While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi

Author:Sara Koffi [Koffi, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

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Brianna didn’t know what to do.

It was a rare feeling, the lack of direction, the helplessness. Still, it coursed through her veins as she watched Elizabeth slice through a bell pepper on a cutting board. Brianna couldn’t explain it, but despite her putting out Elizabeth’s fires, giving her a believable cover for opting out of the rest of the Learning Center’s unveiling ceremony, it felt like a distance had developed between them.

And any distance between them meant that Brianna could be cut out of Elizabeth’s life at any second.

But that couldn’t happen. She’d worked too hard to get this far.

She’d done too much to ever turn back now.

But what would make her indisposable? Indispensable?

What could permanently sew her to Elizabeth’s side?

“I’m going to help you.” The words flew out of Brianna’s mouth.

“. . . What?” Elizabeth stopped mid-chop, her knife held partially in the air.

“I’m going to help you,” Brianna repeated, beaming over at Elizabeth from across the kitchen counter.

“Help me with what?”

“With . . .” She glanced around the room before lowering herself even closer to the counter with the demeanor of someone about to say a set of nuclear launch codes out loud. “Patricia. I want to help you with Patricia.”

“. . . Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’?”

“I mean, why?” Elizabeth pressed. “I haven’t exactly been a picture of mental health today, Brianna. Why would you ever want to spend your time helping me with the one thing everyone else thinks I’m crazy for believing?”

“. . . Because I don’t think you’re crazy, Elizabeth. I believe you.”

“You believe me?” Elizabeth seemed unsure, even as she spoke the phrase. Once again, she shamelessly stared over at Brianna, her eyes wide, her lips hanging slightly open like she was in a state of disbelief.

Brianna held her breath as she waited for Elizabeth’s next move, her lungs nearly bursting with the effort.

But then Elizabeth repeated herself, the words so much gentler. “You believe me . . .” She flashed a small smile. “Thank you for believing me, Brianna.”

Brianna returned the expression, her lungs thanking her, too, as she took in a deep breath. “So, where do we start?”

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