Page 19 of Arctic Panda's Secret Mate
But who would sneak down to the furnace room and turn down the water heater? Andwhy?
Tristan turned the dials back up to a more normal 140and returned with the report. “It might take a little while before it’sreallyhot,” he cautioned. “It’s a big water tank.”
“I’d love a hot bath,” Lydia sighed, but she shook her head when Wrench opened his mouth to protest. “I know, I know. I’ll settle for a shower.”
“Who would have turned it down?” Magnolia mused.
“Sounds like a Breck kind of a prank,” Bastian said pointedly.
“I assure you, I have vested interest in hot showers,” Breck said. “Darla cuts cold showers short. I’m offended you’d even suggest it!”
Tristan was still thinking about ghosts when he went back to the kitchen. Someone had already picked up his plate and loaded the dishwasher, and Chef was deep in singing preparation for dinner. His offers for help were brushed off, so he returned to his room to see if his makeshift ornaments looked any better with a little mental distance.
They did not.
Tristan paced his room, restless and unwilling to go back down into their cozy company because he felt like so out of step. He just wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit, and everyone was buzzing about presents and plans.
He waited until the house was quiet to creep out, like he was a ghost himself.
16
HAISLEY
Haisley really should have known that someone would figure out what she’d done with the water heater and fix it. That wouldn’t be true with many of the hands-off hopelessly-sheltered clients they’d gotten, but this lot seemed like an unexpectedly competent crowd.
The plows came through late that day and cleared the road, but the unwelcome guests made no move to leave.
Over dinner, they made plans to do a run into town the following day and get fresh food. “We’d be well set even without the trip,” Chef said in his booming voice as Haisley eavesdropped, “but there are a few fresh greens I’d like. And there’s a recipe for pulled pork that I’d like to try if we find twenty pounds of roast.”
That’smyrecipe, Haisley thought furiously.
“It looks absolutely divine,” Chef added. “Who would have thought to add Dr. Pepper to the pressure cooker?”
That’smyrecipe, Haisley thought again, rather smugly this time.
They all made other shopping plans, and Haisley was disappointed to hear some of them say that they would bestaying behind. It was too much to hope that they’d all go into town, and then there would be an amazing snowstorm and trap them all there. Forever.
Waiting for them all to wander off to bed was an exquisite torture. Haisley was dying to try the curry that Chef had made. The smell made her salivate, and her granola bar and soda (cracked carefully open in the bathroom so no one would hear it) were unsatisfying.
She had basically convinced herself that she had imagined the antelope from the previous night. It was too impossible. She wasn’t entirely sure that the white-haired woman hadn’t also been a hallucination, though she had since heard others call her Gizelle.
Their conversations were almost as absurd as her memories. How could someone possibly have a sense of smell so keen they could tell if people had been around?
Haisley rearranged the dish towels in the kitchen out of sheer stubbornness, and served herself from the copious leftovers. There was a whole tub of vegetarian curry and Haisley ate more than she meant to, then had one more defiant final bite.
“I’d say you were Goldilocks, stealing porridge and sitting in our chairs, but your hair is brown.”
Haisley whirled around and was face-to-face with Quiet Vegetarian Guy Tristan. He was more handsome than she’d guessed from her glimpses through the window when he was outside. He was black-haired, and deep-eyed, with golden-brown skin and slightly canted features over cheekbones that made Haisley realize what romance books meant when they said they could cut glass.
Chiseled.
He looked like he’d been carved out of amber, and he was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that didn’t do a good job of hiding the fact that his whole body wasjust as carefully sculpted. He was also staring at Haisley so intensely that she forgot to be afraid and went straight to outraged. “Why are you sneaking around in my kitchen?” she demanded, completely overlooking the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be there.
He looked completely taken aback. “I’m sorry,” he said, as if it was automatic. “I mean,wait…”
Haisley could not help but laugh, then she leaned weakly against a counter because the adrenaline was ebbing away and she knew that she was well and truly caught now. “No,I’msorry. I wasn’t supposed to stay here, and I was trying to be out of the way, but you guys kept moving my dish towels, and I guess I’m a little more OCD than I like to admit.”
“You’re the one who left all the notes,” he said, and he was still staring at her in wonder, but his mouth was curved up in a little half-smile. “And yours is the locked door down the hall.”
