14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Juliet
W hen the next day arrives, it quickly becomes clear that we’re not going anywhere any time soon.
“It just keeps coming down,” I mutter as I stare out of Frank’s bedroom window with my arms crossed over my chest.
Between the furnace, the fire, and all the blankets and coats in this house, everyone is warm at least. The temperature is expected to drop a little more tonight, bringing along more snow and cold wind, so we’re not in the clear yet.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Frank warns me.
“If you love my presence so much, just say that,” I tell him, flashing him a playful smile .
Frank smirks, wearing the nasal cannula instead of the oxygen mask today. We’ll switch back when he needs a higher rate of oxygen. “Yes, I can’t live without the bossiness and snark.”
“I’m so not snarky,” I say, checking his vitals one more time before I leave him to watch television. “Call for me if you need anything.”
Frank nods. “If my son gives you any trouble—”
“Everything is fine between us,” I assure him, my face warming.
I’m not going to tell him that we spent an hour talking in front of the fire last night. Sure, things got tense and the conversation died, but we were getting along quite well for a minute there.
It pains me to admit it, but it’s nice talking to him again. When we’re actually talking and not fighting. It kind of reminds me of old times when we trusted each other.
When we loved each other.
Frank nods, but I’m not sure if he’s totally convinced. I don’t stick around to find out .
I leave his bedroom and barely make it a few steps down the hallway when I hear Piper calling for me from the guest bedroom. A concerned look crosses my face as I hurry that way. If she wants me, she rarely calls for me.
She just appears.
I push open the cracked bedroom door to see Piper still laying in bed. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“I don’t feel good,” she says before coughing a few times.
I pause a few feet away from her bed. Usually, I’d run right over and pull her into my arms to check on her, but if she’s sick, I can’t expose Frank to whatever she has. His immune system can’t handle much of anything in its current state.
“What do you mean? Tell me what’s bothering you,” I tell her, my heart lurching as I watch her swallow hard and grimace.
“My throat hurts,” she says. “My face is hot.”
I can hear the congestion in her voice. It was only a matter of time before she picked up something from school. Kids are little germ incubators.
“Stay in bed, baby. I’ll be right back,” I tell her before leaving the guest bedroom, my pulse quickening. Not only do I have a terminal cancer patient to look after, but I also have a sick child.
And we’re stranded in a snowstorm.
“Piper might be getting sick,” I say to Frank as I head back into his bedroom to grab a few things from the medical cabinet.
“Is she okay?” he asks, his brow creasing in concern.
“It’s probably just a cold, but you guys can’t be near each other while she’s contagious,” I reply before putting on a mask and a pair of gloves. I grab a few more things before walking back to the door. “She’ll be fine. Everyone will be fine.”
I might be saying that more for myself to hear than for him.
When I step out into the hallway, I jolt to a stop, nearly running straight into Leo. “You scared me.”
Leo tilts his head. “Why do you have all that on? Is something going on with Dad?”
I sigh, my shoulders slumping as the pressure starts to set in. “No, he’s fine. I think Piper caught a cold from a classmate. ”
He frowns. “Oh, damn. Poor Piper. Anything I can do?”
His words tug on my heart, and I’m glad the mask is covering half of my face.
“I’m just going to give her some medicine and get her settled. I’ll cook some soup for everyone soon,” I tell him. “I think I pretty much have everything covered.”
“Well, if you think of anything, just call for me. I need to go chop some firewood and check on things around the estate,” Leo says as he adjusts his winter gloves.
“You’re really going out there? It’s freezing,” I say with a wary look.
“I’ll be okay,” he assures me. “Gotta make sure the roof won’t collapse under all the snow.”
I roll my eyes at him, an uncontrollable smile fighting its way onto my lips. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Don’t fall off the roof.”
“I’ll try,” he says before heading toward the staircase.
My eyes trail him, familiar warmth fluttering deep in my stomach. There’s something annoyingly attractive about the way he makes me feel taken care of in a way I’m not used. I’m glad he’s doing stuff around the estate because I wouldn’t even know where to start. I already have enough on my plate.
While he goes outside, I tend to Piper, checking her temperature and helping her sit up so that she can breathe better. Hopefully, her congestion will clear up soon. The last thing that I want is for it to move down into her chest.
“I’ll put on a movie for you,” I tell her as I turn on the television facing the bed. “Just rest and stay in bed, okay? If you need to use the bathroom, call for me.”
“Okay,” she says, sounding as miserable as she looks.
Whatever she caught hit her fast. I hope it goes away just as quickly.
Once she’s settled with her eyes on the television, I walk out of the guest bedroom and pull off my mask and gloves, drawing a deep, steadying breath into my lungs. Being stuck here in this snowstorm already stressed me out to begin with.
All of my calmness as a nurse goes out the window when my own child is sick, even with something as mild as a cold.
I wash my hands in the kitchen sink, peering through the window in front of me to catch sight of Leo by the woodshed. My movements freeze when he lifts the axe up and brings it back down on a log to split it in half with sheer ease.
