Page 44 of Blindly Yours

She hops up and down, full of energy. “I was just getting a book real quick. Promise.”

Nate smiles slightly. It’s odd seeing an expression other than a frown on his face. “Well, I’m home now. I’m going to get Miss Rose’s bags from my truck. Will you show her to the guest room?”

Kara nods and starts down the hallway. “Follow me this way, Miss Rose.”

Nate disappears out the front door, and I follow the eagernow seven-year-oldto my room.

“I picked out the quilt,” Kara says as we step in. “Dad says I have a good eye for interior decorating.”

I look at the pink and orange floral pattern and grin. It’s beyond gaudy, but it actually matches the bubblegum-pink curtains perfectly. “You did a great job. It’s very cheery in here.”

“Thanks. Pink is my favorite color.” She walks over to the window and straightens one of the drapes. “Dad’s favorite color is green, but he said pink is his second favorite.”

I open my mouth to respond, but she’s not taking a breath before moving on.

“This bed is kinda hard in my opinion, but Dad says it would be a waste to buy a new one. My bed’s more comfortable though. We bought a new one when I turned six. I had a sleepover last weekend. Jackie, Maddy, and I all fit in my bed, even though it is small. We pretended it was a ship and we were on the ocean. Dad let us have s’mores and we roasted them over the fireplace. Maddy and Jackie don’t have wood fireplaces, so they thought it was so cool.” She grants herself one short breath. “Do you have a wood fireplace? I think I would be sad if I didn’t have one. Do you live in Silver Creek? I have to ride the bus to Annandale for school. That’s where Maddy and Jackie live. There’s a Dairy Queen in Annandale. Sometimes Dad picks me up from school and we get ice cream before dinner. He usually says no sweets before dinner, but sometimes he breaks that rule. I told him I want to move to Annandale so we can go to Dairy Queen anytime we want, but he said this is our home and we’re staying in Silver Creek, cause that’s what mom—”

“Alright, Kara,” Nate comes around the corner. “Let’s let Miss Rose get settled in.” He sets my bags down and guides her from the room. When he turns back to me, he nods with a thin line of his mouth. “I’m making baked chicken for dinner. It’ll be ready in about a half hour. We’ll let you get settled. The bathroom’s the first door on the left.”

I sit down on the bed and pull my phone out of my pocket. “Thanks…oh, what’s the wifi password?”

He shakes his head. “Internet’s out with the storm too. We’re lucky to have power. There’s a landline in the kitchen though, if you want to let someone know you’re safe.”

I hang my head with a sigh. “Alright, thanks.”

He nods and leaves, shutting the door behind him while I stare at my bags for a long moment, coming to terms with this odd reality. I wipe my hand down my face. This was not how I planned to spend my Friday night. I had a takeout order already scheduled at my favorite tapas bar downtown St. Cloud. I was going to get a bottle of wine and settle in for some trash TV in my hotel room. But instead, here I am, about to have dinner with my building’s backup repairman and his chatty seven-year-old.

I check my phone again, hoping in vain that service has been miraculously restored. BigSpoon and I planned to talk more tonight, and I wonder if he’s going to think I’m blowing him off. Over the last week, chatting with him before bed has grown sort of comforting. It’s already a habit I’m missing.

I pull up our messages from earlier this evening and re-read them like a hopeless romantic. Maybe he lost service too and he’s worried about me. Or maybe he’s just fine and not concerned about me at all. You know, like a normal human being.

Once I pull myself together, I use the bathroom and then make my way to the kitchen. Nate is pulling the chicken out of the oven and Kara is setting the table. They both look up at me.

“The phone’s there if you need to make any calls.” Nate points to a phone on the wall. It looks like the one my family had in our condo twenty years ago. It doesn’t have a cord, but it’s probably the first ever model that didn’t.

“Thanks,” I reply as I take the handset off its cradle and walk back into the living room.

I dial Junie’s number first. She picks up with a tentative, “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Rose. I have no cell signal, so I’m calling from a landline. I got stranded in the snow on my way to St. Cloud.”

“Oh no! Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Remember the guy who came to fix my ceiling at work?”

“Yeah…the hunk?”

I roll my eyes. “Turns out he lives out here in the middle of nowhere. He happened to drive by. He offered to let me stay at his place tonight.”

“Well, then…” There’s a teasing lean to her voice.

“I’m in the guest room, Junie.” I sigh, staring out the back window at an expansive yard covered in fresh snow. There’s a small white structure toward the back corner. It looks like a miniature shed.

“Well, I’m glad he was there,” she says.

I hear silverware clanking in the kitchen. “I’ve gotta go, dinner’s ready.”

“He made you dinner?”

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