“Oh, I’m sorry. I would never make fun of your extensive efforts to make me smile.”
“Actually,” Hardy said, turning serious as he reached forward to trace the corner of Miracle’s mouth, “I would do almost anything to see you smile.”
Miracle’s gaze flickered from Hardy’s eyes to his mouth and back again. She licked her lips and Hardy thought he heard her catch and hold her breath as he leaned toward her.
His face hovered above hers for several long tense seconds before he lowered his mouth to hers. Barely making contact, Hardy brushed his lips back and forth over Miracle’s with the gentlest of pressure. He wanted more—wanted to kiss her and touch her so much more—but he wanted to leave her with something as delicate and perfect and special as the moment they were sharing there in the orange glow of the sunrise.
“I’ll see you Sunday,” he said when he lifted his head.
“Sunday,” Miracle said a bit dazedly.
She started up the sidewalk and Hardy saw a light come on in one of the front rooms.
“That’s not your room is it?” He knew hers would have a window at the front of the house, but he wasn’t sure which one.
“No, mine is the last one on the right. That’s Mila’s.”
“Are you gonna get in trouble?”
Miracle chuckled. “Nah. Mila’s the wild child of the family. She’ll probably just want details.”
It was Hardy’s turn to chuckle. Somehow, that fit with what little he’d seen and heard from Mila. “Cool.”
“Sunday?” Miracle smiled as she walked backward up the sidewalk to her front door.
“Sunday,” Hardy answered, his smile mirroring hers.
When she disappeared inside her house, Hardy continued on to his car, his heart light. For the first time he could remember, he had something in his life that he really looked forward to.
********
Miracle tiptoed inside, gently closing the door behind her and creeping down the hall to her bedroom. She had just sat down on the edge of the bed to take her shoes off when Mila burst through the door.
“I want details!” she loud-whispered, launching herself onto the bed behind Miracle.
“What are you doing up?”
“You may not have much of a social life, but I do. I was on the laptop chatting with Summer and Dane when you left. I heard the front door.”
“Why did you turn your light on when we got back then?”
“That was your signal to come and talk to me when you got done.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know that.”
“You had to know I’d want details. He is so freakin’ hot, Miracle. Ugh,” Mila moaned, flopping onto her back dramatically. She rolled over quickly, pushing her hair out of her eyes as if she had a sudden thought. “You didn’t think I’d get you in trouble, did you?”
“You? Mila, if I did even half the things you’ve tried to talk me into doing, I’d be in jail. I’m surprised this even registered on your radar.”
“You kissing a boy that looks like that? Hells yeah, it did!”
“So if he’d been ugly…”
“Meh,” she said, waving Miracle off. “I wouldn’t care. Unless you’d slept with him. Then, I’d care.”
Miracle couldn’t help but smile. Mila was too much. “You’re terrible.”
“No, I’m not. Life is short. We gotta make the most of it.”
Miracle always worried about how her sickness had affected Mila. Ever since she’d finished chemo, Miracle had noticed a wild abandon in Mila that she wasn’t quite sure was healthy. She didn’t want to see her sister get into trouble or end up ruining her life in her efforts to live it to the fullest. It was possible to go overboard after all.
“Well, right now, the only thing I’m interested in is sleep.”
With a pouty look, Mila sat up and scooted off the bed. “At least tell me he’s a good kisser.”
Miracle smiled, probably a little more widely than she should have. “He’s a very good kisser.”
With a dreamy sigh, Mila walked to the door. She turned back before she opened it. “He really likes you, you know. I can tell.”
Miracle’s smile turned sad. “But does he like me enough to stay?”
Mila and Miracle looked at each other for a moment, an unspoken sadness lingering in the air between them, before Mila twisted the knob and slipped through the door.
“’Night, Miracle,” she whispered just before she shut the door.
“’Night, Mila.” And then she was gone, leaving Miracle alone with her thoughts.
********
Hardy arrived back at the lake to a quiet house. He slept until noon, blaming it on a restless night after his awful football performance. In truth, he couldn’t have cared less. All he could think about was Miracle and how sweet and funny she was, how she made his world glow with something suspiciously close to happiness.
For the following thirty-six hours, Hardy’s impending meeting with Miracle hovered at the back of his mind. He was able to smile at every snide comment thrown his way and tolerate his father and Cheyenne all weekend with admirable aplomb because of Miracle, and they were none the wiser.
As they were pulling out Sunday evening to head home, Hardy told his father that he’d go straight to Cheyenne’s house. His father smiled and nodded, as Hardy knew he would. And Hardy had every intention of doing exactly what he’d said. He would drop Cheyenne off at her house first thing—and then head directly to Miracle’s.
After a second brief stop, it was just after eight p.m. when he rang the bell at Miracle’s house. He stood on the stoop with one hand tucked behind his back and a wide smile on his face.
It was Miracle who answered the door. She was smiling, too.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Hardy responded, pulling his hand from behind his back with a flourish.
He watched Miracle take in the single white daylily. She looked at its ragged stem and her eyes crinkled in laughter. He’d pulled over on the way when he’d seen some flowers at a house he passed. They were swaying near the road in the dying light, beckoning him to come and take. They were part of someone’s elaborate and well-maintained landscape and, although he felt a bit guilty for beheading one of the flowers, he knew it would bring a smile to Miracle’s face. He gave it no more thought than that. To Hardy, there was no other justification needed.
“They’re getting bigger,” she observed, her lips quivering with a suppressed smile.