20. Bryan
20
brYAN
“ W ell, if I’m going to stay, why don’t you show me which guest room I should stay in?”
Amelia climbed off the couch and held her hand out to Amelia.
“You’re staying?” Amelia launched to her feet, excited that Nova was going to be our guest.
“I know exactly which room you should stay in.”
I banked the fire and followed them up the stairs, curious as to where Amelia thought it would be best for Nova. I knew where I wanted her, but my bed was off limits. At least until she was no longer my employee.
About halfway up the stairs, the power went out. Nova gasped.
“Daddy?” Amelia’s little voice called my name. I felt her terror in my gut.
I grabbed my phone and turned the flashlight on. “I guess the power finally went out. I hadn’t thought the storm was that bad.”
“Well, it’s that bad,” Nova said.
I could hear a tremble in her voice.
“It’s a little power outage. We’ll be fine. Why don’t we head back downstairs, and you’ll see the power comes back on in just a few minutes?”
I kept my flashlight on the stairs as we all turned around. Nova led Amelia back down the stairs and headed into the den.
“The fire will keep us warm in here.”
“Do you have any candles?” Nova asked.
“I believe there’s some in the dining room. You get the fire going again, and I’ll go find the candles and a lighter.”
Nova held out the poker out to me. “I honestly don’t know how a fireplace works. I’ll go get the candle and find a lighter. I’m sure there’s something in the kitchen.”
“Do you have your phone?”
“Why? Who am I going to call?”
“The flashlight?” I pointed mine up at the ceiling.
“Oh, right, thank you.”
She came back a few moments later carrying a couple of candlesticks. “The other candelabras were too big and heavy for me. I hope this is okay,” she said. “But I don’t know what I’m going to do about dinner. The stove is gas, but the ignition must be electric. I tried to turn it on, but all it did was click.”
“We could have sandwiches,” I suggested.
“We don’t have any sandwich bread.”
“You bought bread today,” I pointed out
“That’s for the bread pudding for Christmas Eve. I’m sure we have something in the kitchen that would be easy, but without any power or lights…”
“We’ll figure it out. Haven’t you ever gone camping before?” I asked.
“This isn’t camping. This is a power outage during a snowstorm. What happens when it starts to get cold?” I could hear the panic starting to rise in Nova’s voice.
“We’ll be fine. We have a fireplace. We’re inside. We have this huge house all around us. It’s going to take quite a while before all the heat goes away.”
“But the bedrooms upstairs are going to be cold. You don’t want to let Amelia sleep in a cold bedroom, do you?”
I knew Nova’s concern wasn’t for Amelia, but for herself.
“I think after dinner, when it’s time to go to bed, we’ll camp out here. The fire will keep us warm. We have plenty of blankets, and we have more than enough room that we can set up a big tent in here.”
“A tent? In the den?” She sounded dubious.
“Yes, a tent. The walls of the tent will act like a layer of insulation, just as all the other walls between us and the outside. We’ll hang some extras over the windows.”
“Okay, that takes care of keeping us warm. What were you planning on making for dinner?” Nova asked.
“Do we have some canned soup in the pantry? We have a fire. All we need is a pot and we can cook. Just like camping.”
“Over the fire in the fireplace?” Nova asked.
“In the fireplace,” I repeated.
“If we’re camping, can we roast marshmallows?” Amelia asked.
“How do you know about doing that?” I asked. I had never taken Amelia camping. She wasn’t old enough, or maybe I wasn’t ready for her to be old enough. This upcoming summer, I should think about a camp for her, taking her out or sending her off to one of those programs.
“They always do that in movies. Whenever they go camping, they tell ghost stories around the fire too.”
“I don’t know about ghost stories,” Nova said. “I don’t need to be any more scared.”
“There’s nothing to be scared of. We’re safe, we’re inside, and we’re together. I’ll keep you safe,” Amelia said.
