
    “Oh, I can sleep on the couch. I don’t want
to be a bother.”
    “You’re not a bother. Upstairs. Now. I have
four bedrooms in this house and if you think I’ll let you sleep on
the couch, you’re nuts.”
    I