Kestrel folded her arms instead, and the fox at her heels yipped a bark.
“Thoughtless question,” Leighton admitted. Then, noticing the creature for the first time, he added, “Is this a friend of yours?”
“I…I think so. It saved me before I came across Mutiny Bay. And then it was out here waiting for me when I came back out.” Kestrel smiled down at her furry companion.
Micah inched closer, an eagerness in his tone she hadn’t heard before. “Is it a fox or Animali?”
“Ani-what?” Kestrel asked.
Leighton and his brother exchanged a curious look, one she couldn’t quite decipher. It frustrated her all the more. One more secret to add to the mix.
As if sensing her impatience, Leighton looked at her apologetically.
“Let me try this again—” Carefully, he reached up to the fabric covering the lower half of his face and untied it, revealing the alabaster sheen of his face. “I don’t know exactly what that argument was about, but I’ve had my fair share of familyquarrels, and none have ever ended with one of us fleeing an entire town just to get away from the other.”
“Speak for yourself,” Micah interjected.
Leighton ignored him, continuing. “What I mean to say is, I can only imagine hownotokay you are, so we wanted to check on you.”
It was perhaps the most genuine thing anyone had said to her in hours. And even if she didn’t know these young men very well, she appreciated the comforting words, and even more so the idea that she wasn’t so alone.
“Thank you.”
Leighton nodded. “I…also owe you an apology. And an explanation, if you’ll hear it.”
It was all she needed. That was all she had been asking of Thom as well. Even now, if he were to come up to her and confess everything, she knew that she could find it in her heart to forgive him.
The problem was, he wasn’t willing to give her the truth.
But maybe the strangers would.
Kestrel gestured to the ground near the flowers. “Have a seat.”
“After the day we’ve had? Gladly.” Micah plopped down to the dusty ground with a huff. The fox immediately scurried to his side, eager to sniff him. He chuckled as he held out his hand to the creature’s twitching nose. “I’m Micah, by the way. And that’s?—”
“Leighton,” Kestrel finished for him. Seeing the way his eyebrows shot to his hairline brought a tinge of pink to her cheeks, and she felt the need to elaborate. “I overheard you use each other’s names in the alleyway.”
“Right. Then that’s all the introductions except one.” Micah watched her expectantly, waiting. She didn’t have it in her to keep her name a secret, or to fabricate one on the spot.
“Kestrel. My name is Kestrel.”
“Like the bird?” asked Micah.
“So I’ve been told.” She had never actually seen one before, but it was nice to know that this wasn’t another one of Thom’s lies.
Leighton approached her slowly, one hand extended outward. “A pleasure to meet you, Kestrel.”
She was reluctant to take it. Accepting his hand felt too much like wiping the slate clean. But in the end, she was compelled to, if not only because she hoped beyond all hopes that they could somehow mend the broken trust between them, but also to curb that insatiable desire to feel him again, despite everything.
With their hands clasped together, Leighton guided her under the insufficient shade of one of the cacti and helped her to sit. Would all human contact make her heart skip and her vision swirl? Or was there something about his touch specifically?
“Where’s the other one you were traveling with?” she asked, trying to change the subject before her cheeks could flush any harder.
“Efrem?” Leighton squatted down beside her and gave a nonchalant shrug. “Ah, he’s probably standing guard somewhere.”
“My twin takes his duties very seriously,” Micah added, a bit sarcastically.
“Unlike someone I know,” Leighton teased his brother.