He wasn’t surprised she would be that considerate and compassionate, but she shouldn’t have taken such a risk.
“This isn’t the first time he’s been up there,” she added, “just the first time the ladder fell.”
“Next time Peanut gets on the roof, call them.” The impact of what she’d said hit him square in the gut. Each time she’d climbed that ladder, she could have had an accident. He couldn’t bring himself to think about her getting hurt. “Let the fire department do their job,” he said sternly.
“I will.”
She started to sniff. Was she cold or still tearing up over a cat dumb enough to get stuck on the roof? On second thought, Peanut wasn’t all that dumb since he’d managed to get down by himself. “You okay?” he asked, moving closer to her.
“A little. Not as cold.” She looked at him, her golden-topaz eyes round and thankful. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.”
They were inches away from each other, his leg nearly touching hers. “I’m glad I did.”
A moment of silence passed as they looked at each other, and he fought the urge to pull her closer. Although the blanket fully covered her, he knew what little she had on under it. “You should put something warmer on,” he said as he stood.For both our sakes.
“Oh. Yes, that would be a good idea.” She rose from the couch, clutching the blanket to her. “Are you hungry? I can make you some breakfast if you want.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You mean a bowl of cereal?”
She laughed. “Everyone knows my cereal skills are top notch. That, and I can’t cook. Wait, I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”
“No. I was up early this morning, and I was stopping by to see if you wanted to get breakfast anyway. Why don’t I make some for us? Do pancakes sound good?”
Her eyes brightened. “That would be great. I have some pancake mix in the cupboard. I don’t think it’s expired yet. And there are exactly two eggs in the fridge.”
“That’s all I need.”
While she changed clothes, Tanner searched the kitchen,not only looking for a bowl and a pan but also inspecting her small, very sparse pantry in case she had the ingredients for scratch pancakes. She didn’t, but he did find some vanilla and cinnamon. He grabbed those and the pancake mix and set to preparing breakfast—after he’d checked the expiration date on the box.
Anita finally returned, wearing jeans and an old-looking red sweatshirt that had faded to dark pink. “Have a seat,” he said, flipping over the last two pancakes. He’d made so many of them over the years he could prepare them in his sleep. “They’re almost done.”
“I’ll get the syrup.”
“Already on the table.” He grabbed the butter dish and placed it next to the bottle, then went back to finishing the pancakes.
“These look yummy,” Anita said when he set the stack in front of her and sat down. She took three before reaching for the syrup, glancing at his plate as he put only one pancake on it. “Is that all you’re having?”
“I can’t eat a lot of pancakes anymore. I’ve made too many of them.”
“I’m like that with hot dogs. Blech.” She dug into the food. “Wow, these are so good. They never taste like this when I make them.”
“It’s the vanilla and cinnamon.”
She looked at him. “First you save me, then you make me pancakes. I don’t know how I’m going to pay you back.”
“I didn’t save you,” he said, looking down at his lone pancake.
“Yes, you did.” Unexpectedly, she set down her fork, herhand beginning to shake again. “What if no one had noticed me on the roof?”
“One of your neighbors would have.”
“They’re all at work.” Fear entered her eyes. “I was so scared,” she whispered.
“Hey,” he said. “I would have been scared too.”
Anita scoffed. “I doubt it. You probably would have scrambled down somehow.”
“Why didn’t you climb down the tree?”
