Page 29 of Snowed In on Valentine's Day

I frowned. We’d just prepared dinner side by side, and now he was worried about sitting too close?

“I have heart arrhythmia and hypertension.”

My eyes flared wide at his sudden admission. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry to hear that. Is it genetic, or does it have a more specific cause?” I looked at him as I chewed a large piece of broccoli. “It should go without saying at this point that you can choose to ignore any of my overly personal questions, by the way,” I added in a self-deprecating tone.

“Both. It’s caused by or worsened by stress. And there’s a family history of stroke.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that. Is it a distant relation like a grandparent, or—”

“My father and his father.”

I nearly choked on a diced carrot and grabbed a glass of water to sip. “Wow, that’s intense. I’m sure that’s hard for you.”

He nodded. “I have had to make a lot of changes.”

I eyed him curiously, searching for some emotion, but he was focused on his food. After several minutes of silence, I decided to go for broke and ask yet another question. “Does your recent move from Chicago have anything to do with this? The heart condition, that is.”

He nodded simply and sipped some water. “Doctors said the stress of running a large company was going to kill me.” He shook his head. “Ultimately my blood pressure readings for months in a row ended up being the deciding factor.”

I listened with my eyes wide and focused on him as he opened up to me. I couldn’t believe he was confiding all this, butit left a warm pang of something in my chest. “And Terry, he convinced you to move here?”

“Yes. For an easier pace of life.” He sighed.

I studied his posture. He was uncomfortable, for sure. “You don’t like it though.”

His eyes swung over to me warily. “That’s irrelevant.”

“It’s not irrelevant. Happiness is important. And you’re clearly unhappy with your life change.” I paused. “Were you happy before then?”

His hand paused in its path from his plate to his mouth, and then he set down his fork. “I suppose I thought so.”

“Interesting.”

“Is it?”

How could I explain that this version of him was a million times better than my prior one-dimensional view of him? “It’s just, well, you have so many layers. I didn’t know.”

He held eye contact for a second and then looked back to his plate, which he pushed away. “It’s not complicated.”

“Oh.” My voice was quiet, as his harsh tone clearly declared this conversation over.

Just as it was starting to become intriguing. Ashewas becoming intriguing.

Probably better this way though. We were not even friends. We were only forced together temporarily by unfortunate chance.

I needed to remember that.

Chapter 9

“Sofia, this is Hazel,” I typed and then paused. “Hazel Tanaka-Katz. So sorry I missed our meeting today, but I’m stuck in a massive blizzard with no power. I’m using a friend’s phone.” I backspaced a few words. “A neighbor’s phone. I’ll call you when I’m back home with electricity.”

I closed the messaging app and handed the phone back to Peter, who sat nearby in the other chair by the window after checking the situation outside, finding nothing but a wall of snow at the window. “Thank you. Man, I feel so bad about not showing up to meet with Sofia. And not even telling her. I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask for your phone earlier, so I could’ve contacted her already. She probably thinks I’m really irresponsible now.”

He shook his head slightly. “Doubtful. If she’s in or near the Twin Cities, she’s in the same boat. They’re getting masses of snow too, as they often do.”

My eyes widened as my mind raced. “Oh, I didn’t even—of course, that would make sense.” My brows drew together then. “Well, now I’m worried abouther.”

He exhaled noisily. “I’ll let you know if and when she responds.”

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