Free Lake Yixa by Cameron Harper

didn't know him or really trust him. He seemed like a nice guy, but she
didn't want him running off with all her food and supplies. Sarah returned to
the kitchen one last time and picked up a chair.
          "Please don't
build a big fire if you add more wood. I don't want a lot smoke," she said
as she headed toward the bedroom.
          "Okay,"
Jeremy said and then added, "Good night."
          "Night."
          Sarah shut the
door behind her and turned the lock. She then put the chair in front of the
door. Sarah looked around Liam's bedroom, a little uncomfortable
about being here. She wondered if she would be able to sleep at all in his
bed. Sarah sat down on the edge of the bed and looked around his room.
She hadn't really been in here much.
          Tux leaped up onto
the bed and curled up on the far side of it.
          "Sorry again,
Tux. I wish Liam was here, too."
          Sarah didn't get a
lot of sleep, much like the nights before. It wasn’t just because she had
strangers sleeping in her living room, but her sleep was filled with
nightmares. When she awoke, part of her hoped that the Bakers had stolen the
rest of her supplies and ran off. But when she slowly opened the door, Jeremy
was sitting there, reading to the kids. Sarah let out a sigh and opened the
door the rest of the way, leaving the rifle in the bedroom.
          "Morning,"
Jeremy said, looking over at Sarah.
          "Hey."
          "I hope you
don't mind. We had another can of corn for breakfast."
          "No, that's
fine," Sarah replied as she walked over to the kitchen. She picked up the
bag of half-eaten crackers she had started the day before and sat down at the
table.
          "You guys
sleep okay?" she asked. "Wasn't too cold or anything?"
          "We were
good. Best sleep we’ve probably had in a while," Jeremy replied, handing
the book to Matt. "Why don't you finish reading this to your sister?"
          "Okay,"
Matt said.
          "But I want
you to read to me," Zoe cut in.
          "Now, Zoe,
let your brother read to you, okay?"
          "Okay,"
Zoe said in a long, drawn-out okay.
          Jeremy walked over
to the table and sat down across from Sarah. She just looked at him, not saying
a word and making the moment turn awkward. They both just sat there looking at
each other before Jeremy finally spoke.
          "You sleep
okay?"
          "Yeah,"
Sarah said before adding, "why?"
          "You screamed
a few times and kept saying sorry to someone named Liam."
          Sarah bit the
inside of her cheek and turned away from him. She wasn't sure if she was
embarrassed that he heard her or that he brought up Liam. She didn't say
anything and let the silence go from seconds to minutes.
          "It's hard to
lose a loved one," Jeremy said. "When I first lost my wife to cancer,
I stopped sleeping, and when I did sleep, it was endless nightmares."
          Sarah turned to
look at him. She had wondered where the mother was, and she had worried that
the men who had tied Jeremy up had taken or killed her.
          "I'm sorry
for your loss."
          "It's all
right. It was almost two years ago. Plus, I wouldn't want her to have to go
through all this," Jeremy said as he played with a napkin on the table.
"It's why we moved up here—to start over."
          "It's a good
place to pick," Sarah said.
          "Yeah. I came
here once as a kid."
          "Me too. I
would come up every summer with my grandmother," Sarah replied and then
added, "This is Liam's house."
          "Didn't think
it was really yours," Jeremy said. "Looks like an older man's
home."
          "Yeah, I
saved him on one of the first days of all this."
          Jeremy sat there,
looking at Sarah. He wanted to ask her where Liam was now but figured it would
be best if he didn't.
          "You guys
don't have to leave," Sarah said, changing the subject.
          "You sure? We
don't want