She didn't miss the annoyance in her sister's eyes for a split second and then it was gone. “I wouldn’t mind trying it.”
Liam quickly spoke up. “That might be best for another time. I’m kind of tired.” He was up and moving things to put them away. Adria quickly stood up and moved to the door. “I need my rest to work on my truck, and those cookies.” He nodded towards Adria which instantly made her feel good.
“Alright, good night, Liam.” Adria knew when to take her leave. As she moved down the hall to her bedroom, she was smiling from ear to ear. It was the first time a man didn't fall at her feet and Becca was probably going to need to be picked up off the floor in a second.
She spent the night restless and curious in her bedroom, her mind racing in a thousand directions. She was excited to be home and wanted to see if they could clear the snow around the wishing well and bake cookies. That would be a perfect first day for her.
Right now where she stood, she didn't mind if Liam stayed until they left after New Year’s. He seemed nice, friendly, and he was handsome and for the first time in her life, when she and her sister were together, she’d gotten noticed too.
Adria knew it was ridiculous to be acting like a twenty-year-old, like she’d dated no one when she had. But coming to Seneca Falls brought back all those memories of secretly crushing on Devin.
If she thought hard enough, she could still envision the way he would look at Becca, much like he did now as a man in his forties.
Adria hated herself for being petty and focusing on all the negative stuff, she couldn’t sleep and headed to the kitchen for a snack. Her voice was soothing as Devin’s two dogs came out of nowhere to follow her. “We have to be quiet, girls. I’ll give you a treat when you go potty. She flung the back door open again, then remembered the snow. “Mercy me!” The snow was now four feet high.
The dogs had ridiculous looks on their faces as if she was crazy for thinking they were going out there. “I know, right, you’d get lost. Hold on.” She grabbed her sneakers and started shoveling snow from the back patio door out a few feet.
It was hard work and took her a good half hour, but after all that huffing and puffing, the dogs had an easy spot to go potty in the grass that was getting covered as they went. “Come on, let’s get back inside.”
The dogs hurried inside and each took a couch in the living room to get cozy after their treats, a silly look on each of their faces. Adria smiled. “Get some sleep, girls.”
While she grabbed a snack, she thought about the snow. The last time they had recorded extremely high snow in Seneca Falls, Michigan in one snowstorm was when she and Becca were twelve.
She made another sandwich for herself, feeling it go to her hips right after the first bite when she heard a scratching noise. “What in the world?” It was coming from the solarium off of the back of the house.
Quietly, she tiptoed across the kitchen to the door and peeked inside. Seeing and hearing nothing, she stepped inside and shut the door to listen again. The sound came again but this time louder. She seemed to be on the right track, so she started walking, very alert now. Over and over she heard this scratching noise until she reached the other end of the solarium and stopped suddenly. “What is that noise? Wait, why did it stop?”
Adria glanced around, finding nothing out of place since most of the solarium was empty, but a few stacks of boxes in one corner. As she glanced that way, she saw it, the swooshing of a furry creature's tail. “There you are, little guy!”
Slowly she stepped closer, unsure how she was going to handle things since you weren’t supposed to just pick up a wild animal and deal with him because of the potential for disease. “You just stay right where you are, momma’s gonna get you to a safe spot.”
She knew she had no idea what she was talking about, but since it soothed her, Adria figured it would soothe the animal. Just as she was a few feet from grabbing it, the creature sat up on the box and turned around as if it had been hunting around for something.
The adorable squirrel shoved something in its mouth that looked like cereal and then dove headlong at the wall. Quickly but cautiously, Adria moved to get a closer look and found something shocking.
A giant hole the size of two basketballs in the wall was the squirrel's escape route. She looked at the floor below and a box of cereal was open with cereal scattered everywhere. “Aw, you're just hungry and cold, that’s why you came in here.”
She looked again at the hole and covered her mouth so she wouldn’t scream, but did anyway. Her hand just muffled it so the other sleepers wouldn’t wake up. “Oh my goodness!” Five tiny squirrel faces appeared in the open hole watching her, all chewing on the cereal.
It took all of two seconds for her to register this. She should leave them alone for now and maybe Devin or Liam could deal with them in the morning. Slowly, she backed up the same way she’d come and kept going. “It's okay, guys, you just enjoy that snack. I’m going to have mine now.”
Adria then closed the door to the solarium.
* * *
Devin wasn’t sleeping either, but for a different reason. He was listening for sounds in the house, to see what Liam was up to. With the sound of a door closing loudly, he crept downstairs, rounded the corner prepared to do what he must when he found Liam and ran smack into Adria. “Whoops!” He grabbed her arms gently but firmly and held her so she wouldn’t fall while ignoring that excited sensation he felt being near her. “Are you okay?”
She smiled. “Yes! Thanks. I just had the worst scare of my life in the solarium.”
“What?” Devin let her go and headed for the solarium thinking that was where the evidence of Liam’s true self was hidden.I’d forgotten to check in there.
Flinging the door open he stormed inside to find an almost empty solarium except for a few boxes. Adria bumped into him again, sending a delightful shockwave of excitement through his body. “What is it? I see nothing.” He glanced sideways to confirm.
“Over there.” Adria pointed to the boxes.
Devin didn't have to be told twice. Like the stormtroopers he liked to watch as a kid, he made his way to the boxes and looked around. “Wow. Well, I have to say that’s the first time I’ve seen squirrels make a hole that big. And apparently they like cereal.” Devin laughed, relieved and annoyed at the same time. “I was kind of hoping to find some evidence of mischief or mayhem, so I could have an excuse to convince you both to throw Liam out in the cold.”
Adria’s eyes were as big as saucers. “Devin, come on, I need to show you something else.” He was forced to follow as Adria took his hand and pulled him back to the kitchen. They stood in front of the back door. “Brace yourself.”
