Chapter 8
Eight
Callie
Why is it so cold? I thought the further South I moved, the warmer it would be.
I’m sitting in the car waiting on the school to release Alexandra.
We got an alert that there would be early dismissal.
This storm is supposed to be pretty bad.
At least, that’s what all the reports say.
But really, all we ever got down here was ice. How bad can it really be?
Could Lexi have ridden the bus? Yes. Am I too much of a mama bear to let that happen?
Also, yes. There’s no point in having the bus come down our road when she’s the only person who gets off there.
Maybe it’ll allow the driver to get the kids home slightly earlier, and get themself home to their family.
My phone rings and I answer without seeing who it is. Not many people from my prior life reach out anymore. Once I left, they forgot I existed. I guess it shows who my true friends are. I think I’ve talked to Angie more than anyone I’ve spent the last sixteen years with.
“Hello?”
“Cal, are you home?” Miles doesn’t bother with a greeting.
“I’m at the school waiting on Lexi. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to make sure you were home before this storm. You have groceries and all that, right?”
Do I? I went grocery shopping a couple of days ago, but I never buy a ton at a time. It’s just me and Alexandra. We don’t require much.
“Yeah, I have some food. Why?”
“Good. At least you’re prepared. If things go wild with this storm, I wanted to be sure you have everything you need. I won’t be able to leave the ranch.”
“I’ve managed storms without you for quite a while. We’ll be fine.”
“I know. I know.” He chuckles and is silent for a bit. “It’s hard not being an overbearing brother. I’m trying to stop, but it’s difficult now that you’re only fifteen minutes away.”
He’s not wrong. He still tried to be protective when I was living in Oklahoma, but it’s not like he could take his lunch time to come check on me when he thought I was lying to him.
Which I was most of the time. Things weren’t great, but I did my best to pretend I had the picture-perfect life for him.
“All I’m saying is if I move away again, it’ll be your fault.”
“That’s not funny.” Someone calls his name in the background, and I have a feeling he’s not supposed to be on the phone with me. “I have to go. But call me if you need anything and I’ll do my best to get over there. I can’t make any promises, though.”
“We’ll be fine. Stop worrying.”
“Okay. Love ya little sister.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t know why he says it like that. Maybe it’s to remind me he thinks it’s his job to take care of me. It’s annoying, but I’ll let it slide.
“Love you, too, Miles. Now get back to work.”
I end the call before he can come back with a smartass comment. Kids are hurrying out of the school as I put my phone in the cupholder. None of them are my daughter, though. Hopefully Lexi checks her phone before getting on the bus. Otherwise, this will be a wasted trip.
Finally, I see her come through the doors. She glances around for my car and makes a dash for me as soon as she sees me.
A blast of cold air comes in as she opens the door and throws her bag in the floorboard. “Why can’t it be Spring yet?”
“Because it’s January?” I grin at the disdain on her face. “How was your day at school?”
“Okay, I guess. There isn’t much we can do when it’s freezing outside and end the day earlier than expected.”
“At least you get the rest of the day off school.” I shrug and put the car in drive. I have a feeling the traffic is going to be worse than normal. “Miles called and is worried we aren’t prepared for this storm.”
“That figures.” She puts her seatbelt on and turns the air vents to point directly at her. She probably wouldn’t be so cold if she’d wear something other than a hoodie. “We are prepared, right?”
“Yes. As much as we can be. It’s not like I can control what the weather does.” Though, it’d be really cool if I did. Like the character in the cartoons, I watched as a kid. I’d probably make it Fall weather all the time, though. Well, a normal fall season. Not like what we have in Texas.
“Good. I plan on cuddling up in my bed with Alice and reading.”
“After you do your chores, of course.”
She sighs, loudly. “Yes, after I do my chores.”
“Sounds like a plan. Maybe we can watch a movie tonight. If the weather prediction is so bad you have early dismissal, I doubt you’ll have school tomorrow.”
“That’s a good point. A movie night and sleeping in tomorrow. That is the dream life.”
It really is. We have to get home first, though.
Ice crackles as I pry the door open to let Alice outside to potty. She was in my face bright and early this morning. She’s not going to be happy when she steps one paw outside. Maybe I should get her some of those puppy shoes for when it’s cold like this. I bet she’d appreciate it.
She takes one step onto the porch and looks back at me before trying to come back inside. “Sorry, pup. You need to go potty first.”
When she realizes I’m not going to let her in after a few moments. She hurries to the yard to take care of business. The whole yard is bright white. It’s almost blinding.
The sleet started while we were watching the movie. I didn’t realize it turned into snow overnight. Large flakes are still falling to the ground. If this keeps up, they won’t have school for another day or two.
“Mom, close the door. It’s freezing in here.”
“I thought you were sleeping in.”
Alexandra wraps her comforter around her body. “I thought I was too. I guess I’m used to my school schedule now. This sucks.”
“At least you’re not in school.”
“Point taken.” She glances in the yard. “We’re totally building a tiny snowman after we eat breakfast. I didn’t think it snowed in Texas.”
“It doesn’t. At least, not often.” Alice rushes inside almost knocking Alexandra over. I close the door and turn to my daughter, doing my best to hold the giggle bubbling up. “Help me with breakfast? You’ll be warm.”
“Just so you know, I’m only doing the easy stuff.” She turns and heads straight to the kitchen. “You didn’t have to laugh.” The last words are muttered, but it’s loud enough for me to hear.
Now, I feel bad. Sort of. She definitely needs more sleep because she’s more in her emotions when she doesn’t have get her full eight hours.
“Go cuddle up under the covers.” I say as I enter the kitchen a few moments after her. “I’ll handle breakfast.”
