I glanced at my phone. Emily and I had been texting back and forth for the past few days about nothing in particular. The communication was comforting and fun despite the lack of real content. Maybe it was because it wasn’t about anything important. We were merely talking to each other for the sake of talking—the way a person did when they were getting to know someone.
Lucy’s and Paxton’s jibes still rung in my ears. I did like Emily—a lot—but what could I do about it? I’d only be making things more difficult if I announced that I liked her too much for her to go back to California.
Even if she liked me as much as I did her, Emily loved her job more. She loved California. I didn’t blame her. At the end of the day, I’d never leave Frazier Falls or my job for anyone. I couldn’t expect her to choose me.
It was unfair and wildly unfortunate for the two of us to have met when we did. If the weather hadn’t been as bad as it was, none of this would have even happened in the first place.
Regret filled my thoughts. Could I honestly say that never meeting Emily would be better than having met her and half fallen for her?
Shaking my head in frustration, I rolled from my sofa, took off my jacket, and headed for the kitchen.
“Time for another frozen pizza,” I mumbled. What I needed was to get over Emily Flanagan; for her benefit and mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Emily
Shopping at Wilkes’ had reached its limit long ago in terms of variety. A trip to the nearest supermarket had been exactly what I needed to get out of my mom’s house and Frazier Falls for an afternoon.
I’d never enjoyed walking the aisles so much.
The weather hadn’t gotten better, per se, but there had been a break in the storm long enough for me to drive the hour or so out to the store in Indian Springs, spend another hour shopping, then make it back to town. When I was fifteen miles away, snowflakes as big as cotton balls fell from the sky, and the wind picked up again.
“Oh, great,” I said sarcastically. “Just what I need. Couldn’t wait fifteen bloody miles, could you?” I glared up through the sunroof of my mom’s car with an accusatory stare meant for the storm.
I hoped against hope I would make it back okay. I had food in the car that needed to be put away. At least with the cold, stuff would be fine given that the temperature outside was like a freezer, but that was beside the point. The shopping wouldn’t get back to my mom’s if I didn’t.
I thought of everything I’d bought and wondered if Eli would be up for helping me cook again. That way, I could make something plain for my mom, and we could eat something spicy. Mexican food, maybe. Or Italian, or Indian.
My mouth watered at the mere thought, but in order to cook anything, I had to get home, which was steadily becoming more difficult as the snow covered the road thick and fast.
Twenty minutes later, I’d made it to the edge of town. As I began to breathe a sigh of relief, the car made an unsettling, spluttering noise.
“Oh, no, that can’t be good.” I willed it to last a few more minutes. The noise grew more guttural, the engine struggled, and the car moved slower and slower with every curse that escaped my lips. “Without bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”
All I could do was steer to the edge of a sidewalk as it coughed and sputtered to a stop. I looked through the flurry of snow and saw nothing recognizable. The houses were unfamiliar, though off in the distance, I could see the forest.
I pulled my phone from my bag to find out where I was. If I had to, I could haul the perishable food I’d bought on foot, though I shuddered at the thought.
My bad luck turned worse when I saw the battery had died.
“When the hell did the battery die?” I cursed, my mood growing darker as the snow got deeper. I threw my phone onto the passenger seat and twisted my keys in the ignition, hoping against hope that I would be able to start it up again. The engine made a half-hearted attempt to turn over before dying once more.
I slammed the back of my head against my seat, frustrated beyond measure. What was I supposed to do now?
Glancing outside, I noticed a house with its lights on. Maybe one of the residents would know how to fix my car. Or if I was lucky, would be willing to drive me to my mom’s house. It was worth a try.
Steeling myself against the frigid air, I opened the door and rushed up the front path of the house, pausing to take a breath before ringing the doorbell.
For a few moments, nothing happened, and I wondered if the people inside were going to ignore me, but then I heard the thud of footsteps and the sound of the front door being unlocked.
“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry,” I began immediately as soon as the person opened the door a crack, “but my car broke down and—Eli?”
Eli looked surprised by the sight of me on his doorstep in the middle of a snowstorm.
“Emily?” He stared at me in confusion, as if he couldn’t believe I was there. “Are you okay? What were you saying—your car broke down?”
I nodded. “My phone’s dead, so I had no way to ask for help or find out where I was. I figured there was no harm in trying the closest house to beg for assistance.”
He looked over my shoulder at my car and frowned. “What were you doing out, anyway?”
“I went over to the next town to buy food.”
“Indian Springs? That was reckless.”
In hindsight, he was right, but another day of fried potatoes would have killed me outright. “I know, but I was desperate. Wilkes’ stock is … not enough.”
“You’re telling me.” He looked past me into the storm. “Any clue what’s wrong with the car?”
I shook my head. “Not the slightest.”
He glanced back inside his house before cursing. “All my tools are at the office. Pax needed the truck to help Lucy, and I don’t think my car would be safe in this weather.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. I shuffled my feet. “I guess I could try the next house over.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he cut in, waving the notion away. “Let’s grab your groceries and put them away in my kitchen. You can stay here until the weather lets up, then I’ll drive you back.”
“Are you sure?”
His features softened with a smile. “Positive.”
The two of us hauled the bags out of my car and into Eli’s house, where he directed me to his kitchen. It was modern with granite countertops, and a six-burner stove with a stainless-steel finish.
I whistled in appreciation. “Nice kitchen, Eli.”
“Thanks. Wish I could use it more right now, but I lack ingredients. I’ve been living on frozen pizzas.”
I gasped in horror as we put the perishable things away. “That’s unacceptable. You’re going to get sick if you eat like that.” I listed off a list of health issues that ranged from vitamin deficiency to obesity.
He laughed as he tossed a can of tomatoes into the air, catching it before it hit the countertop. “Maybe, but what else can I do? Starve?”
I glanced at the groceries strewn across his kitchen counter. “Maybe we could make dinner together? It doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere for a while.”