Page 90 of 5 Golden Flings

All were dark.

“The power is out,” she breathed.

He didn’t seem to have the same sense of panic that had heightened in her veins. “Probably a tree came down on the lines. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before now, actually.”

“We have to prepare.” She scrambled over to the fireplace, pulling back the screen to spread the forming coals and place a couple more pieces of split wood onto the flames.

“We will need to close off the extra rooms, pull the bedding down here, and make this room the warmest.”

She stood, counting the tasks off with her fingers. “Get the refrigerated stuff out into the ice. Set the water to drip so the pipes don’t freeze. Put down towels to keep the wind out from under the doors...”

“Question?”

She glanced over to see Colby with his hand raised. “Yes?”

“I thought you didn’t know how to build a fire?”

“I lied.” Maybe she shouldn’t have said it that way. “Actually, it’s the one thing I do know how to do. I just needed a chance to search the attic.”

The disappointment in his face struck her.

Should she tell him everything? Facing all of this alone was scary. It had been since the moment she’d known her father was dying. Was she making the right choice? It wasn’t the choice her father would have wanted, based on his own life.

The words from the ornament lady drifted back to her,Adventures are good for us. They take us in new directions. Down paths we might never have found.

“The rest I researched. We had a lot of bonfires in Oregon, but I’ve never had to deal with an ice storm, so I figured I should prepare for all contingencies. I researched what to do for an ice storm online.”

He took a slight step back. It shouldn’t have bothered her, but it did. “So you knew you were coming here in bad weather?”

She nodded. “I actually planned it that way. I could get here and search before anyone really learned I was here. Safer that way.”

He tilted his head to the side as if contemplating what she’d said. “I can’t blame you for that. It’s actually a very smart plan.”

“I just didn’t plan on you,” she said with a slight stretch of her lips.

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“What are you thinking?” she couldn’t help but ask. Somehow now that she’d told him everything, what he thought really mattered.

“I’m not sure yet.” He dug a hand through his auburn hair. “Do you know what your father was afraid of?”

“Not entirely.”

He cast a questioning glance her way, telling her that he didn’t quite believe what she was saying.

“All I know is that it had to do with girls going missing, and he thought I would be next.”

“Then I guess I still don’t understand why you would come back here.”

How could she make him understand a choice that most people wouldn’t make? “My father was a strong man. He had to be to be mother and father and keep this place going. But whatever he saw made him afraid, and that fear weakened him. He could never outrun it. If I find out who was doing this, I will make them pay for all he gave up. All he lost after already losing so much.”

Colby nodded, as if he were starting to understand. “I’m impressed. Most people would have stayed gone and never come home. I think I might be a little afraid of you.” He chuckled, finally looking at her fully. “Maybe I should be the one worried about being trapped in a house withyou.”

“I would never hurt you, Colby.”

“So no more lies?”

Could she promise that? She only thought for a second before saying, “No more lies.”

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