The first time was at the cafe when she hadn’t brought any money, the second time she had been
arguing with someone about the price of fixing a car, the third time she had been stuck in the rain while
walking around, and the fourth time she had fallen off the stairs and he had had to carry her…
Naomi was even more embarrassed because he was right.
He put a hand in front of her, and she froze before looking up at Francisco.
Francisco looked at her. “Do you expect me to carry you back instead?”
She was frantic. “No, of course not!” She grabbed his elbow and slowly stood up, but the pain in her
ankle made her take a sharp breath.
Francisco looked at her right foot. “Twisted your ankle?”
She nodded.
Francisco helped her walk to a tree so that she could sit under it and knelt to remove the shoe on her
right foot.
Naomi put out her hand. “Let me do it.”
“Does it make a difference if I do it?” Francisco removed her sock too and looked at her. “It’s still
removing.”
Naomi pressed her lips together and thought, ‘Of course there’s a difference! No man has touched my
foot before.
“Your foot is so swollen it looks like a pig’s leg.” Francisco helped her massage it, but she was in so
much pain she yelped and covered her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
He frowned and looked at her. “Why are you apologizing?”
Naomi looked down. “I’m afraid that… you might think that I’m too noisy.”
Francisco paused and suddenly looked at her. Naomi felt uncomfortable from his stare, so she looked
down to avoid eye contact.
After a long pause, he suddenly said,” You’re such a weird woman.”
She was surprised. “What?”
“You’re from an affluent family and are so careful in whatever you do. You seem to be meek but are quite
brave.” After he said that, he looked at her. “You’re bravest when you’re watching horror movies.”
Naomi paused for a moment while she pressed her lips together, not replying. She wasn’t meek.
She was very careful because she didn’t want to be hated. She wanted to blend in with everyone but
couldn’t join in their conversation, so she was very careful.
Francisco looked at her and felt that she looked like a poor little bunny. He suddenly turned around.
“Come on. Guess I have to give you a piggyback ride back.”
Naomi was surprised when Francisco, who was looking forward, said, “It’s going to rain soon. Get on if
you don’t want to get
wet.”
Naomi couldn’t hesitate anymore. She put her shoe back on and climbed onto his back.
Francisco carried her. “You look so skinny, but you’re actually quite heavy.”
The dark clouds started rolling over, and it seemed like it was going to rain.
Everyone at the campsite sat under the tent and drank tea.
Maisie looked toward the woods, “Why aren’t they back yet?”
Nolan put down the teacup. “They probably found somewhere to hide from the rain. With the years of
training that Francisco went through, survival in the wild wouldn’t be an issue.”
Barbara nodded in agreement while she looked at the rain. “The rain is too heavy now, and we don’t
know when it’s going to stop. When it slows down, let’s go look for them. I’m sure Francisco can protect
Naomi well.”
Daisie put her cheeks on her hands and was daydreaming about barbecue. That terrible fellow had
tricked her!
The rain stopped at night when the woods were already dark. A fire could be seen in a space under a
huge rock where the rain didn’t hit. The two people drenched by the rain were drying their jackets by the
fire.
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