Chapter 13
Thirteen
Peter
As much as I’ve enjoyed having Callie and her daughter here, I’ll be happy when I can sleep in my bed again. This couch isn’t the most comfortable when I’m hanging off the end.
My shoulders and back are tight as I throw off the blanket and stand. I twist back and forth to see if my back will hurt less, but no such luck.
My phone dings with a text message.
Parker
I’m going to town to see if anyone has power yet.
Peter
Okay. Why are you telling me this?
Parker
To see if you want to ride. And to check if the roads are clear.
He’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m getting in the car with him behind the wheel. He only knows one speed…fast.
Peter
I’m good. Let me know if the roads are good.
Parker
Fine. I’ll ask Phillip.
I feel kind of bad for not going, but it’s not like I can just leave when I have people staying with me.
It would be rude. Not that I can tell my brother that.
Nobody knows Callie and Alexandra are with me.
If I tell them, it’ll be a whole thing. The last thing I want to do is give them something to gossip about.
The door to my room opens and I watch Callie cross the hall to the restroom. I figured she’d sleep in. Yesterday was a busy day with snow angels and board games. We had a good time. At least, I think we did. She wasn’t glaring at me.
Now if I could get her alone to talk about the interaction in my room that first night. I tried bringing it up after Alexandra went to bed but she wouldn’t acknowledge any sort of moment. I know we had one, even if she refuses to admit it.
She comes out of the restroom and into the living room. Her hair isn’t all over the place. I’m guessing she brushed it before leaving the room this time. I don’t know why she’s so self-conscious. She didn’t used to be.
“Good morning.” She says before falling onto the recliner. “Is Lexi still asleep?”
“I think so?”
“You don’t sound too sure about that.” She laughs. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a sound more. She’s more relaxed.
As bad as it sounds, I think she needed me to come rescue her. To have someone take care of her. It might be presumptuous of me to say, but I have a feeling she didn’t have a lot of that in her marriage.
“She hasn’t come out of the room yet. So, I assume she’s still sleeping.”
“Or, she’s laying in bed reading a book or watching videos.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s what she does every morning before school. I’m shocked she makes it to class on time with how late we leave.”
“Piper was the same way. Hell, she still is. She comes into work whenever she feels like it.”
Alexandra reminds me a lot of my sister. She’s outspoken but not afraid to scheme to get what she wants. It’s probably a good thing she doesn’t have any siblings. I can envision them getting into a lot of trouble and talking their way out of it.
“And Pierce allows that?”
“He doesn’t really have a choice. It’s not like he knows how to do her job.”
Not that he’d actually fire her, no matter how many times he’s threatened it. If it wasn’t for my sister we wouldn’t be becoming a household name outside of Asheville.
“That’s fair. So, what’s on the agenda for today? I’m surprised we haven’t run out of gas for the generator. Do you need to get more or anything?”
“We’re good on gas.” The fire is dying down and I need to add more wood. I move to the stack sitting beside the mantle. “As far as what we’re doing today, I guess more of what we did yesterday. Though, you might be able to go home.”
“Oh.” Is that a touch of sadness in her eyes. “How do you know that?”
“I don’t yet. Parker went to town to see what the situation is. He wanted me to go with him, but I said no. He’s supposed to let me know about the roads.”
“Are we the reason you didn’t go with your brother?” Before I can say anything she continues. “We would have been fine on our own. You shouldn’t be changing what you’re doing because of us.”
“First of all, you were only part of the reason. I was waiting for you to get up to start breakfast.” The way she picks these little fights as if she’s an inconvenience. “Second, my brother can’t drive for shit. There’s no way I was getting in the car with him if there’s ice on the road.”
She taps her fingers against her leg, a nervous habit she’s had since we were kids, thinking over what I said. Clearly, I need to give her some time to let down her defenses.
“Fine, but we shouldn’t have been part of the reasoning to begin with.” She pulls the arm on the side and leans back. “We’re fully capable of taking care of ourselves.”
“Never said you weren’t.” There’s a chance the comment will fuel an argument, but I’ll take it.
“As long as you know.” She grins and turns on her side to watch the fire.
I leave her to it and head to the kitchen. Alexandra can eat when she wakes up, or decides to leave the room. Not that I blame her, even with the heaters and fireplace it’s still cold in the house. I’ll be happy when we get above freezing.
Eggs would be easier to make, but I think we’ll go with pancakes today. I pull out the ingredients and get to work on breakfast.
The plus side to being stuck at home because of the weather is I’ve eaten more home cooked meals the past few days than I have in a while. Mostly because I have people, other than myself, to feed.
It’s almost pointless to cook for myself and my freezer is typically stocked with ready to eat meals. Guess it’s a good thing I haven’t gotten groceries yet. The freezer wouldn’t kept the food good.
“Do you need any help?” Alexandra pokes her head into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Alexandra.” I give her a quick wave and pour the batter onto the skillet. “I think I’m good.”
“You know you can call me, Lexi, right? You don’t have to say my full name, it’s a mouthful.”
She’s not wrong. “It felt like more of a family nickname, and I didn’t want to assume it was okay. I needed to earn that right.”
As far as she knew, I was just someone who returned their dog. There was no guarantee I was going to be a part of their lives.
