Page 69 of Home With You

He hands it back. "I got something for Gladys too." He turns and picks up the last sack. He pulls out a thick purple sweater that zips up in front and has pockets on each side. It's almost like a sweatshirt but nicer with no hood, like something an old lady would wear.

"Oh my God, she'll love it," I say, taking it from him. "This is perfect! She loves purple."

"I noticed that. She also loves green but purple was all I could find."

"She'll love the purple. Thanks, Miles."

He smiles. "You're welcome."

When he brings stuff for Gladys, I never turn it down. She needs clothes as much as I do and she's going to love this sweater. I've never seen anything like it. I wonder where he found it.

"I'm going to go give it to her," I say, going to the tent.

"I thought she was asleep."

"She is, but I'll leave it next to her so she'll see it when she wakes up."

I'm so excited to give this to her. It's going to be her new favorite thing. I quietly sneak into the tent and see her sound asleep. I set the sweater beside her and back out of the tent.

"She's still asleep," I say to Miles.

"I hope she likes it."

"She's going to love it." I look down, then back up at him, and before I can stop myself, I lunge forward and hug him. I didn't intend to, but my emotions overwhelmed me and I couldn't hold back.

"Raine," he says softly, his strong arms holding me in the hug. "You okay?"

I squeeze my eyes shut, emotions flooding me, making tears form and fall down my cheeks. I don't know why I'm crying. I'm happy Miles is here, happy he's helping me with Gladys. So why am I crying?

"It's okay," he says, rubbing his hand up and down my back. "She's going to be okay."

As he says it, I realize that's why I'm crying. I'm scared Gladys won't get better. How did Miles know that and I didn't?

"What if she's not?" I ask, my head buried in his chest. "What if she gets worse and not better?"

"Then we'll deal with it." He smooths his hand over my hair. "You're not alone, Raine. I'm here."

His words bring more tears to my eyes because I want so badly for that to be true. But I don't believe it. I don't believe he'll stick around once he finds someone else. Friends. A girlfriend. I'm just the girl he comes to visit every night until he finds something better.

He's not mine. But I wish he could be.

I slowly pull away, wiping my eyes and forcing out a smile. "I didn't sleep much last night. I always get emotional when I don't get enough sleep."

"You never get enough sleep," he says, calling me out on my made-up reason to explain the tears. He moves aside the hair that was covering my eye, tucking it behind my ear. "I'm worried about her too."

"I don't know what to do, Miles."

"I'm working on it."

I look up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I've been calling shelters, seeing if I could get her in somewhere."

"No!" I shove him back. "She can't leave me! I need her!"

"Raine." He steps up to me, lowering his voice. "She can't stay out here in the cold. It's bad for her lungs. She needs to be someplace warm. And so do you."

Turning my back to him, I shake my head. "I'm not going there. I don't like it there."

---