8. Eight
EIGHT
“Apparently, over ten thousand people in rural areas don’t have power,” Melody Summers, Stella’s mom, said over FaceTime. “The ice is weighing down the lines, and the wind is making it worse. They’ve even warned the city that our power could go too. I’m surprised the phones are even still working. The cell phone towers must have emergency backup power.”
“And that won’t last forever,” Stella said. “This is a nightmare. When I talked to Winnie earlier, she mentioned even the city might have rolling blackouts.”
“Glad we have a fireplace at our house.”
“This isn’t how I wanted to spend Christmas.” Stella sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I hate this.”
“We’ll get together after all of this is over,” Melody reassured her. “And we’ll make it extra special for getting through this storm. Now, do you know how to make a fire? ”
“I know how to,” I replied, coming into frame. I hadn’t made myself known simply because I didn’t want to get too close to Stella again. Her vanilla scent was already burned into my nose, yet each time I was around it still made my brain whiteout.
Melody’s eyes widened. “Alden? You’re there too?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, interesting .”
“There’s nothing interesting here.” Stella shook her head. “It’s just two people who happened to be in the same place while Amma disappeared.”
“Whatever you say, honey.” But she had the same look Amma did whenever she didn’t believe something we were saying. “So, Alden, you know how to handle this?”
“I do.”
“We’ll be fine,” Stella insisted. “If the wind doesn’t get us first.”
“That old house always sounded terrifying in a storm,” Melody said. “But it’s strong. And you have someone experienced there.”
“But turn your phones off to conserve power,” her dad, Chris, said. “You won’t be able to charge them, so save what you can if you need to call for help.”
I could see Stella pale at the mention of calling for help.
“We’ll save power, but we should be okay.” I hoped my voice came out reassuring.
“You never know what will happen, especially since there’s snow coming afterward,” Melody added. “I’m glad you’re not alone, Stella. We were worried about you.”
“I’ve got a fire going,” I said. “And Amma made Stella stockpile some food. That won’t last too long, considering the fridge won’t stay cold forever, but Amma also has shelf-stable food. We’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ve done so many camping trips with less, even in the cold.”
“All right, then. Stella, you have your survival buddy. No trying to get away from him—even if the roads look okay.”
“I don’t even have my car,” she said. “Nick dropped me off.”
“Where’s your car?” Melody asked with a frown.
“Um, Nick was supposed to pick it up, but with the storm ... I don’t know.”
“Pick it up from where?” Melody continued to frown.
“Reed’s apartment.” She lowered her voice as if she didn’t want me to hear. I was too close to her for it to work. “I broke it off with him.”
“Oh. What happened?”
“He proposed and I said no.”
My eyes jerked to her. He proposed ? Seconds later, I diverted my gaze, knowing Melody would catch my reaction.
I didn’t need to let my feelings show. Unfortunately, I was bad at it when I was near Stella .
“I’m sorry, honey. Did you not see yourself with him forever?”
“No. I didn’t even see myself with him through Christmas .”
“You’ll find someone,” Melody said. “And it might be good that you’re away for a bit, then. It will be a good distraction.”
Stella sighed. “Sure. Distraction by being stuck with ice. That was my first choice.”
I huffed out a laugh. It had been far too long since I heard her sarcasm. She adopted a certain tone whenever it came out that never failed to make me smile.
“You’ve at least got Alden smiling,” Melody said. “But you should have some fun, Stella. Take lots of pictures.”
“I don’t know if being in a snowstorm will be fun .”
“Fair. Maybe just try to stay alive, yeah?”
“Yeah, I’ll try. I should go. My phone is only at thirty percent, and I should save the battery.”
“Of course, honey. Be safe. Hopefully, you’ll get power back soon. Stay warm, and don’t let Reed get you down too much!”
She said her goodbyes and hung up. I resumed working, pretending I didn’t hear anything.
“You have thoughts,” she said. “I know you do.”
“It’s not really my place to share them.”
“Yeah, but we’re stuck together. We might as well get everything out in the open.”
I pressed my lips together in an attempt not to talk about her ex with her. It didn’t work. “I just can’t picture you engaged.”
“Neither can I. It’s why I said no.”
“You couldn’t see yourself marrying him but you were with him?”
“At one point, I thought it could work. He checked all the boxes. He had a fancy apartment and a good job. And he seemed to like me.” Her eyes went to the window. “That’s hard to find.”
I opened my mouth to tell her she was so fucking wrong it wasn’t even funny, but then I stopped myself. What the hell was I doing? Telling her that was opening a door I’d slammed shut years ago.
At least I still had a shred of control.
“Anyway,” she said with a humorless chuckle, “I should have known it wouldn’t work when he made shitty hot chocolate.”
“Maybe that’s how you should choose your boyfriends—how they make your favorite drink.”
“Probably. But I don’t know if I’ll ever feel like being in a relationship. Even with Reed, it felt like a chore. I’ve never felt a connection with anyone, but ...” Her eyes trailed to me and then back down to her phone. “Well, no one, I guess.”
Silence stretched over us. Did she mean me? Had she felt it all those years ago too?
No. I didn’t need to do this. I didn’t need to think like this .
“I should go call my boss.” I stood and took a few steps away from her.
“Yeah, you do that.”
I threw on my coat and went outside, grateful for the frigid air. I didn’t need to be out here, but I wanted to have some space. I never hated Nick more than I did whenever I was in Stella’s orbit. I never wanted to ruin things with Nick more than I did now.
Running a hand through my hair, I called my boss who said that he could get to the park to help out the other ranger, Ryan, since he was in the city. He told me to stay safe and warm before hanging up.
And now that everything was taken care of in the outside world, it left me alone with Stella—something that I had no idea what to do about.