Page 62 of The Christmas Tree Farm
Kira’s smile was involuntary, immediate, and wide.
Bennett returned it and that was the last thing she saw clearly before the power went out.
* * *
‘Shit.’ Kira’s voice was breathy, a hint of fear in it.
‘I’m guessing you don’t have a backup generator.’
He could see her scowling at him even in the dim lighting. It was late afternoon and between the storm and the early sunset, the room was nearly completely dark now that the lights had gone out.
‘Of course not, I don’t have a backup anything. I barely have an upfront anything.’
He huffed a laugh. ‘It’ll be fine. We have the fire. And all these blankets.’ He fluffed the pile of blankets between them. Kira looked at him, a highly skeptical look on her face.
‘We’ll starve.’
‘Kira, you have a gas stove.’
‘So…’
‘So, it will still work. And I don’t think you can starve in a twenty-four-hour period.’
‘Maybeyoucan’t.’
He laughed again. ‘How about a flashlight? Or candles.’
She perked up at that, her eyes big in the semi-darkness. ‘I have candles! Upstairs.’ She grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the couch. ‘Come with me, it’s scary up there in the dark.’
He followed her out of the cozy warmth of the living room and up the stairs to the second floor. The stairs groaned with every step. Kira still held tight to his hand as she led the way. He hated to think that if he hadn’t come back, she’d have been here by herself, scared. She’d obviously have been fine, but he hated it, anyway.
She led him down the hall to the last bedroom.
‘They should be in here somewhere.’
It was the only bedroom with furniture. A bed in the center, a dresser, two bedside tables. But the room didn’t feel lived-in.
‘You don’t have sheets on the bed,’ he observed as Kira rummaged through a dresser drawer for candles.
‘I don’t sleep in here. Too cold.’
‘Where do you sleep then?’
‘Living room. On the couch.’
‘The couch?’ He was trying very hard to swallow his thoughts on Kira sleeping on the couch, but it had been a long day. A day filled with unplanned confessions and rapidly shifting barometric pressure. And Bennett was tired of suppressing his natural instincts.
He liked Kira. A lot. Too much probably. But he did.
And he showed people he cared about them by taking care of them. It was just who he was, damn it. And just because Nicole had abused that side of him, didn’t mean he needed to get rid of it completely.
And just…
Sleeping on the couch?
Because she was cold?
In this fucking drafty old house by herself?
