Chapter fourteen
Daphne
It’sbeenaweek—onegloriousweek without Gerald.
Sure, I’m barely able to pay my bills, and I don’t really have a place of my own yet…but I’m doing it. I’m living life for me.
And it’s all thanks to the goofy, handsome yeti who gave me a room to crash in and a job to help me get back on my feet. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without him. Probably froze to death on the streets with my twisted ankle. A visual of Jack Torrance at the end ofThe Shiningmovie pops into my head, but I shake it away quickly. I switch my focus to tidying up the cup full of ballpoint pens on my desk.
The front lobby door spins on its axis and in walks a human man in a hard hat and safety vest, carrying a clipboard.
“I take it you’re not checking in for a ski vacation?” I cock my head.
“No ma’am, I’m looking for an Andri Nordin?” He reads the snowman’s name off his sheet. “I’m with the cable company here for an install.”
“Oh! I didn’t know that was happening. I’m sure the guests will love cable.” I point behind him, to the very well-worn VHS lending library. “I mean, I’ve watchedPride and Prejudiceso many times that the sound is getting wonky.” I laugh.
The workman, all business, doesn’t even crack a smirk.
“No ma’am, I’m here to hopefully install the internet.”
“Oh really?” I can’t contain the excitement in my voice. I’ve been hoofing it to the cafe and using my phone to try to sign up for an online college. While Hallow’s Cove has its charms, the lack of cell service and internet can make remote higher education a real pain in the ass.
“Yes, now can you please help me find Mr. Nordin?” He taps his snow-wet boot impatiently on the tile floor.
“Ugh, he’s normally kind of just around?” I’m zero help. But to be fair, he is always usually pretty close by. Hovering makes it sound more nefarious than I think it is, but he always seems to be within arm’s reach. “I mean, actually, I haven’t seen him all morning.” Which is strange.
“Well can’t you call him—” The worker immediately looks annoyed. “Of course you can’t, I forgot where I was.”
I’m not the only one inconvenienced by the lack of service in this picturesque little town. I’m about to ask him to just please have a seat so that I can go find him, when the snowman himself strolls into the lobby. He’s got a few white bags in his arms, and he smiles wide when he sees me and the vested man.
“Perfect timing!” Andri puts the bags on my desk and turns to the man, shaking his hand. The cable guy’s eyes go wide as he takes in his hulking form. It’s very obvious this guy doesn’t frequent monster haunts because he is visibly taken aback by Andri.
“First time in the old HC?” He pats the man on the biceps and sends a jolt through his body.
“Yeah,” the man says dryly.
“You get used to it pretty quick, no stress, man. What do you need from me to get this Wi-Fi train rolling?” He smiles that smile that hides his fangs, the one that keeps people at ease.
“Um, I just need to see where the telephone landline comes in. It might take me a few days to get you up and running though—I’ve heard nightmares from another tech about some kind of weird energy that makes tech go haywire here.” The cable guy seems to have gotten his bearings back.
“Perfect, give me just a sec to drop this stuff off and I’ll lead the way,” he says as he turns back to me.
He reaches his blue hand into the largest bag and pulls out a sleek white box and puts it in front of me. The fruit logo embossed in silver on the box stares back up at me.
“Is this a laptop?” I ask.
“Not just any laptop, it’s yours.” Andri grins wider for me.
“For me? What? Andri….”
“I’m updating things around here, and since I know you’re trying to get back to your studies, I figured you might find something like this useful.”
“This is too much, you’re already helping me so much, I can’t accept—”
“It’s a tax write-off, you’re really doing me a favor.” He pushes it closer to me. “And don’t worry, I got the extended warranty—so even if you dump a whole pot of coffee on it, it’ll be cheap to fix.” The yeti winks.
I laugh, because I can very much see myself doing that, but then I have to bite my lip. Something about the fact that he got me a gift, one that he knows I need, and he’s even Daphne-proofed it so I won’t be able to easily destroy it with my klutziness is so fucking heartwarming I’m on the verge of tears.