After the power went out, Nova was far more nervous than I realized. She must have been keeping her anxiousness in check after I got her home. After I pulled her from the car, I thought she was doing fine, but her giggles held no humor.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Sure, sure, I am.” She giggled nervously.
“Why don’t you and Amelia set up a pillow fort for us? That’ll help keep us warm like a nest.”
“Where are you going?” Nova asked.
“I’m going to go find stuff in the kitchen for dinner.”
“Not without me.”
With Nova and Amelia following me into the kitchen, instead of simply rummaging around in the pantry looking for cans of soup that could be heated in a pan, it became a complete foraging party into the dark unknown. Amelia seemed to be having fun. Nova, I wasn’t so certain about.
“Do you like music?” I asked as I searched the pantry.
“Sure, but the radio isn’t going to work without power,” Nova pointed out.
“I wasn’t thinking about the radio.”
I turned and handed a couple of cans of hearty beef soup that I had found to Nova. “Here, take these and grab a pot and I’ll meet you back in the den.”
“Where are you going?” she asked as I started to walk past her.
“To get some music. I’ll meet you back in the den.”
A look of pure panic crossed her face. I paused and took her hand. “Just because the lights are out doesn’t mean there’s some boogie man around the corner. The house hasn’t magically rearranged itself. All the rooms are in the same place as they were when the lights were on. Besides, you’ve got Amelia with you. She won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m being silly, aren’t I? It’s just a storm. I’ve been through plenty of those.” Her voice quavered.
“It’s okay to be nervous. You had a bit of a scare earlier with the car. I’m sure your nerves are still jangled from that. And you don’t know this place like the back of your hand like you would if you were at home.”
“Right. I can walk through my parents’ house with my eyes closed and barely bump my shins.”
“You’ve got the flashlight on your phone. You’ll be fine.” I ran my hand over her upper arm. I resisted pulling her in for a hug. It wouldn’t have been particularly comfortable with her hands full of soup cans.
I left her and Amelia in the kitchen, continuing their search for marshmallows. Amelia would not accept that there were none in the pantry.
I crossed the dark house. There wasn’t even enough light coming in through the large windows to help me see my way. I looked out the oversized windows. We were going to lose a lot of heat through those. They were double-pane windows and sealed for efficiency, but in this cold without the furnace working… If the power wasn’t back on tomorrow, I’d have to figure out a way to keep the warmth in. I should probably close off this side of the house during the winter.
I felt the chill when I opened the music room. Another spot in the house with large windows that weren’t doing a very good job of keeping the cold out. At least there were drapes in here that I could close. After untying and closing the drapes, I grabbed my guitar and made my way back to the den.
It was empty. The cans of soup and a pan rested on the front of the fireplace.
“Oh, there you are. A guitar! You did get music. I assume that means you can play?” Nova said as she as Amelia came back into the room.
She had a tray covered with a variety of items, from soup bowls to a box of crackers and a block of cheese. I did not see any marshmallows.
“Yes, I play. Did you get everything? Need help bringing more from the kitchen?”
“No, I think we have everything we need.”
Nova began setting things up for us to have a dinner cooked over an open fire. I sat on the floor between her and the fireplace, ready to offer my services as grill master for the night.
“Did you get pot holders?” I asked. “This is going to be hot to the touch.” I held up the pot I expected to be using to cook the soup.
“Oh, no, I didn’t. I’ll be right back.” Nova jumped to her feet and disappeared into the dark.
She came back a moment later holding out several options for me.
“Are you doing better?” I asked. She seemed more comfortable, at least with the path between the den and the kitchen.
She nodded. “A bit. I was just being…”
“Nervous,” I finished for her.
She nodded. “Nervous. I’m not a fan of the dark or the cold.”
“It’s okay, we’re here,” Amelia said. “We’re here for you.”
I reached out and ruffled her hair.
“Thank you.” I could have sworn she blushed as she lowered her eyes. Maybe it was the firelight adding color to her cheeks?
“Do we have a can opener?” I asked.
Nova let out a frustrated breath of air and climbed back to her feet. “I’ll be back.”