“It happens.” I hand him a mug of coffee. “Won’t be going anywhere much, but it will melt before anyone gets stir crazy.”
“How do you still have power?” Caleb asks, walking in with Nix and his own coffee. Nix gives us all a good morning hug, and declares it is her day to make breakfast.
“There is a generator, but we haven’t had to use it yet. Power’s holding. I know it looks like a lot, but we will be fine. We have more than enough supplies to weather this. Plus, in a few days you will be skiing in short sleeves.”
Caleb looks skeptical. Cas looks like a lion locked in a cage.
I’m suddenly confronted with the fact that we are all here together today. In my house. Cas and I will be alone if Caleb and Nix go back to the pool house. Despite sharing a living space, we have kept busy with things that don’t involve spending a lot of alone time together.
Suddenly I regret getting Jordy up before the storm.
“The gym is pretty well outfitted,” I offer. “There’s a treadmill, since you all have been running every morning.” Although I have already offered the use of anything in my house, I do it again. “Please, feel free to use it as needed.”
I down the last of my coffee and slip my gloves on.
“Where are you going?” Nix asks.
“Just going to check on Matt and Theo. Matt says everything is good there, but I want to check in.”
What I really need to do is get some space. If I am going to be this close to Cas all day, I need some buffers.
“Might take you up on that treadmill, then,” Cas says, stretching and I avert my eyes when his shirt rides up only to meet a curious gaze from Nix. She and Caleb have been overdue for some alone time and no one has begrudged them the opportunity. Least of all me. She knew Cas and I back when we were together, and I can’t imagine what she thinks of our long-distance “friendship” over the years. A friendship with no meet-ups, or even a birthday text or Christmas card.
So, I bail, quickly. I grab a snowmobile and head over to Matt’s A-frame cabin.
Theo greets me at the door, and my stomach rumbles at what I smell in the kitchen. Nix was making breakfast when I left, and while that smelled good, it didn’t smellMatt and Theo in the kitchen togethergood.
“Right on time,” Matt says with a smile when I finally get out of all my snow gear.
“What are you making?”
“Full English Breakfast,” Theo explains as he loads me up a plate. “We were going to watch some James Bond, so it’s a theme.”
“We may have stayed up last night and tried out a few new things in the kitchen, so you have plenty to take back and share with your houseguests. It’s all packed up.” Matt says, swiping a drink from Theo’s cup. He’s quickly forgiven with a kiss.
“Speaking of,” Theo jumps in, taking a seat next to me, and gently shooing Mulder, his cat, out of the way, “how are your houseguests?”
Matt holds up a mug. “Coffee? It’s very Irish, just so you know.”
I nod. “Coffee.”
“Ohh,” Theo breathes. “Is that a snow day choice or a I’m-hiding-at-your-place-because-of-the-people-at-my-house choice?”
“I’m not hiding.” Just so Theo doesn’t try to read my face while I say that, I reach down and grab Mulder, and plop her on my lap.
“So, you just need a break from your best friend of years that you never see?”
“Leave him alone, Theo,” Matt says from the kitchen. “Baylor can handle Cas.” Theo gives a little humpf in response and looks skeptical but says no more.
Matt takes a seat with us, and he was right, the drink is more Irish than coffee.
I stay long enough to share breakfast and a few laughs, but just like I thought, Matt has things under control. If it was just Matt out here he would have things under control but be infuriatingly unconcerned about it. But, when it comes to things that might endanger Theo, Matt is as serious as he is about the dishes he makes as the chef at Summit House. I never thought I would see something that could capture the same level of intense focus that Matt has for food, but Theo does.
“Check your generator?” I ask as I pull my snow gear back on and Matt gives me a long look with a pursed lip for asking.
“I did, big bro. Also checked everything else, water, food, lube, gas in the vehicles. Promise we are well stocked, and I have a snowmobile in the shed, just like you.”
“I still have plenty of room, if anything happens.”