Wow. He definitely hasn’t lost any muscle since moving to the city.
Leo tosses the two pieces of wood onto a growing pile in a wheelbarrow next to him. He places another log on the chopping block and repeats, his heavy breaths forming crystal clouds in the cold air.
He moves like he does this every day. Like it’s second nature.
I have to say that I like this version of Leo. Maybe I’m biased because this is what I’m used to, but he looks relaxed and in his element right now. He isn’t trying to impress people with his business charm and savvy or whatever.
He’s just in the zone doing what he can.
Leo glances toward the house, and I quickly duck down, nearly slamming my forehead against the faucet.
I shut off the water and keep my head down, my face burning. Hopefully, he didn’t see me staring at him through the window. I’m not trying to be creepy .
I’m just…intrigued.
I need to focus on something else.
Once I’m sure that he’s back to work, I move away from the kitchen sink and open up the fridge door, browsing through everything that’s stored inside. Luckily, groceries were delivered not too long ago, so I have some good options for the soup.
It’s hard to beat classic chicken noodle soup when it’s cold and someone is sick, though.
Mom used to make it for me all the time.
As I chop vegetables, slice up the chicken, cook noodles, and prepare the broth, I glance out of the kitchen window every so often, spotting Leo moving around the property like a man on a mission. He carried a ladder past the window at one point, which made me a little nervous.
What if he actually falls off the roof?
I don’t know if I can handle taking care of three patients at once while stranded.
Leo walks past the window one more time as I’m finishing up, and I hear the front door open and close .
I pitch a quick look over my shoulder to see him carrying an armful of firewood. “Can you even feel your face? You were out there a while.”
“New York City gets cold too, Juliet.”
I smirk and switch off the stove, breathing in the savory, delicious smell curling up from the pot. “Soup is ready.”
“Smells great,” he says as he crosses behind me to wash his hands at the kitchen sink. “I’m not sure if my nose is still on my face.”
I crack a smile and step up to his side to take a peek. “Still there.”
He lets out a relieved sound.
“Would’ve been a shame if you lost it. It’s a good nose,” I tell him as I turn back to my soup to fix Frank and Piper their bowls.
“I always thought you had the better nose.”
My stomach twists when I feel him close behind me. Watching him do all the manual labor he used to do made my brain short circuit a little. I just can’t forget who he is now .
He’s not the same person, even if he can still swing an axe.
Very well too.
“It’s an okay nose,” I reply as I set Piper’s small bowl to the side to fix Frank’s.
“I always thought it was cute.”
Heat burns under my cheeks, and I’m glad that my back is to him. These little compliments are edging us toward complicated territory.
“I’m going to run their bowls up to them. Have as much as you want,” I tell him before grabbing both bowls and essentially fleeing from the kitchen.
Things get confusing when we’re close together, and I don’t want to be confused on top of stressed out. That could lead to bad decisions, and I don’t have room in my life for the consequences of said decisions.
Unfortunately, neither Frank nor Piper has much to say to me when I drop off their soup besides thank you. That’s how I really know Piper doesn’t feel well.
I rub the back of my neck as I go back downstairs, trying to ease the tension in my muscles .
“I fixed you a bowl.”
I pause when I step into the kitchen, seeing Leo in the doorway to the dining room. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”
“You cooked. I’ll wash up after,” Leo replies before disappearing into the dining room.
This all feels so…domestic.
There’s a flicker of joy deep in my chest that I quickly extinguish. It’s just old feelings. Old hopes and dreams that never came true.
I shouldn't get caught up in the past. In what was never meant to be.
It’ll only bring me pain and disappointment when my reality doesn’t turn out to be anything like that.
I sit across from Leo at the long, handcrafted dining table, listening to the wind howling outside. My eyes shift to his every so often, our gazes snapping together like magnets. Like we can’t help ourselves.
“It’s really good,” he says.
“Thank you. ”
More silence passes, but the tension in the air starts to lessen. Being here with him starts to feel a little more…normal.
Mom and I were invited to eat dinner with the Galloways a decent bit when Leo’s mom was still alive. She adored us, and I could tell she loved having a full dinner table.
I think she wanted more children after Leo, but she wasn’t able to. I never tried to ask. It wasn’t my business.
“I’ll probably head back out there in a little while. The wind is so strong that the front gate wasn’t fully shut,” Leo tells me. “I need to make sure it stays shut through the night.”
“I doubt anyone is going to sneak onto the property and rob us in the middle of a storm.”
“I wouldn’t take that chance,” he replies. “I want something to do anyway.”
I think he misses doing this kind of work, but I don’t say anything about that.
“Be careful.”
Our eyes meet once more .
“I will.”
My heartbeat picks up when he doesn’t look away. I knew being stuck in this house with him would be dangerous, but I didn’t think I would feel this affected. This unstable. This untrusting of my own self-control.
And the snow just won’t stop falling.