“Thanks.” She doesn’t wait to see if I’ll change my mind and hightails it to her room. I don’t blame her. The adjustment has been fairly easy for her, but I can tell she misses her friends. Hopefully she’ll make new ones as the year progresses.
Right now, though, the most important thing I need to do is cook. It is cold in here, and it feels like the temperature is dropping. Which is wild since you’d think it would get warmer as the sun comes up.
Small taps can be heard hitting the windows as I turn on the oven to make biscuits. I guess the sun is going away and we’re getting more sleet. Maybe this storm is going to be bad as the weather folks said. I just hope nothing catastrophic happens before it’s done.
“Mom, my phone is dead.” Lexi calls from my bedroom door.
“Put it on the charger.”
“I already tried that, but it’s not working. The power is out.”
Those four words have me sitting up in my bed. “Do you know how long it’s been out?”
I glance over at her, and she is bundled up more than she was yesterday morning. Is she wearing a hat?
“Nope. But I’m guessing a couple of hours.”
“You know you could have led with that instead of your phone being dead.” I reach over to my nightstand to grab my phone.
“Yours is also dead.” Her eyes are focused on anything but me.
“Why is that?”
I don’t have a problem with her being on my phone, but at least let me know.
“Because I was trying to watch a show in bed while mine was charging and I fell asleep.”
Now I can’t contact the electric company. If we’re having power issues, I’m sure everyone else is, too.
“Grab my keys and plug them up in the car.”
She nods and dashes to the front of the house. I throw my comforter off and the second my body meets the air, I shiver. No wonder she’s wearing so many layers. It’s freezing in here.
Hurrying over to my dresser, I grab a pair of sweatpants to slide over my yoga pants and the thickest pair of socks I own. Next is an oversized sweater. We definitely need to let the power company know we don’t have electricity.
As I step outside my bedroom, I close the door. I move along the rest of the house closing doors. It’s the only way we’ll be able to keep any sort of heat contained to one room. If I had the number of blankets my parents did, I would block off sections of the house.
“Um, we have a visitor.” Alexandra says as I make my way into the living room. Peter is standing next to her.
I do my best to cover the shock on my face, but also curse at my luck. Of course, he’d show up when I just roll out of bed. I comb my fingers through my hair, doing my best to tame it.
“W-what are you doing here?” I hate the way I stutter when he’s around. After all this time, this man should not have this effect on me.
He shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back and forth on his feet. “Your brother couldn’t get ahold of you. He asked me to check on y’all since he can’t leave the ranch.”
Figures. Miles worries way too much. I don’t miss the way Lexi slips out of the room. “Our phones died. But, as you can see, we are both alive and well.”
“Except you don’t have power.”
“How do you know that?” Sun streams in through the windows so it’s not like we would have the lights on in the first place.
“The smoke detectors are beeping.”
As soon as he says it, I hear the high-pitched sound. I’m surprised Alice isn’t losing her mind. It’s one of those loud noises she doesn’t like. Not that I blame her. It’s more annoying than anything else.
“Add water to the things that aren’t working.” Lexi comes back to the living room with an empty glass in her hand.
Peter doesn’t even wait for a response from me. He heads to the kitchen and I follow behind him. He turns the handle on the sink faucet, and sure enough…nothing comes out. I could have sworn I left it dripping last night.
He pushes the handle back into position and turns to face me. “You should probably pack a bag.”
“Why?”
“Because you and Alexander are coming to stay with me.”
Teenage me would have jumped at this. Not now, though. I’m older, wiser, and capable of thinking about things other than how this man used to make me feel.
“No. We’re. Not.” I refuse to let him dictate what I’m going to do in my own house. “We have Alice to think about, and we’ll be fine here. This weather shouldn’t last too much longer.”
“Alice can come, too. I’m not going to let the pup freeze in this house on her own.” A flash of hurt crosses his face at the insinuation he wouldn’t let her come.
“That’s all fine and well, but if we don’t have power, I highly doubt you do.” His family may be well off, but it’s not like they have their own piece of the grid where the power never goes out.
“I don’t.” I open my mouth to argue my point, but he holds up his finger. “I have a generator and a fireplace. And…running water.”
“I’m in.” Lexi says before dashing out of the kitchen. If I know her, she’s going to pack because in her mind, this is settled.
“We can’t intrude on you like that. I’m sure you have other things going on.”
At this point I’ll say anything to keep from being cooped up in a house with nowhere to run when my past emotions try to bubble up.
He shakes his head, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s trying to hide a grin.
“The winery is closed until the roads clear up. I can take you to the ranch to stay with Miles, but he doesn’t have room for all of you.
I have a spare bedroom, warmth, and anything else you might need.
” He runs a hand through his short hair.
“Please don’t fight me on this. Otherwise, I’ll pack up my generator and do what I can here. ”
Oh, hell no. He’s not inviting himself to stay at my house. I know he means well, but I’m grown. Why can’t my brother, or Peter for that matter, understand that? However, I know this is a losing battle. Especially since my child is already getting ready.
“Fine. But I don’t think my car will make it on these roads.” I know it won’t. The tires need to be replaced and there’s no way I’m chancing that drive with my kid.
“That’s fine. There’s room in my truck.” He glances around the kitchen. “Is there anything you need me to grab while you get a bag?”
“Alice’s bed and some of her toys. She needs to be comfortable while we’re away from home.”
“I can handle that. Take as long as you need.”
“Okay.” It won’t take me long. I don’t plan on taking much except for comfy clothes. Anything to remind myself that I’m not dating anyone anytime soon. Especially him.