“You’d be surprised,” I said, smiling back at her.
I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t for things to get quite as uncomfortable as they suddenly became. Chevonne’s focus went back to the fire, essentially ignoring my statement. I played it over in my head and realized it sounded kind of sleazy, especially in our unscheduled cozy situation.
“Would you like something to drink? Or eat?” I asked, hoping to change the mood.
Princess was faster to pay attention to my question than Chevonne. “I have steak,” I said, my mind racing to figure out what else the dog could eat if I ran out.
“Do you have tea?” Chevonne gazed at me as though she was afraid she’d asked me for something as rare as a diamond tiara.
“I do,” I said. “Orange pekoe, Earl Grey, chamomile …”
“Earl Grey would be wonderful, thank you,” she said with a smile. I’d do anything for that smile, I realized.
“I’m on it,” I said. “I just have to run out to the car to get my things. You’re lucky Princess showed up when she did. Another five minutes and I’d have been gone.”
Princess, who had approached the couch, stood beside Chevonne for a scratch behind the ear, and I could bizarrely imagine this kind of permanent domestic bliss. With her. And the dog. Even though we’d been reacquainted for less than an hour.
“Well,” I said when I realized I’d been staring, “I guess I should go.”
Chevonne turned her attention to Princess when I backed out of the room. I ran to the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove before I threw on my boots, no jacket, and sprinted out to the car.
The snow was seriously deep and drifting now, and darkness had almost completely fallen. It was all I could do to find the car in the shrouded outside light. Piling as many bags as I could on top of the cooler, I headed back to the house, planning to come back to get my suitcase. I was within sight of the door when the porch light went out.
CHAPTER 7
Chevonne
I may have screameda little when the lights went out. A moment later I heard the front door open again. Princess let out a low woof and trotted out to make sure it wasn’t an intruder.
“Are you okay?” Brevin called.
“I’m good,” I called back.
My brave St. Bernard came back in and Brevin wasn’t far behind. He stopped in the doorway on his way to the kitchen, carrying a cooler and some bags, looking far from upset about the power situation in the dim light of the fire. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about being holed up in Brevin’s home, alone with him, no electricity and no way to get out. But at least I wasn’t dying of hypothermia under a pine tree. I doubted tea and steaks were still on the menu. At least for us. Princess might have a feast, though.
It was with that thought still in my mind that I heard the distinct sound of a whistling kettle. A few minutes later, Brevinappeared at the side of the couch with a tray carrying two steaming mugs and a plate of Oreos.
“Gas stove,” he said by way of explanation as he placed the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch. There was a pot of sugar with a spoon and a small jug of milk on the tray with the mugs. “We won’t be cold or hungry, at least not until we run out of food.”
“And when will that be?” I asked.
“Three or four days. We should be out of here long before that.”
I nodded, uncomfortable at the realization there would be sleeping arrangements to figure out. Even if this cabin had multiple bedrooms, was there only one fireplace? I didn’t dare ask in case he thought I was hoping we’d sleep together. Tina’s voice echoed in my head that sleeping with Brevin was the last thing I wanted, but was it? Between how I’d felt about him in high school and the way he was taking care of me now …
Better not to make any life-altering decisions in the midst of a brain fog.
Brevin sat beside me and asked, “Would you like me to take the teabag out? It’s been in there for about two minutes now.” As he asked, he took the teabag out of one of the mugs.
“Yes, please. And I take it black, no sugar.”
“Me too.” He handed me a mug and picked up his own and held it aloft. “Cheers,” he said, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment before he took a sip.
I did too and felt the hot liquid go all the way down.
“Are you warming up?” he asked.
