“See? This isn’t so bad,” he said to Madeline. The way he tried so hard with the kids was sweet, and far more than I usually managed with the nieces and nephews. “Your favorite foods, a nice toasty fire, and tomorrow when you wake up, the world will be all white and you can play in the snow.”
“You’re a good uncle,” I told him when he brought me two over-the-counter pain relievers and a glass of water. “My two older brothers have kids, but I’ve never attempted a trip with them. Heck, a single night of babysitting last summer almost did me in.”
“Thanks. I’ve had a lot of practice.” He waited for me to swallow then set my glass on a coaster on the end table. More efficient care taking.
“Lots of babysitting?”
“Something like that.” His mouth twisted. “I’m raising them, actually. They live with me in Seattle.”
“Ah.” I wasn’t sure if this was something one expressed condolences over or congrats, so I tried for a sympathetic nod instead.
“The chicken’s sizzling!” Madeline reported, summoning Felix back to the kitchen before I could learn more about their family arrangement, leaving me to do more observing. I wasn’t sure what to make of how damn curious I was to know more about Felix. Boredom, probably, but being bored didn’t usually unleash a hundred questions in my head.
“Do you want me to bring you yours?” he asked me as he placed steaming plates of food on the table, and the girls scooted into the built-in booth.
“Nah. I can come to the table.” I didn’t need another reason to feel ninety. Rather creakily, I managed to hobble to the table, taking the chair rather than trying to squeeze in next to one of the girls.
The chicken was basic pan-seared cutlets with simple seasoning, but it was hot and tasty, and I made sure I thanked Felix as the girls squabbled over who had more fries. Outside, darkness had fallen, an eerie stillness as the snow continued to pour from the sky, big fat flakes that occasionally smacked into the window thanks to a stiff wind.
“After dinner, I’m going to explore,” Charlotte announced from her perch next to Felix as she squeezed yet more ketchup onto her plate. “I need to pick where I’m gonna sleep.”
Sleep. Oh hell. We might not be doomed, but we sure were trapped, until morning at least. A prickle raced up the back of my neck. Last time I was this out of my element was my first twenty-four hours on a sub, and similarly, there was no easy escape here, only a need to endure and hope nothing else went wrong.
Chapter Four
Felix
Dinner with Calder was weird. I hadn’t dated since Tim, and the number of other guests at our table had been pretty slim. This wasn’t anywhere close to a date, but it was still novel having another adult human to make conversation with.
“What do you do in the navy?” I asked to break an awkward pause when the girls were silent and so were we. He’d complimented the food, and we’d remarked on the weather more than once. We were almost out of small talk topics, but also I was curious about Calder, in a way that made my legs move restlessly against the bench.
“I’m a chief on a submarine usually.” He grimaced on the word usually. “I handle logistics.”
“Usually?”
“Recently I fell during a boat maneuver. Not uncommon to lose balance on the sub, but I hit my head and rang my bell pretty good. Our sub had just deployed too, so it was a whole thing getting an evac because the medic on board was concerned and wanted an MRI to be safe. Powers that be have had me on light shore duty ever since.” His grimace turned more sour, like light duty was a fate worse than the gallows.
“But you’d rather be back out there?” I guessed. The doctor in me wanted to know more about his injury, but he’d already made it clear earlier that it was a sore subject. I was, however, going to put him through some more concussion tests later, make sure he wasn’t worsening and not saying anything.
“Yep.” His lips thinned out. “Tell me about being a shrink. Your specialty is older people?”
Ah. We’d found another forbidden topic. I could take a hint, so I took the opportunity to wax poetic about my group practice and our role in caring for aging adults. It was something I was passionate about, so it wasn’t a hardship to ramble on, and Calder proved to be a good audience, loosening up considerably the more I talked.
“So, no surgery?” He leaned back in his chair, way more jokey now that we weren’t talking about him.
“Nope. Not my forte.” I would have told him about how I liked talking to patients while they were awake, but Charlotte chose then to announce she was done.
“Now we can explore!” she announced in her carnival barker voice. “I want to see if the renters left any loot behind or changed my favorite things.”
“If you find a walking stick or maybe a mop we can turn upside down for a crutch for Chief Euler, let me know.” I moved so she could exit the booth.
“Calder is fine.” He smiled at the girls. He hadn’t paid either of them a ton of attention, and everything I’d learned thus far about the man said he was a freewheeling, gambling-loving bachelor uncle, the sort of guy who, like Tim, wore their child-free status like a badge of honor.
“Okay! We’ll find you a crutch, Calder. Let’s go.” Even though she was younger, Charlotte was the far bossier one, and Madeline dutifully followed her down the hall, standing back as Charlotte opened doors.
Reining Charlotte in was futile, so instead I braced for every closet and drawer to be opened. I’d long since cleared out most personal effects so my management company could use the place for select rentals, and they cleaned after each renter, so I wasn’t too worried about what she might find.
“Here, let me take your plate,” I said to Calder, already reaching. And maybe he wasn’t the most prepared because our hands brushed. An awareness that hadn’t been there moments earlier sizzled up my spine. He really had won the genetic lottery as far as attractiveness went.
“Sorry.” Expression surprisingly sheepish, he jerked his hand away. “I, uh...”
“You go back to the couch. I’ll clean up.”
“Okay.” His ready acceptance of the order was another surprise. A pleasant one. If we were going to be stuck together, not arguing over every suggestion was a decent start. Again that crackle of awareness brought warmth to my skin. Hot and polite apparently did it for me.
“Ooh! Look at this!” Charlotte loudly narrated her discoveries, reports of flashlights and cleaning supplies from the hall closet filtering back to the main area, as I brought Calder some fresh ice packs before making fast work of the dishes.