“I see… anything especially interesting to report?”
The blister I’ve gotten on my left heel probably doesn’t count. “Not really.”
“Oh.” She seems strangely disappointed. “Well, okay. So, I thought for dinner we’d go to this great little place. It’s kind of out of the way, but?—”
“Zoe,” I groan, collapsing on the couch.
“No, listen, it’s fantastic. It’s communal dining, so you get to chat with the people near you and?—”
“Zo, I’m exhausted. I don’t want to go out again.” I look up at her imploringly.
She considers for a long moment. “Okay, fine. I guess you do deserve the night off. You want to order some Thai?”
“That sounds perfect.”
“I’ll go grab the menu.” She goes into the kitchen.
“Oh, hey, and bring me one of those umbrella drinks, would you?” I call after her with a smile.
CHAPTER 15
GEORGE
I madeit home without losing any parts to frostbite (and, bonus, without encountering any wild animals larger than a squirrel).
I tooka shower to warm up. I brewedsome coffee withmy new French press.
Imade a few social media posts, which I know will make Anabel happy since she’s always after me to interact more with my fans.
Then Istopped for dinner because, after all, I have to eat. Iprepared one of the packages of mac & cheese, discovered it was almost inedible, then guiltily stole some kind of pesto fish from Owen’s freezer (it was magnificent).
And now… nowI’m well and truly out of excuses. It’s time to get to work.
I decide to work on the four-season porch, where I can position myself on the couch with my computer in my lap and stare out at absolutely nothing but the dark night. No distractions (well, except the ones in my head). But I’m going to sit, and I’m going to write, and I’m not going to move.
Okay, except it is awfully cold out on the four-season porch (in fact, I’m pretty sure that’s a misnomer—I’d say it’s good fortwo and a half seasons at best). Which, I suppose, is the reason there’s a wood-burning stove out here.
Right. So I’ll just start a fire, andthenI’ll work.
I bundle up and go outside to grab some firewood, then return to find the long matches, kindling, and newspaper in baskets by the stove. I set the wood and the kindling inside. While fire building isn’t something I normally do, Ihavewritten enough scenes in wintry Swiss chalets and isolated wilderness assignations to grasp the basic gist of the procedure.
Except… Well, I have a little bit of a hard time getting the fire going. But once I’ve got it going, it’sreallygoing. Not so much the flames, but the smoke. There’s lots of smoke. There’s lots and lots of smoke. I’m no expert, but it kind of seems like it might be a little too much smoke…
CHAPTER 16
OWEN
Zoe is gettingready to head home when I happento glance at my phone and see a notification come in.
You have a new email [email protected](George Knight)
“African prince wantto give you $100 million? Don’t do it, it’s a scam.”
“Huh?” I look up to find Zoe watching me with amusement.
“You look deeply confused over whatever you’re looking at on your phone.”
“Oh, no. Just hearing from someone I didn’t expect to.”
