I stay under the water longer than I should, because I want to help Kassie bring all the shopping in, and I can't do that if I'm still in the shower. So, I get out, dry off quickly, and walk overto where my bag is sitting. That’s when I realise that my clothes from yesterday are folded, and sitting on the end of my bed.
Shit, Kassie must have had to do some washing, and drying of her own today, and I added to her load, literally.
Quickly, I pull on some sweatpants, socks, t-shirt, and tonight a jumper, because I'm still slightly chilled.
I walk out the living room expecting to see Kassie busy putting the groceries away, but the house is quiet, and still empty. I look out the front windows to see my car is still missing, and the sky has gotten dark, with rain coming down much harder than it was when I came inside not long ago.
“Where are you Kassie?” I mutter at the window, just as I see some headlights coming up the driveway.
I slip on the rubber boots, and a raincoat at the front door, and march over to the car to help Kassie.
Without words, we each grab whatever bags we can carry, then walk back to the house. I drop mine on the front porch, and start to walk back to get the rest.
“You take them in from there, I’ll grab the rest out of the car.” I call out.
“We can do that together, Bennett.” She hollers back.
“No need for both of us to freeze.” I say easily with a wave of my hand. She shakes her head, but starts to ferry the bags inside from the porch.
Once I've got the last few, I shake myself off, take the boots off outside, hang the raincoat back on its hook, and walk inside, closing the door behind me, keeping all the cold out where it belongs.
“How many people are you planning on feeding, Kass?” I ask with a grin when I enter the kitchen to find her unpacking everything, and putting it all away. “You’ve got enough food here for an army!” She laughs, and it’s a sound I want to hear more often.
A sound I want to hear because I made her laugh.
“You think it’s only going to be my parents, and brother who arrive here in a day, or two, but it won't be, it never is.” She laughs again, and I smile with her.
“You make a valid point,” I say, agreeing with her, as we move around the kitchen, and each other, putting things away like we’ve been doing this dance for years.
Once it’s all away, I notice she rubs her hands up, and down her arms, and she shivers.
“Why don’t you go have a shower to warm up a bit, I’ll crank up the heater, then start dinner.”
“You don’t have to cook, Bennett.”
“You cooked last night, plus you were the hunter, and gatherer today. It’s the least I can do, Kass.”
“You made breakfast.”
“We’re not doing this.” I state, placing my hands on her shoulders, and gently steering her out of the kitchen.
“Not doing what?” she asks over her shoulder, trying to stop me from moving her out of the room.
“We’re not keeping score. You're cold, go have a shower to warm up, and put on some warmer clothes. Now please.”
“You were the one keeping score-” she starts, but I cut her off.
“Get. Go on.” I give her shoulders a gentle squeeze, then direct her to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. With a huff, she walks towards her room.
When she looks back, I'm still standing there watching her to make sure she doesn’t come back without me noticing.
I can sense her eyeroll from here, but she walks into her room, closing the door behind.
I let out a low chuckle, then get to work in the kitchen.
I notice that she left out two nice looking steaks, so I get to work chopping up some potatoes, and vegetables. I put the trayin the oven, then walk over to the thermostat to crank it up a little more.
I’ll wait to cook the steaks until Kassie’s back from her shower so that I can make sure they’re cooked to how we each like them.
