Mo.
Was he still here? Had he left when the sun came up?
She used her phone flashlight to see as she brushed her teeth, dressed, put her hair up in a messy bun, and slapped on some mascara and lip gloss. Mostly au naturel was the name of the game today.
She took several deep breaths and walked out of her room.
Meredith sat on the sofa beside Mo. Her hair stuck out in a million directions, she still had her pajamas on, and she was sipping coffee with her eyes closed. “Morning,” she mumbled. “When didI get too old to pull an all-nighter?” She spoke without opening her eyes. “I think my eyelids are broken.”
Mo closed his eyes. “Do you need me to drive you home?”
“You’re going to have to. I don’t have a car.”
“You don’t?”
“No. Landry took it last night.”
“How were you planning to get to work this morning?”
Meredith yawned. “Landry was going to drive it in on her way to work, but Cal texted and said he’s driving her in today and he’s going to hang out with her. We’re supposed to make sure Bronwyn makes it to Landry’s studio safely, then you can take me home.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Meredith dropped her head to Mo’s shoulder. “Wake me up when it’s time to go.”
He shoved her off of him. “Go get ready. Bronwyn’s ready. You’re the holdup here.”
She grumbled unintelligibly as she staggered to her feet. But she held out her coffee cup in a toast. “Thank you for the coffee.”
He reached for the cup as he got off the couch. “I’ll pour you some more. You’re going to need it.”
He made the barest hint of eye contact with Bronwyn, but she was sure she saw a smile before he escaped to the kitchen.
“Is it ridiculous that I’m already dreaming about going to bed tonight?” Meredith asked as she walked past Bronwyn. “You know what, I don’t even care. My bed is calling me, and I must go.” She paused in the hallway and turned back. “Are you really ready to go?”
“I’m as ready as I can be with no power.” She turned to the kitchen. “Wait. How did he make coffee? We still don’t have power.”
Before she could say more, a cup of coffee was placed in her hand. The coffee was the exact shade of brown she preferred.
Meredith made grabby hands as Mo handed her a fresh cup as well. “Mo can do anything when he sets his mind to it.”
Bronwyn took a sip. The coffee was piping hot. Lightly sweetened. How?
“Mo,” Mo said, “had the good sense to have the room service staff bring him several carafes of coffee as soon as they had generator power in the kitchen.”
“Like I said.” Meredith yawned so big it almost split her face. “You can do anything. Give me five minutes.”
Mo went to the sofa and packed his computer. Bronwyn had no idea how long she stood there, staring at him. When she realized what she was doing, she followed Meredith down the hall. But instead of going to her room, she escaped into her office. Once she was in there, she took a seat at her desk and sipped her coffee. The sun was coming up, and she could see around her office a little bit.
Enough to see that something had changed.
There, across from her desk, on the magnetic Chinese checkers board she looked at every single day, someone had moved a blue marble.
No. Not someone.
Mo.
She stood and walked to the board. Her free hand hovered over the red. Should she do it?
