Free Little Red: An Everland Ever After Tale by Caroline Lee Page B

church to stand in the yard, and Rojita self-consciously straightened her spine.
    There was Rose and Snow, and their mother Mrs. White. There were the Miller girls and Briar, and all of the young ladies who’d grown up with her and Mary and Marian. They looked fancier than she remembered. More grown up. She still looked—she glanced down at herself. Like Rojita Zapato, the little orphan who had only her grandmother in the whole world. Her shoes were scuffed, her dress was mended, and her hair absolutely never did what she wanted it to. The only thing as fancy as these girls was her pretty red cloak, and even that had been a barter from a stranger who her grandfather had never seen again.
    Soon, she would see her Abuela again, and Hank would meet her, and he’d know. He’d know that she wasn’t wealthy, and couldn’t afford the money that she’d promised him. He’d know that she’d been lying to him, had tricked him into protecting her. And then…
    What? He’d leave, right? That’s what he’d been planning on doing anyhow. That’s what she’d assumed would happen. But what if he didn’t? What if he was angry at her trick, and demanded the money, money they didn’t have?
    She looked up at him, still making small talk with Max, and swallowed down her fear. There had to be something she had that he wanted. Judging from the way he’d kissed her—surely that kiss wasn’t because of the money?—there was something he wanted very much. And Rojita realized, at that moment, that she was willing to give it to him. Here was a man who’d risked himself for her, a man who made her irritated and happy and nervous and bubbly, whose touch filled her with butterflies and warmth. Oh yes, he was a special man, and he’d make it special for her, too.
    She did have something that she could barter with, if it came to it.
    “Rojita?” She didn’t recognize the voice, but she should have. Micah was older now, taller and broader and oh-so-handsome. He was grinning as he strode across the churchyard towards her, and she gaped. When had her little brother gotten so big? They’d written over the years—well, she’d written, and someone had read her letters to him—so she’d kept up with him and the younger kids, but it was still a shock to see him looking so… manly.
    With a laugh, she threw herself into his arms and he swept her around in a circle. When he put her down, she patted his bicep once, twice, still marveling at how much he’d grown. “What are you doing back in town? Does Abuela know you’re here? Dios mio , Rojita, tell me that you wrote to her? She’ll have a conniption if you surprise her.”
    Micah had always been a worrier—and had picked up Abuelo’ s favorite exclamation, the same way Rojita had—but she was too happy to care right now. She was home! “Come meet my friend, the man who brought me home. He’s over—” She was turning to point out Hank standing stoically beside Max when a high-pitched squeal stopped her, and suddenly her arms were filled with children. There was Tom Tucker, and Mary Contrary, and good Heavens, was that little Jack Horner all grown up? The twins and Baby Blue hung back, until Mary called out her name again, and they remembered, and came for their hugs.
    Rojita couldn’t remember feeling filled with more love, more contentment than at that moment, surrounded by the people she called family. As she met Hank’s eyes over Tom’s curls, the taste of his lips flashed through her memory, and she had to modify her realization. There’d been another moment, just this morning, that had been this special, too.
    Boy, what a day.
    The children were all clamoring for her attention, and she couldn’t answer them all nearly fast enough. Then she heard the voice that had meant so much to her as a child. “Rojita, mi hija ! Welcome home.”
    Abuela stood at the edge of the churchyard, her arms outstretched, and Rojita shook off the children as fast as she could, in an effort