Page 68 of Gideon's Gratitude

“Thank you.” Relief, pure and simple, spread across his face. The furrow in his brow disappeared, and a small smile crossed his lips. A smile I didn’t see nearly often enough.

Lucky stuck his nose over the console, straining his harness.

I cut the engine. I silently offered to carry the cookies and rolls.

Gideon handed them over, seemingly surprised to have them.

We yanked our hoods up and exited the SUV into the downpour. I sprinted to house while Gideon unhooked Lucky from the tether and then gestured.

Lucky detoured to the woods.

By the time we were inside, the dog flew in behind us.

Gideon shut the door. “I hope the wind doesn’t pick up.”

What did the meteorologist say?“The winds are supposed to increase, and the storm will reach its peak in the middle of the night.”

“I hope the power doesn’t go off.”

“We’ve survived it before.”

“Yes, but I haven’t filled the generator back up.”

“Ah, well then we shall hope for no outages.” I sniffed. “I hope the ribs aren’t burning.”

My companion moved swiftly to the kitchen with me hard on his heels.

A delicious aroma filled the air. The barbeque sauce was unmistakable and, to my infinite relief, no smell of burning lingered.

As Gideon raised the lid, the strength of the smell intensified.

“Perfect.” I grabbed some plates while Gideon washed a tomato and sliced it. I put the rolls on a plate, snagged the container of butter, and moved them to the table. We worked together in silence, anticipating each other’s movements and never touching, even in the small galley kitchen.

Comfortable. We were comfortable.

After settling at the table, we dug into our food.

I licked my fingers. “Okay, not going to lie, these are amazing.”

“You seem surprised.” Gideon wiped his fingers on a napkin.

“Well, considering how often I cook? Yes, I am surprised. Like I said, though, the instructions were perfect.”

We consumed more food, and as the rain hit the roof, an odd sense of calm settled over me. I didn’t want to spend too much time analyzing it. I just wanted to bask in it a little bit longer.

“Did you want to watch a movie? Or television? I don’t get many stations…”

“I think we should call it a night.” I wasn’t overly tired, but Gideon appeared completely worn down. The sallowness in his skin was back, and his eyelids were puffy.

“Yeah, probably. We need to discuss sleeping arrangements.”

“The couch is perfectly fine.”

He snorted. “Uh, that couch is five inches too short.”

“I’ll bend my legs.”

An arched brow. “You take the bed.”

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