“Wow,” he said, nodding again and feeling kind of like one of those bobblehead dogs the kids always wanted for the car.
“Anyway,” she said. “I’m sorry to bother you. I just drove down from New York and I think I’m kind of out of it. I should have just called the power company instead of running over here.”
“No way,” he said quickly. “This is what neighbors are for. Why don’t you come on in and warm up? We can figure out what to do together.”
She blinked at him.
“Unless you don’t want to?” he said, lifting his hands. “No pressure.”
“I’d love to,” she said firmly.
But it was hard not to notice her nervous look.
She’s thinking about how stupid I was back then. She doesn’t want anything to do with me, and I don’t blame her.
“There aren’t any more, um, dogs inside, are there?” she asked.
“No,” he laughed, feeling relieved that it wasn’t him she was worried about. “There are no more dogs, at least not in the house. Come on.”
It was the most natural thing in the world to offer her his hand, and he had extended it to her before he realized it was happening.
What are you doing? You’re going to scare her off…
But she snatched it before he had a chance to take it back. It felt so good to have her hand back in his that he was almost breathless as he led her across the snowy meadow to the house.
“Who’s that?” Mae yelled from the front porch.
The six-year-old stood on the porch floor in her socks, though it was covered in a thin layer of snow. Her two ponytails were uneven and there was a generous amount of red sauce on her sweater and her right cheek, but to Ransom she was perfect, with her bright smile and her nice, loud voice.
“This is Hailey,” he told her. “She’s our new neighbor.”
But Mae only frowned at Hailey for some reason.
Travis scampered out in his socks too before Ransom could stop him.
“I know who you are,” Travis yelled. “You’re Jessica Sugar Bomb.”
“Yesssss!”Mae squealed, her frown disappearing and her eyes lighting up. “An explosion of sweetness!’
Ransom winced. He knew Hailey had been hoping to be a serious actress. It was bad enough that she’d spentbasically her whole career on a soap opera. That cereal commercial was probably the last thing she wanted to have quoted at her.
But when he turned to apologize, she was smiling up at the kids.
“Welcome to the Sweet Zone,”she announced in Jessica Sugar Bomb’s commanding voice, letting go of Ransom’s hand to throw her arms wide, just like she did on TV.
Mae clapped her hands, her feet jogging in place as if she could hardly stand still.
“What are you doing here?” Travis asked Hailey, grinning at her.
“Well, I play Jessica Sugar Bomb on TV,” Hailey explained. “But in real life I just bought the farm next door, and the power went out. My name is Hailey.”
“I’m Travis,” his son said in a friendly way. “I’m seven. And that’s Mae, she’s six.”
“You’re not the real Jessica Sugar Bomb?” Mae said sadly.
“Jessica Sugar Bomb ismade up,” Travis explained.
“She has awesome sugar powers,” Mae said softly.
