Chapter 9 So Far, So Good
So Far, So Good
The sound of the front door banging, followed by a muffled exclamation, woke Morgan. For a second, she lay there frozen before her brain caught up. It was Wednesday. And the front door was almost certainly her new roommate moving in.
Morgan rolled over and glanced at the clock.
Just after nine. A reasonable hour, one when most working people were up and had been at work for at least an hour.
That had been her until recently. Now, though…
She’d been awake until two. As usual. A couple of hours of fitful dozing, full of dreams she couldn’t remember, and then, it seemed, she’d fallen into a deep sleep.
She’d never had the option of sleeping until nine when she’d worked at Mattingley.
Morgan swung her legs out of bed and groped for a robe to pull over her pajamas, then shoved her feet into slippers and headed downstairs.
Heidi stood by the door, flicking each of the light switches in turn, evidently looking for the one that lit up the living area.
“Morning,” Morgan said. “It’s the bottom-right switch. The dimmer.”
Heidi startled and swung around. “Hi. Sorry if I woke you.” Her gaze raked Morgan from head to toe. “Nice PJs. Flannel. Always a solid fashion choice, especially after September.”
Morgan folded her arms. “I like a cool bedroom for sleeping. And, yes, you woke me, but that’s okay. I’m normally up by seven.”
“Don’t let me hold you up. I guess you’ve got to get ready for work.” Heidi twisted the dimmer, and the room brightened.
Morgan swallowed. “I can set my own hours, so I’m starting later today.” The lie burned in her throat.
“Lucky you. That’s why I’m moving in early.” She indicated the backpack propped against the wall. “My shift starts at noon. So I’ve got time to unpack and figure out what else I need to get before I head to work.”
So she hadn’t misled about working often. Morgan breathed a little easier. If Heidi kept evening shift hours and then enrolled at DU, Morgan would barely see her.
“When do you get back?” At Heidi’s puzzled glance, she added, “I’m not checking up on you. Well, I guess I am. I’m asking so I don’t worry if I’m in bed and hear the door open.”
“Fair enough,” Heidi said. “My shift finishes officially at nine. If it’s quiet, Robert will probably let me go at eight.
If it’s busy, he may ask me to stay later—and I always do, as the later hours get more tips.
I haven’t figured out the light rail times yet, so I don’t know how long it will take me to get home. Maybe thirty minutes?”
“I’ll probably be in bed.” No need to tell Heidi that while she might go to bed by nine or ten, she would almost certainly be awake until two.
Or three. Pacing her room, doing yoga in the living area, making herbal tea until she either went back to bed for an hour or stayed awake, sipping tea and staring out of the window as the peaks of the Rockies caught the morning sunlight.
Heidi left her pack by the door and went into the kitchen. “I’m making coffee. Want one? Oh.” She huffed a breath. “Or I would, except I haven’t gone grocery shopping yet. Would you mind if I used some of yours? I promise I’ll shop first thing tomorrow.”
“Sure.” What else could she say? Morgan followed her into the kitchen, hoping this wasn’t the start of Heidi treating Morgan’s groceries as her own. “I’ll make it. Show you how the coffee machine works. Then you’ll also know what sort of coffee to get.”
“Thanks.”
Heidi watched intently as Morgan showed her how to work the machine. Beans in the top, the setting for the grind, the water reservoir, the milk frother. Her coffee machine was state-of-the-art. She slid a sideways glance at Heidi. Hopefully, she’d respect that.
After a few minutes, Morgan shunted a mug of coffee across to her. “Try this.”
Heidi sipped. “It’s good. A bit weaker than I’m used to, but the roast is perfect.”
“Thanks. You can increase the strength with this dial. You’ll know now for next time.” She made one for herself.
Heidi showed no inclination to start unpacking, so Morgan sat at the counter.
Her toes twitched in her slippers. This was strange, a bit discombobulating.
A stranger—albeit a pleasant one—in her home, looking in the kitchen cabinets as if she lived here.
She caught herself. That was exactly it.
Heidi now lived here, and having her peer into the cabinets, commenting on her mixer, blender, electric wok, and other gadgets was making Morgan uncomfortable. Did Heidi expect to use them?
But of course she did; Morgan had advertised a furnished room, and what little she knew about how roommates functioned these days meant Heidi likely expected to use the kitchen equipment.
Her last roommate had been in college, over ten years ago—and they’d just kept to themselves.
Everything labeled. Didn’t share so much as a toilet roll.
“Thanks for clearing cupboard space,” Heidi said. “I won’t be cooking when I have evening shift, but on day shift, I’m happy to cook, happy to share with you, if you’d like.”
What would Heidi cook? Frozen burgers and oven fries? Overly processed food? Some weird Australian concoction? “Let’s see how our schedules mesh and then figure it out.”
“Sounds reasonable.” Heidi drained her coffee mug and went over to the sink, carefully washing it and putting it in the drainer.
“There are enough mugs to just put it in the dishwasher,” Morgan said.
Heidi slapped her forehead. “Of course. Next time I’ll remember.” She glanced at the kitchen clock. “I’ll go make up my bed, then I have to head to work. Thanks for the coffee.”
With a quick smile, she picked up her backpack and was gone, then her feet thumped up the stairs.
Morgan blew out a breath. That hadn’t been so bad. Maybe this would work after all.
She picked up her coffee and went over to her laptop in the office nook off the living area. Heidi had assumed she was working. That conversation would likely have to happen but not yet. First, Morgan had to see how the two of them would get along.
Twenty minutes later, the back of Morgan’s neck prickled with awareness as Heidi walked through to the kitchen. Morgan switched to a spreadsheet, one of the fictitious financial planning examples she’d used to train new hires—but Heidi wouldn’t know that if she happened to look.
The faucet ran briefly, then Heidi reappeared, a small day pack slung over one shoulder.
She was dressed in jeans and an oversize polar fleece.
The neckline sagged, showing the curve of her neck and the hollow at the base of her throat.
Her brown hair feathered over her ears, and the purple streak hung lower on one side.
Heidi waggled her fingers. “Bye. See you later. Around nine thirty p.m. is my best guess.”
Morgan offered a brief smile. Heidi had remembered her concern about hearing the door when she was in bed. That was good. “Thanks. Hope your shift goes well.”
“Me too.” Heidi padded across the floor in socked feet and pushed into her Nikes. The door closed behind her.
Morgan sighed, and her shoulders dropped as the slight tension drained away. So far, so good.