“Fair enough.” I handed her a bottle.
She returned her gaze to Paxton. “What happened with this woman you were talking about? Elaine?”
“Emily,” I corrected without thinking. Carla glanced at me but looked back at Pax.
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “What can I say? I gave it a shot, and she completely rejected me. I’m man enough to accept that.”
“She destroyed you, that’s what she did,” I said, smirking.
“Fine. Truth is, she didn’t even give me time to take a shot. Though that’s hardly worse than Eli arguing with her in a convenience store, and then making her fall flat on her ass.”
Carla nearly spat out her beer in laughter. “What? That doesn’t sound like you at all, Eli.” She had perfected her sarcastic tone. It wasn’t nearly as good as Emily’s, but she had promise.
“Very funny,” I muttered. “I’m over it. Besides, Emily’s not bad. She’s actually likable.”
That piqued Pax’s attention.
“When did you see her again?”
I grimaced. I didn’t want to talk about her to my brother. I didn’t even know where I stood on the matter of how I felt about her, so what was I supposed to say?
“I met her on Sunday when the weather was better,” I ended up saying. “She was out for a walk. We talked for a bit and cleared the air, so to speak. When the weather got worse, I drove her back to her mom’s place.”
Pax frowned. “But you were in the forest on Sunday, covering for Rich.”
“Which was where I found her having a walk.”
“The two of you were alone, in the forest, all afternoon?” Pax grinned mischievously.
“I know exactly what you’re insinuating, and I can tell you … it’s only slightly like that.”
“Oh?” Carla let out. “Now, you definitely have my interest.” She leaned into the corner of the big leather sofa and pulled a crocheted blanket over her lap. She was in for the long haul.
I didn’t even know why I told them the truth. Maybe I was trying to work things out myself by speaking out loud.
“We may have kissed, but that was it. The weather was turning, so we had—”
“Would you have gone further if the snow wasn’t against you?” Pax asked.
“In what world would you willingly get any more naked than you had to be in freezing temperatures?”
“I wouldn’t,” Pax snapped back. “But, I’m not impulsive.”
“You’re a Cooper, which means you often act without thought.” I tipped back my beer for a deep drink. “Even if a storm hadn’t been blowing in, it was far too cold to do ‘anything else,’ and you know it.”
“Point taken, buzzkill,” Pax huffed out an exasperated breath. “Only you could make gossip so boring.”
“It’s not gossip if it’s about me, and I’m the one telling you about it.”
“You get what I mean. Anyway, are you going to see her again?”
I paused. In all honesty, I didn’t know.
“I guess the weather will determine that,” I said. “I mean, she wants to leave as soon as the snow lets up. I might see her again if it stays bad.”
“Now the weather is working for you? That’s a fun turn of events.”
As I was about to push back at Paxton, all the lights flickered in the house.
I glanced at Carla. “The backup generator is in good shape, right?”
She nodded. “Owen checked it before he left. If the power goes out, it’ll come back on.”
Half an hour later, Carla’s statement proved to be correct. The power cut out, and a few seconds after, the generator kicked into gear, and the house was lit again.
“I wonder how long we’ll be without power,” Paxton mused. “I installed new generators in Rachel Wilkes’ and Lucy’s houses—”
“Why Lucy? Her previous generator was completely fine.” He chuckled. “She wanted an excuse for you to come around, right?”
“She’s a sweetheart, and don’t give me a hard time for worrying about the older residents.”
“How many of them will be without power?” I asked.
Pax shrugged. “Some of them, for sure. Not all of these old houses have been updated yet. To be honest, the sooner they all get behind Owen’s Green House Project, the better.”
“You’d think the massive discounts we’re giving would be enough to shift them into gear,” Carla grumbled. “Owen’s offering it at cost.”
“You can bet your ass you’ll get a ton of new orders once this weather has passed. Nobody wants to be caught in a situation where their house can’t handle this kind of weather again.” It was then that it struck me.
“Pax, do you know if Judy Flanagan’s house has a backup generator?”
He laughed. “You’re trying to find a way to see Emily again, aren’t you?”
“Shut up. I’m serious. You know Judy’s health is terrible, and she can’t afford to have the power out.”
“God knows a city girl like Emily isn’t likely to be able to make a fire to save her life,” Pax said.
“Paxton,” I warned.
He held up his hands in surrender. “You were the one who said she was an insufferable city girl. When was the last time you met someone from the city who could build a good fire?”
“You’re right,” I had to admit. “Back to the question. Do you know if Judy’s house has a generator?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Her house is old, even by Frazier Falls standards. I think the chances of her having one are slim.”
“That’s all I needed to know.” I put my bottle on the table and grabbed my jacket before heading for the door.
“Eli, you can’t seriously be heading over there in this weather,” Carla called after me. “You could get hurt.”
“The Flanagan's will be worse off if they don’t have heat. I’m going to take some of Owen’s firewood. I’ll replace it later.”
“No, you won’t,” Carla called out as I slammed the door shut behind me.
“Yeah, you’re right, I definitely won’t,” I said out loud right before I grabbed armfuls of wood and headed to my truck. I started the engine and drove straight toward Judy’s house … and Emily.
Time to teach the city girl how to build a fire.
Chapter Ten
Emily
I resisted the urge to flinch when the lightbulb in my bedroom flickered. It had been doing that on and off for the past three hours, as had the rest of the lights in my mother’s house. I knew what it meant. The power was doomed to fail sooner rather than later.
To my disappointment, it happened sooner. I should have plugged my laptop in to charge hours ago.
The whole house went dark and eerily quiet all at once. The comforting, ever-present noises associated with the heater, the oxygen tank, and the television, were gone in an instant.
I looked at my laptop. It had five percent battery left.
“Just my luck …” I grumbled.