“You can sit next to me,” said a soft voice at his side.
Ty looked down. Bea was looking up at him with earnest eyes as she slid her hand inside of his.
“Sure,” he said, again feeling somewhat afloat in his interactions with her, as he’d not had much experience with kids.
“Thank you for helping bring Cinders to me,” she said. “Cinders says thank you, too.”
She gave his hand a tug, then let go, peeled off her coat and slid off her boots, holding onto his arm at one point to retain her balance, like he was a person she knew, rather than someone she’d just met.
It was an act of trust, a small one, but his rush of gladness at being so trusted could not be stopped. So he didn’t.
“Take your coat off, young fellow,” said Bill, waving Ty over. “Take a load off.”
Ty thought to offer his help with the meal, but everybody was already sitting down, and the lasagna looked very good, and hot, and was all around tempting him to forget his manners. He ducked his head in thanks and sat across from Bill, with Bea taking the place at his side.
Clay sat next to Bill and Austin was on the other side, and for a moment, Ty let himself pretend that this was a little family that he belonged to. But that was nonsense, so he made himself turn his mind away and concentrated on the food in front of him.
The conversation focused on the food, passing the salt, asking for the salad dressing, and Ty let it swirl around him as he ate the lasagna and the garlic bread, and filled the corners of his stomach with salad. As he wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, which was really just a paper towel, he felt Bill looking at him.
“You’re staying with us tonight, I think, Ty,” said Bill.
“Do you have room?” Ty asked.
“It’s a resort, son,” said Bill with a laugh, low in his belly. “We have tons of room in this very lodge, but I think we’ll put youup in Leland and Jamie’s cabin, seeing as they’re in Chugwater and won’t mind very much.”
“Thank you,” said Ty. “I’ll call someone in the morning to haul my rig out of the ditch and be on my way.”
“On Christmas morning?” asked Clay, frowning. “Only emergency services will be on duty tomorrow. It’s fine if you stay a few days, ‘cause like Bill says, we have plenty of room.”
“Unless you need to be somewhere?” asked Austin.
Ty looked at the people around the table, who were looking at him with some concern in their eyes, as if they were worried he might simply tramp out into the snow and get himself lost along the way back to his rig.
He had no place to go. Seriously, no place. Other than turning in his rig, asap, and handing in his apartment keys at the end of the month, he had nowhere to be and no one to talk to.
But he couldn’t bother these nice people with his problems, so he simply shook his head and folded his paper napkin to lay it on his now-empty plate.
“Nope,” he said, doing his best to make his voice easy. “Nowhere to be.”
“Good,” said Bill. “It’s settled then. You’ll spend Christmas Eve with us.”
Beside Ty, Bea wriggled in her seat and then jumped up, grabbing Austin and making him stand up with her.
“It’s time for presents,” she said, her voice excited and high. “You promised presents, Dad!”
“One present is what I said,” he told her, looking down at her, his eyes dark and fond. “The rest in the morning. And besides, you already got your biggest present.”
Bea smiled up at Austin as he cupped the back of her small head, gently, letting the touch stay, the way a father would who loved his child.
“Let’s leave the dishes till morning,” said Bill, pulling on hisdown coat. “Then we can light the fire in the fire pit in the barn, drink rum and eggnog, and wait for midnight.”
“That’s when animals can talk,” Bea told Ty, her eyes serious.
“We’ll do the dishesnow,” said Austin. “Or rather I’ll do them, so we don’t attract any mice. You all go on, but save me some eggnog.”
As Bea was tugging on Bill’s hand, urging him to go, the rest of them pulled on coats and scarves and, in a huddle, they stepped out of the dining hall and into the cold air. A wind was blowing and the air was thin, and as they walked along, Bill sniffed the air.
“The blizzard’s just about over,” he said.
