My Own People Betrayed Me at My Engagement Barbecue, So I Took the Hill Back novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: The Fire
By dusk three thousand people stood at the foot of the hill, and the ranch road was dark with them.
I waited at the pyre in my father's hat, with the cedar at my back.
The first stars were coming out over the live oaks.
Cade stood at my right shoulder.
His hand lay at the small of my back, warm and still, and he had not taken it away since we climbed.
Below us the pastor lit the torch from the Easter candle.
I could see the little flame from where I stood, and the tall stooped figure that took the pole from the pastor's hands.
Hilde came up the road first.
She wore her black church coat and a hat with a veil.
Britta walked behind her with the baby wrapped in white, and Kurt came last, trailing behind them with his hands in his pockets.
They stopped at the edge of the firelight, and my aunt lifted her chin.
"Mathilde," she said. "Child. Stand with your family."
"I'm standing where I said I would," I said.
The torch began to climb.
Amos walked it up the hill road, a slow step at a time.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of My Own People Betrayed Me at My Engagement Barbecue, So I Took the Hill Back are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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