Page 2 of Penance (Rising From the Ashes #2)

Lily

I ’ve experienced a lot of embarrassing things in my life.

Growing up with clothes that were rarely washed and never fit.

The time my mom puked all over my prom date because she was drunk.

Chasing after a man I had no intentions of falling in love with.

I still cringe when I look back on each of those things, but nothing will ever be as embarrassing as the predicament I am in now—desperately clinging to a tree as a fire blazes in the building beside me.

My fingertips ache from holding onto the bark, and my skin is slicked with sweat from the fire. I’m lying on a limb two stories off the ground. It’s barely big enough to hold my weight. My legs are numb from how tightly I have them wrapped around it, and fear pumps heavy through my veins.

I will not die today. I will not die today.

I’ve been chanting that in my head since I found the fire in the community center’s upper level and stupidly tried to put it out. Except it spread faster than I could control, and before I knew it, I was climbing out a second-story window onto a limb.

Maybe I could have waited for the fire department, but out of the two options, there was only one logical solution in my mind. I would rather face falling to my death by climbing down this tree than give Theo Sylvis the satisfaction of coming to my rescue .

Sure, he may not be on shift today, but I know my luck—I wasn’t chancing it. So I climbed out the window, onto the nearest branch, and didn’t think twice about it—until now.

Sirens pierce the night air, and desperation claws at my chest.

“This cannot be happening.”

Muttering to myself is my first slip into insanity—or maybe I’ve been on this path far longer than I’d like to admit.

There’s only so much a person can take before their mind cracks, and this—this might be my breaking point, especially if I don’t get out of this stupid tree before that firetruck shows up.

Panic slices through my chest and into my veins.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi…

Counting is a habit I should have outgrown a long time ago, but when you come from a family like mine, some trauma responses stick around.

In order to get out of this tree, I have to open my eyes, but opening my eyes means facing the fact that I stupidly climbed out of a two-story window onto a tree when I am deathly afraid of heights.

Glass shatters beside me, and I jerk, nearly losing my grip on the tree. The scream that rips out of me burns my throat until I’m choking on fear and smoke. Hot tears trace the curve of my cheek, dropping onto the ground far below me, but I keep my eyes closed.

Regret is another emotion I’m all too familiar with, and tonight, it burns as hot as the fire beside me.

“Listen, God,” I say, squeezing my legs tighter. My fingers ache so badly I fear they might fall off. “I know we don’t know each other, but I’ve heard talk about you. So let’s make a deal, okay? You get me out of here, and I promise to be a better person. Maybe even go to church. How about it?”

Growing up, I was never around anyone who went to church.

It wasn’t until I moved to Benton Falls that I met people who actually did—Abigail Harrison being one of them.

We’ve talked about God a few times, but I can’t wrap my head around the concept.

It’s not that I don’t believe there’s something out there bigger than us.

It’s the concept of infinite forgiveness I can’t comprehend.

Because you’re telling me there’s a man who died so that everyone can be forgiven?

Forgiveness isn’t that simple.

“Hey, hopeless.” A voice breaks through my thoughts; unfortunately, it’s a voice I’m familiar with.

It’s deep and comforting, and that alone is enough to convince me I would have been better off falling out of the tree.

Slowly, I crack one eye open, dread flipping in my stomach because I already know who I will find—a dark-haired man who I hardly know, yet somehow, still manages to cause funny feelings inside my chest when I look at him.

Theo Sylvis stands below me, looking up at me with a smug grin.

My breath snags in my throat as our eyes clash, and his grin tilts higher.

Although the darkness of the night casts shadows over him, he is still the kind of handsome man who steals your breath away.

The kind that makes you wonder how a man like him can exist in real life.

But there’s also something more there, too.

Something darker. I’ve never quite been able to put my finger on it, but every time I get a glimpse, it sends a shiver down my spine.

Comfort is an illusion, especially in a man like him. Theo is dangerous because he’s the type of man a girl could fall for, and if I ever were to lose my head and let him get too close, he’d be hell on my heart.

And I promised myself a long time ago that I would never fall for a man like him—the kind a girl could love.