“You earned it the night you brought Alice back to us, but keeping us warm didn’t hurt.”
“That’s good to know, Lexi.” I flip two pancakes and add bacon to the frying pan. “Your mom’s in the living room. I should be done in about twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good.” She doesn’t stick around.
Even though they’ve only been here two days, it’s going to feel weird when they leave. Aside from me and Miles yelling at video games, this is the most lived in my house has felt.
“Home, sweet home.” Lexi sighs as we pull into their driveway. “Not that there’s anything wrong with your house. But my uncle has killed the mattress in your guest room, and I long for my bed.”
“Is it normal for her to talk about her bed like the heroes in those books she reads?” I point my thumb at her.
“She talks to food like that, too.” Callie rolls her eyes. “At least she’s passionate about those three things.”
“Because they are priorities.” Lexi pulls Alice into her lap. “And please stop talking about me as if I’m not here. I can hear you.”
Okay then. We’ve gone from happy teen to upset teen in the span of a minute. I’ll definitely have to pay attention to my actions in front of her. The last thing I want to make her feel is like a kid.
“I’m sorry, Lexi.” I nod at her in my rearview mirror and a small smile lifts the corner of her mouth.
“You’re forgiven.” As soon as the truck is in park, she throws open the door. “Me and Alice are going to run inside.”
“You need to help—.” But Lexi and Alice are already almost to the door.
“It’s fine Callie, I can unload.” I place a hand on hers, and am relieved when she doesn’t immediately pull it away.
“I know you can, but it’s also about teaching her responsibility. She won’t always have someone around willing to help.”
Except she will. That’s what our community does, we help regardless of what’s happening. Callie needs to remember that.
She pulls her hand away from mine and opens the door. Her strong, I can do everything on my own persona, coming in strong.
“Why don’t you take this and make sure everything is okay inside? I’ll get the bags.” I slide the chili toward her. “Check for water leaks and busted pipes. I’ll be there in a few.”
“Okay.”
There’s no argument or rebuttal. Thank God for miracles. I was half expecting her to gripe at me.
I wait until she’s out of the truck and inside before I get out.
I hope like hell they don’t have any more issues.
Not because I don’t want to help them, but it’s going to be a nightmare getting the supplies I’ll need.
There are bound to be quite a few people in town making a run on the same things.
I slide Callie’s duffel bag over my shoulder and pullout Lexi’s suitcases. I never asked her how many of the books she got through. She didn’t come out of the room much except to eat and make snow angels. Or like last night when she sat curled up by her mom.
Honestly, it’s sweet they have such a close bond. It reminds of my sisters with our mom. They knew no matter what Mom would be there for anything, no judgement. I have a feeling Callie is the same with her daughter. At least, from what I can tell.
I make my way to the front door. My feet slipping on the small patches of ice and trying not to bust my ass again. We don’t need a play of that incident. Lexi would have time to get out her camera and record.
Before I’m even close to the door, it opens. Callie’s face is filled with frustration.
“What’s wrong?” I stop in my tracks. My foot slides to the right and I try to correct myself.
“The good news is we have power.”
“And the bad?”
She throws her hands in the air. “There’s water all over the kitchen floor.”
This is what I was worried about. I should have turned off the water before we left for my house. I drop the suitcases and bag on the sidewalk and rush inside. There’s a thin layer of water on the floor.
“Can you get some towels to soak up the water? I’m going to look for the water shut off.”
I don’t give her a chance to argue, or question, and rush back outside. The first thing is to make sure the water gets shut off. I wish I knew when it happened. She knows to leave the water running, but they could have missed a faucet.
We probably could have caught it as it happened, but she wanted to wait to come home until I had power. She figured if I did, she did, too.
Finally, I find the shut off valve and get it turned off.
There’s no telling if I’ll be able to get someone out here to fix it soon.
I imagine they are busy right now. Fixing the problem myself is out of the question.
I can do minor repairs on houses, but I’m not the one who will crawl under a house.
Or knows anything about plumbing for that matter.
I grab the suitcases as I walk back inside. Callie is mopping up the last of the water.
“Did you get it turned off?” She asks as she lifts the soaking towel. Droplets of water hit the floor as she tries to get it under control.
“Yes, but you can’t stay here without water.”
She drops the towel and it hits the floor with a thwack. So much for all the water she cleaned up.
“We’ve got power, we’ll be fine.”
Why is this woman so freaking stubborn? It’s not like I’m telling her to move in with me.
“I understand that. But you won’t be able to cook, go to the restroom or take a shower. It may be a few days before a plumber can get out here. I’d rather know you’re comfortable.”
“But what about school? And I’m supposed to start a new job.” She’s looking everywhere but at me because she knows it’s a weak argument.
“Pack enough to get you through the middle of next week. I have a shower and y’all are welcome to stay as long as you need.”
“It’s unnecess—” She begins but I cut her off.
“There’s no argument here, Callie. I’m helping you and Lexi, get whatever you need and let’s get back to my house so I can make some calls.”
“Fine.” She stands and leaves the towel in the middle of the floor as she stomps toward the bedrooms.
If having her stay those few days was a bad idea, this is probably worse. For her, at least, I’m ready to get to know more about this version of her.