Page 45 of Arctic Panda's Secret Mate
Shed was an overstatement for the structure, as it only had two closed sides and a roof, but it kept most of the snow off the generator. Haisley opened the choke, pulled on the starter, and the generator leapt to life. Before she could hook it up to the house, the power came back on, the yard light nearly blinding her. Haisley waited a few moments, the wind and biting rain driving right through her coat, then turned off the generator and trudged back to the house.
She was chilled and damp when she slipped back into bed with Tristan, and her cold feet woke him up. “Wait, where have you been?” he demanded, pulling her icy fingers into his.
“The power went out. I started the generator, but it came right back on. At least I know it’s ready to go now.”
“You could have woken me up,” Tristan scolded her.
“Nonsense,” Haisley said. “You needed your beauty rest.”
“It’s my turn to warm you up,” Tristan said.
“I hear that’s best done with no clothing between bodies.”
“That is clearly the best method,” Tristan said, reaching to pull off Haisley’s shirt.
The power was still on in the morning, though it flickered several times during their shower. The rain had dried to a drizzle, but didn’t stop.
Tristan came out with Haisley to make sure that the generator was still covered and so that she could give him an orientation to the system. The path Haisley had cleared the night before was a slushy, slick disaster, and they each nearly fell.
“I have shoe cleats we’ll use next time,” Haisley said,when they were safely inside, stomping the wet snow from their feet. “Usually I don’t need them until spring.”
Chef was in the kitchen starting breakfast. “Haisley! I wanted to do some baking ahead, do you feel that the power will hold long enough to run the ovens? How robust is your generator? Do we need to plan a stovetop dinner?”
Haisley was pleased that he seemed to accept her authority in the kitchen, and everyone deferred to her expertise with the chalet. She was used to being treated like a servant, but they accepted her unquestioningly as one of their own. Was it just because they were all from a hospitality background? Because she was Tristan’s mate? “The ovens draw too much to run on the generator, but the range will be good to go. I have a recipe for griddle-top English muffins I like to make when the power goes out!”
She shaped loaves with Darla while Chef scrambled up a few dozen eggs, chopped vegetables, and shredded cheese.
The rest of the party was snuggly gathered in the great room around the fire when Haisley brought in extra lap blankets. It wasn’t terribly cold and the furnace was still on, but the rain against the window and howling wind made it feel chilly and bleak. Wrench was a big, black panther cozied up against Lydia, who was petting him.
Gizelle’s big, quiet mate, Conall, brought down a guitar and Haisley finally realized that he looked familiar because she owned one of his CDs. Would it be awkward to have him sign it? She was confused, because she remembered that he’d lost his hearing in a car accident, but he seemed to sometimes have perfectly good conversations without having line of sight, and at other times he was entirely oblivious to sounds and speech.
No one complained about the weather, only exclaimed over it as if it was a fine adventure. Haisley assured themthat it was very unusual for this time of year. “I’ve seen rain in the winter twice before, and I’ve lived here my whole life!”
It rained all day, and Chef seemed to take this as a personal challenge to top all of his previous meals. Haisley was invited to join in board games, and Saina and Wrench worked on a puzzle in one corner.
Yahtzee got raucous, and Monopoly was soundly won by Tristan, who looked as surprised as any of them. Breck suggested Cards Against Humanity, but was overruled by Darla’s suggestion of Uno.
Haisley relaxed as the day went on. She’d been half afraid that their generosity of the day before had been in honor of the Christmas spirit, but they seemed genuinely friendly and she liked them more and more as she got to know them. She could work with them at Shifting Sands, she thought, and the idea didn’t make her as sad as she thought it would.
Most of the couples retired after a charcuterie lunch to take “naps,” and Haisley wasn’t going to miss the chance. They made love in Tristan’s room, since they didn’t have to be secret. His well-sprung king-sized bed was a step above her older double bed, and they lay together afterwards with limbs tangled.
The wind outside beat against the walls of the chalet and drove the rain into the window, but she was snug and comfortable in Tristan’s arms, her whole body humming with satisfaction.
“If I lived here…”
“No,” Haisley said quickly, because it had been weighing on her mind before he brought it up, “you were right. Why would we stay here? I make barely anything but tips above my room and board, and those are few and far between. There’s nofuturehere. I could never ask you togive up your tropical island for a place I have no investment in.”
“What if Mr. Barnum sold it?”
“To who? It’s kind of a niche building. There’s not a big market for multi-million-dollar properties at the edge of the grid in Alaska. It’s kind of far out for casual tourists. And there’s no reason to assume they’d hiremewith the purchase.”
“What if it was turned into a lodge for shifters only?”
“Like Shifting Sands?” Haisley sat up. It was chilly in the room, though she knew it was psychosomatic because of the wild wind and driving sleet outside. “It’s a lovely idea, but it still has all the same problems. Who would buy it? Would Mr. Barnum even sell it? If it’s for shifters only, where do I fit in? No, I feel like this is an Occam’s razor sort of thing. The simplest solution really is moving to Shifting Sands. If you think they’d hire me, you could keep your job, and come on! It’s paradise!” She gestured at the window. “I bet you never have freezing rain in Costa Rica!”
“Not everything has to be completely practical,” Tristan pointed out, sitting up beside her. He was warm, and Haisley couldn’t resist leaning into him. “Sometimes, you just have to go with feelings to figure out what’s right.”
“I wish I knew what my feelings were feeling,” Haisley sighed. “I really like you, Tristan. You’re A-plus, green-flag forever material. I could see a future with you, even if you weren’t all crazy-convinced by your adorable panda bear that I was your mate. I love the idea of an island full of magical people. And who doesn’t want cocktails on a beach every night? I just have to let go of the familiar, and that feels really hard.”