______________________

“I’m coming up to get you, hopeless. Just sit tight.” Despite the heat, Theo’s warm voice sends shivers over my skin, and I hate him for it. Hate the way a spark ignites inside my chest when he is around. It’s highly annoying.

“Don’t call me that,” I grit out between clenched teeth, trying not to move.

The nickname stuck around after Hayes and MJ’s engagement party.

I’d avoided him like the plague afterward, but there are only so many ways to dodge a person in a small town, especially when their kid attends your school.

“And I don’t need you to come get me. I can get out of here perfectly fine by myself. ”

Theo’s grin turns into an all-out smile. “I see you’re still lying to yourself.”

I open my mouth to deny it, but a loud pop resounds through the air, and the branch shifts beneath me. The words become a scream as panic grips my chest. My eyes squeeze shut, and my heart thunders.

“Hopeless, look at me.” Gone is the teasing lilt Theo had moments before.

Now, he is hard. Demanding. Professional.

His voice is still the same smooth comfort even with the hardened edges, but there’s also panic in the cracks of it.

But even with that comfort, I don’t look at him.

Looking at him means facing my stupidity.

I’ve spent my life trying not to be like my mother—making bad decisions over a man—but in one moment of desperation, I’ve done just that.

I shake my head, wincing when the branch snaps a little more.

“Lily, look at me right now.” There is no room for disobedience in that tone.

My eyes pop open, going straight to him.

Even though other men are rushing around, trying to extinguish the fire, all I see is him.

I don’t know what draws me to him like a moth to a flame.

Maybe it is the hard set of his jaw or how his eyes look a little sad when he thinks no one is looking.

Or perhaps it’s neither of those things, and I’m just a glutton for punishment.

Theo stands looking up at me, his dark eyes glowing with the reflection of the fire. The lines of his face are soft, or as soft as they can be for a man like him .

“I’m coming up to get you. I want you to keep still while we get the truck into place.” He pauses, searching my face with that watchful gaze of his. “I won’t let you fall, Lily.”

The careful way his tongue curves around the sound of my name almost makes me forget the situation I am in. But then he gives me a cheeky wink, and I’m back to regretting my decisions.

Clenching my teeth, I refuse to let him see how those six simple words affect me. Instead, I jut out my chin, pulling my gaze from his, and offer a terse nod, accepting that my only way down from this tree is through him.

As the truck backs up to the tree, a crowd gathers at the edges of the sidewalks. To my dismay, several elderly women stare at me. Their mouths are practically salivating as they look from me to Theo.

Why worry about a fire at the community building when a woman stuck in a tree is the juicier gossip?

Benton Falls is a great town. When I first moved here, I knew it was where I wanted to stay for the rest of my life.

The people are friendly. The scenery is beautiful, and best of all, it’s miles away from the toxicity I grew up in.

But the elderly people are—quirky. They can’t stay off social media to save their lives, and no secret escapes their attention.

Up until today, there was no need for me to worry about that. No one knew me—not really. Benton Falls was my place to start over. A place where I could be anyone I wanted to be. Now, this will be how I’m remembered.

So much for my fresh start.

A camera flashes in the hands of one of the town’s most notorious gossips—Ethel Thatcher.

Her partner in crime, Muriel Sanders, stands beside her, gawking at the firemen as they rush around trying to put out the flames.

Those two women are at least eighty years old, and they cause more trouble than any of my high school students ever thought about.

The camera points my way, and I groan. This will be all over social media before I make it out of the tree.

With the truck in place, the ladder extends, and I watch Theo’s fingers wrap around each rung, climbing up. He does it so easily that an irrational fury burrows deep in my gut.

I don’t need a man to save me. I can do it myself.

My eyes fall on the bucket under the limb where I’m lying. If I can just stretch my leg out a little further, I’ll be able to slip it over the side before Theo gets up here.

With my mind made up, I slowly unwrap one leg from around the limb, keeping my eye on the bucket the whole time.

Theo must have noticed my movement because his deep voice rings out above all the other noises. “Don’t even think about it, hopeless.”