“I brought you some.” He set the lantern down and pulled two flashlights out of his pocket. “And candles and matches. But be careful with those. Don’t leave them unattended.” Last thing he needed was for his neighboring cottage to burn down.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Of course I wouldn’t leave them unattended. Give me some credit.”
He set the flashlights, candles, and matches on the table. “So you’re good?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. Thank you for the flashlights. If I find some here, I’ll return yours right away.”
“Don’t be going out in this storm. It’s not safe.”
“You went out in it.”
He let out a long sigh. “Because I thought it was the right thing to do to check on you.”
“Well, it was very kind of you.”
He shrugged awkwardly, wanting to make his escape.
“Can I repay you with a hot cup of coffee? I’d just finished making it when the lights went out.”
As much as he was tempted by a hot drink, he didn’t really want to stay.
“Please, it’s the least I can do to thank you.”
Without waiting for him to say yes, she grabbed a flashlight and headed to the kitchen, then promptly returned with two mugs. He couldn’t really say no now, could he? He shrugged off his raincoat and hung it on a coat rack by the door. She pressed a mug into his hand. They stood there awkwardly, the silence between them roaring louder than the clashes of thunder outside.
She turned and set her mug down on the coffee table. “I’m going to look for flashlights here.”
She returned with candlestick holders. “Found these.” She put the candles in and lit them. A warm glow surrounded them.
She turned toward the couch. “Come. Sit down.”
Once again, she didn’t wait for an answer and that annoyed him, but he did what she said. She sat on the couch and he sank into an armchair across from it.
“You got things to eat if you can’t cook?”
“I do. Crackers and cheese. Some fruit. Um… well, I’m sure I have other things.”
He should offer to let her come over for food if she ran out, but he wasn’t ready to make that suggestion just yet. He’d wait and see how long the electricity stayed off. He took a sip of coffee. It was surprisingly good. Not some run-of-the-mill coffee from a can.
“It’s good. The coffee, I mean.”
“Thank you. I bought some ground coffee beans from Beverly at Coastal Coffee. You know her, right?”
“Kind of.” It was more like he knewofBeverly. Everyone did. But he didn’t go to her cafe or anything. He preferred to eat at home. But he did know most of the locals. At least who was who.Not that he was really friends with any of them. He liked his solitude. Liked it a lot.
“Beverly and her friend Maxine are helping me with the Heritage Festival. I took over organizing it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because they needed help and I have experience planning events.”
“But you’re not even from here.”
“But I have fond memories of going to the festival with my parents when I was young. I’d hate to see it end just because they didn’t have someone to run it this year.”
“Seems like a strange way to spend your vacation time.” He shook his head.
“I’m kind of enjoying it. It was a hard adjustment from being so constantly busy in New York to just having all this time on my hands here in Magnolia. Besides, Beverly and Maxine and a lot of people are very grateful for my help.” She shrugged. “Not everyone. Some are as skeptical as you are.”
