Snow is coming down in waves as I hit the button to open the garage. I tell her to wait until the door is closed before she gets out, and she does. Maybe it’s overkill, but this whole plan would be for nothing if someone spotted her in my driveway.
“If there wasn’t a lot of warning, are we good to stay here if the weather gets as bad as they say?”
She’s looking around at my garage that’s relatively empty. There isn’t much sitting out, but I can’t help my grin as I go over to the wall of cabinets in the garage and open a set of doors.
“We’re good.”
“Jeez, were you a boy scout?” She says it almost to herself as she looks at the rows of stocked items.
“Actually, yeah I was.” I don’t know why, but I feel shy admitting that. I guess because it’s not cool or tough sounding. “I’m always prepared. I think it’s what makes me a good doctor.” It’s a reminder of how I know her, and I don’t miss the way she flinches at it. Deciding to go back to safer ground, I nod to the door that leads inside. “Let me show you to my room.”
“Your room?” Her eyes widen before I can think about how that sounds.
“I mean, it’s yours for however long you’re here. But technically it’s my room. Never mind, I’ll show you.” When we get into the house, I take her on a quick tour so she can see what I’m talking about. “So this place used to belong to my parents. My mom died when I was young, and then my dad passed away from cancer last year.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” she says, and it’s not just a platitude. I can see she really means it.
“Thanks, it’s been tough without him, but since he’s been gone, I’ve been slowly renovating rooms. Most of the house had to be gutted, but I didn’t mind living here while it was happening.”
“It’s really beautiful what you’ve done so far.” She runs her hand along the kitchen island and then looks across the great room.
“There’s really only one bedroom at the moment since I wasn’t in a hurry to finish the spare rooms. I thought the kitchen and my bedroom were the most important, and thankfully I finished the living room a week ago. Before this I had my laptop on a cardboard box and a folding chair.”
“That’s more than I have right now.” Kate is teasing, but then the words seem to sober her. “But I can’t take your room.”
“It’s fine. I’m happy to crash on the couch. It’s usually where I fall asleep anyway. I guess it took so long to finish it that I want to feel like I’m getting my money's worth.” She grins at my bad joke as I take her bag into the primary room and drop it on the bed. “The bathroom is through there, but in case power goes out, there’s an emergency light.”
“You thought of everything.”
“Boy scout,” I say and try not to think about her sleeping in my room. In my bed. The attraction I have to her is because I want to keep her safe. That’s all it is. It’s not because I want her. That would be wildly inappropriate because I’m her doctor.
Okay, maybe not technically. I looked her over once, but that doesn’t make her my patient. But it would be unethical. So is having her in your house, the voice in the back of my head conveniently reminds me. Either way, I probably feel this way about her because I know that deep down, I couldn’t save her mother, so now I’m trying to save her. It doesn’t take a psych degree to figure that out. The guilt of not being able to get to her mom in time eats at me, even though I know there’s nothing I could have done.
“Are you okay?” Kate’s voice brings me back to the present.
“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“You looked really sad all of a sudden.”
Not knowing what else to say, I look out the window at the rapidly falling snow. “We may lose power soon. Why don’t I cook us something hot to eat before then.”
Before she can answer, I hurry out of the room. I curse myself with every step because even though it was a bad idea to bring her here, I wouldn’t want her anywhere else.
CHAPTER
FIVE
KATE
What are you doing? I ask myself after putting on lip gloss. I stare at my reflection before I grab a piece of toilet paper and wipe it off. This isn’t a dinner date. It doesn’t matter that I get this weird flutter whenever Wynn is near. It’s wrong. Right?
He’s doing me a favor, and I can’t get a crush on him. Also, I still don’t know how he’s wrapped up with my father. That should be at the forefront of my mind, but I can’t fathom him being on the wrong side of this. I have to be missing something. I thought he’d mention more about knowing my father, but he hasn’t. Then again, he might be waiting for me to bring up the subject.
I want to open up to him, and honestly, it would be nice to say the words that have been trapped in my throat for so long. If I had spoken them when I was little, could I have saved my mother? She always wanted to keep everything hush-hush. In that way, I never felt super close to her. At least not in the same way I’ve seen others with their parents.
When I step out of the bedroom, the smell of garlic and tomatoes hits me. My mouth waters, and my stomach growls, reminding me it's been a while since I last ate.
"Can I help?" I ask.
