Page 51 of Snowed In on Valentine's Day

“He just moved in a few weeks ago.”

Now her eyebrows were halfway up her forehead. “He? I thought you saidthey.”

“Oh, huh,” I said casually. “Well, yes,hemoved in a few weeks ago. He has a cat, so it’s technicallythey.”

She took a bite of the sandwich and eyed me as she chewed slowly.

“It’s not a big deal. It was nice to have a place to shelter, that’s all.”

Nora smirked. “You’re not a good liar.”

I winced. “Dammit.”

“Out with it, then.”

“OK, yes, I have a new neighbor, but he’s rude and condescending, and we don’t like each other. But he let me stay, so I’m grateful for that.”

A knowing smile graced her face. “Is he handsome?”

I laughed. “Like that matters. His generator worked great, and he helped me out. End of story.”

“He’s a looker then,” she said before taking a sip of water.

Sighing, I stuffed a forkful of shrimp and rice into my mouth. “We don’t get along though, Nora. We have nothing in common. He doesn’t like me any more than I like him.” I mean, none of it was fully true. We’d gotten along more than I expected. I wasn’t about to admit that aloud though.

She nodded. “And yet you’re attracted to him.”

My mouth fell open. “I didn’t say—”

“You didn’t have to, dear.”

“But I’m not—”

She rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “He’s attractive, yes. And we had a little … moment. But wereallydon’t like each other, so nothing further is going to happen.” I looked at Nora’s face, and surprisingly, she looked a bit sad. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, as if she didn’t realize she was showing any emotion. “Just want you to be happy, Hazel. I know you said a while back you’re taking a break from dating.” She waited until I nodded. “Maybe that’s for the best. But maybe … I mean, all I’m saying is that we shouldn’t let good opportunities pass us by.”

I laughed with a touch of bitterness. “Trust me, he’s not a good opportunity. He’s not any kind of opportunity. He’s moody, arrogant, rude … he’scomplicated. I don’t need complicated. Atleast not now. I have enough to figure out with my career and, well, what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

“You can just forget about that last thing. ‘The rest of your life’ doesn’t exist. You only have the present. Sure, you can plan for the future, but don’t feel like you have to figure everything out. You never will. And I should know.” She smiled at me, and her small hand with purple nail polish covered mine. “Trust me.”

I nodded. “That makes sense. Maybe I could take some pressure off.”

“For Pete’s sake, yes.”

I must have made a face because she gave me a questioning look.

“Sorry, it’s just … you said ‘Pete.’ And this guy’s name is Peter.”

Nora looked amused. “I knew a ‘Pete’ once. Sold furniture and was the most gregarious guy you’d ever meet. We used to play cards together ... so much fun. Gosh, that was decades ago.”

“That’s lovely. But it sounds like the opposite of the Peter I know,” I said dryly. “Especially the gregarious part.”

Nora took the last bite of her sandwich, and when finished, she set her napkin on the table and looked at me thoughtfully. “If your Pete is complicated and you don’t want complicated right now, then I think you have your answer.”

I smiled in relief. Yes, that’s what I wanted to hear. “Exactly. But he’s notmyPeter.”

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