Page 32 of Tucker
Iwant to set her mind at ease but none of the news is good at this point, so Idecide distracting her is the way to go. “No, we’re going to be trapped for awhile, but we’re well prepared. Will this lantern be enough light for you tomake some dinner before it’s full dark?”
“Yeah,I can do it.”
AsI hoped, she’s more at ease when she has something to focus on. While sherattles around in the kitchen, I grab pillows and blankets, and an extensioncord for the living room. If we’re going to be trapped for a while, we might aswell make the best of it.
Lessthan an hour later, Leah emerges from the kitchen with two steaming bowls ofchicken and dumplings. “Wow, it warmed up in here,” she remarks, placing thebowls on the coffee table.
“Ifigured if I got it hot enough, we could unplug the heater for a bit and plugin the TV and satellite instead. Catch the news and maybe a movie.” I shrug.
“Willthe satellite work in this?” she asks, gesturing out the window where the stormcontinues.
“Noidea. Guess we’ll find out.”
Theanswer is no. At least it doesn’t work until I think to take a bucket of hotwater outside and dump it on the dish connected to the back of the house. Aftermelting off most of the ice and chiseling away the rest, the signal can getthrough.
It’sfull dark when I go back inside and shake the ice pellets from my hair. Leah isdressed in sweats and a pair of bright red fuzzy socks. She sits in the centerof the couch with a blanket tucked around her legs.
“Someof the channels are still fuzzy, but look what’s just starting,” she says, andI can’t help but grin at the excitement in her voice. It’s like nothing candull her happiness no matter the situation. If only I could feel that way forone day.
“Whatis it?” I ask, taking a seat beside her.
“TheStand.” Her mouth drops open as she turns to me. “Have you never seen it?”
“Nope.”
“It’samazing. Well, everything Stephen King does is amazing, but this is one of myfavorites. It’s long though.” She tosses the blanket over my legs as well.“Like, six hours long.”
“Wehave nothing but time,” I murmur, and she grins, turning up the volume andsettling in beside me.
Themovie is actually broken into three parts and by the time the first part ends,the sound of falling ice has ceased. Leah gets up and stretches. Her sweatshirtclimbs her back giving me a view of the creamy skin of her lower back. My cockgives a little jerk inside my pants. This girl is fucking killing me. Who thehell gets turned on from seeing a chick’s back?
“Soundslike the ice has stopped,” she remarks, making her way to the door. With ablanket wrapped around her shoulders, she steps out onto the porch. I take theopportunity to go take a piss and get my urges under control. When I return,she’s standing on the porch with a nervous expression.
It’sdark, but we can still see how screwed we are. I might have an easier time inthe morning when I need to care for the animals, since snow is starting tocover the ice. It might at least be good for some traction.
“It’screepy,” she breathes, her voice small. “Like in The Stand.”
Shejumps when my sudden laughter echoes through the night. “There are no deadbodies or killer viruses out there,” I assure her.
Coyotespick that moment to start howling and she almost tramples me trying to get backinside. “Well, there’s something out there! Stop laughing at me!” Her hands goto her hips and she frowns at me.
Ican’t help it. I just laugh harder. She looks so fucking cute all pissed offand afraid. Shutting the door behind us, I put my palm on the small of herback, guiding her back to the living room. “You know the coyotes never comeclose. They’re more afraid of you.”
“Idoubt that,” she grumbles.
Justas we’re getting comfortable on the couch, a loud crash shakes the ground. Panicwidens her eyes as she exclaims, “What the fuck was that?”
“Oneof the big trees out back. I’ll check it out.”
Herhand darts out and wraps tightly around my wrist. “I’m going with you. Youaren’t leaving me alone here!”
“Iwas just going to the back window where I can see. Come on,” I reassure her,leading her through the dark, cold house. I grab a handheld spotlight from thehall closet and shine it out the back window.
“Oh,no,” she breathes.
Idon’t know how old the tree was, but it was massive and now we have a view ofits roots pointing toward the sky. It was far enough away from the house not tobe a problem, but there are plenty of trees that are closer.
“Allthat ice is heavy. And the ground is saturated. With the wind picking up, they’regoing to start falling like dominoes,” I predict.
