"I meant…for coffee. How do we boil the water?"
Billy stared at her for a moment, then stepped in and cupped her cheek. "I'll figure that out. In the meantime, maybe you should take a moment to let your thoughts settle?"
"Okay." She pushed up on tiptoes and kissed Billy's cheek. "I…I'm just not used to this I suppose."
"My nakedness?" Billy smiled.
Rosa swallowed. "Anyone's nakedness." Their eyes met and held, Billy's narrowing as she interpreted the meaning in those two words.
"Are you saying there's been nobody else since me?"
Rosa nodded.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting that…" Billy looked away. She'd had plenty of‘someones’over the years. "No one?"
"We should get some clothes on and bring more logs in, don't you think?" Rosa pulled her jumper lower. "It really is cold."
Billy watched as she turned on her heel and headed to the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
"No one?" Billy murmured to herself. She snapped herself out of her thoughts and went about pulling more clothes on. They needed some warmth back in this room.
By the time Billy made it back inside with her second basket of logs, Rosa was dressed and kneeling by the wood burner, stacking the first pile Billy had upended onto the hearth.
“There’s loads more out there, but I’m thinking… to bring in as much as we can now, saves us from having to go back out there later, in case the weather gets worse again.” She smiled down at Rosa before she eased the basket down and tipped out her current load.
“What’s it like out there?” Rosa asked, grabbing two more logs to add to her neat pile.
“Cold.” Billy grinned. Rosy cheeks poked out between her hat, she’d pulled as low over her face as possible, and the scarf wrapped around her chin. “Snow is about a foot and a half deep, and it’s still falling heavily, though the wind has dropped.”
"We don't have much kindling left." Rosa pointed to the nearly depleted stack of much smaller pieces of wood.
"I'll find some. Don't worry." Her eyes smiled above the scarf. "Get it burning, you're half frozen."
"I'm not the one going out there." Rosa ran a hand through her hair. "So, I'll get it started so you can warm up when you're done."
Billy grabbed the basket. "Not going to get an argument from me."
She was halfway to the door when she heard Rosa say, "Billy?" She turned and found Rosa facing her. "Thank you."
"No problem. Get that fire burning and then we can set about working out how to boil some water on it."
When Billy was gone, Rosa sat back on her heels and breathed out.Maybe this was all just a dream,she thought. She was going to wake up in a moment, in a panic because she'd missed her alarm, Roger in a tizz about something she'd forgotten to get done in time, and Imogen late for school. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Stop overthinking," she whispered, and reached for another log.
Chapter twenty-four
Rosa had the fire roaring by the time Billy got the fifth basket of logs inside. It took Rosa's insistence to stop her from heading back out again.
"You're covered in snow and you look like a Yeti. Anymore, and I'll lose you out there," Rosa said sternly as she pulled Billy's glove from her hand. "You're frozen." She went to work, stripping each item of clothing from Billy's frame. Billy stood still, letting her.
"You do know I'm not Imogen, right?" Billy laughed, grasping Rosa's hands as they began to lift Billy's sweater.
"What? Of course I know that." Rosa frowned and pressed her lips together. "I'm mothering you, aren't I?"
"A bit…and I'm not against it. I just want to make sure it's coming from the right place."
"Your hands are freezing. I just wanted to…take care of you."
"Because you love me, or because it's what you're used to doing?" Billy asked gently. "Because I'm capable of looking aftermyself, but I'm happy to let you love me if this is your love language now."
