Page 65 of Lucky in Love
“Hey.” Brody had his back to her, and she gave him a shove. “You know how to start a fire?”
“Good morning to you too,” he said, rolling over to face her. His hair was sticking everywhere, but he still looked better than anyone had a right to.
“Please don’t tell me you’re a morning person.”
“Not really. But waking up to a pretty girl always makes for a good start to the day.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. “You’re sweet, but it’s freezing. You start the fire, and I’ll start the teakettle. On three?”
“Okay,” he grumbled.
As soon as she got out from under the blankets, icy air engulfed her. She wrapped herself in a fleece throw and ran to the kitchen.
Daisy was out of her house and wandering around her little chair prison.
“You need to go out?” Alex asked. There was no way the duck was waiting to poop outside, but she seemed restless for something.
Alex put on a coat and opened the door, intending to let her out for a minute.
“Holy crap,” she mumbled. Brody came up behind her.
“That’s a lot of snow,” he said, looking over her shoulder at a solid white landscape. The storm had passed, but flakes from the trees drifted down in windy flurries, making it appear as if it were still snowing lightly.
“Way more than they predicted,” she agreed. Two feet had piled up at the door, and outside the covered porch, closer to four or five. The steps were completely buried. “It’s like we’re in a snow globe.”
Alex set Daisy gently on the snow. The duck froze in place. “Shouldn’t her little webbed feet work like snowshoes?”
“Not sure about that.”
Daisy sniffed around for a second, apparently decided she didn’t like snow, and jumped back into the house at Alex’s feet.
“Humph. Guess cleaning up poop is in my future.”
Brody snatched up the duck and placed her back in the enclosure. “I’ll help you.”
“Gray. Come in, Gray,” Tess’s voice cackled through the radio. “You survive?”
Alex walked to the counter and picked up the radio. “Gray here. Yup, we’re fine.”
There was a pause before Tess replied. “We’re?”
“Brody and Daisy are here too.”
Another pause, and Alex didn’t have to be in the same room with Tess to know it was heavy with questions. Had Brody spent the night? How had that happened? What was going on? All things Tess couldn’t ask with Brody presumably standing next to her.
“Okay. Well, NOAA says the snow’s gonna freeze, so we’re likely snowed in until further notice. You good?”
“Thanks to you, yes,” Alex said. “I broke into my emergency supplies, and they saved me.”
“Ten-four. Keep in touch. Walker out.”
“I’m gonna have some explaining to do with that one,” Alex mumbled, setting the radio back on the counter.
Brody had changed into his jeans and was feeding the fire. “Good thing you brought in all this wood. Will it be enough to last?”
“If not, I’ve got another pile on the porch we can dig out. Thank goodness I thought to cover it with a tarp.”
“I’m just glad I hiked up here. No way I’d survive this cold for days.”
