Page 31 of A Winter Thaw

“Oh, sorry, I can⁠—”

“No, no.” He held his hand up. “I can do it. I’m great at crying.”

She laughed, and he felt a warm feeling in his chest. Smiling, he set to work chopping up the bell peppers and onions. The onions did make his eyes sting, but he didn’t really mind.

“We three kings of orient are,” Michelle sang, singing along to the radio.

“Tried to smoke a rubber cigar,” Theo sang.

She whirled around, blinking. “What on earth?”

“That’s an old version.” He grinned. “My grandpa taught it to me. People have always been goofy. Who knows? Maybe your ancestors have already sung that version in this very kitchen.”

Michelle lifted her eyebrows, unable to stop herself from grinning too. “Maybe.” She turned back to the stove, where she was browning beef in a frying pan.

Theo continued to sing the wrong lyrics to the song, imitating an opera singer with what he considered to be impressive accuracy. Michelle apparently thought so too, because she laughed brightly while he sang.

Before long, the casserole was in the oven, and Michelle and Theo were both leaning against the counter side by side, sipping their wine slowly.

“You’ll have to stay for dinner,” Michelle said. Her tone was casual, but Theo noticed that she was avoiding eye contact. “You gave all this free labor to the cause, you deserve the reward.”

“I won’t say no.” He took another sip of his wine, grinning. “It already smells incredible.” He was so thrilled that she’d asked, he wanted to dance. He forced himself to contain his enthusiasm, but he couldn’t stop grinning.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Michelle took a deep breath, smiling just as widely as Theo.

Is it my imagination, or does she seem happy that I’m going to stay? he wondered. She doesn’t seem like she’s just asking me because she feels obligated. She seems truly pleased.

“You want to play some checkers while we wait for dinner to be ready?” Michelle asked, gesturing to a game shelf that was tucked into a corner of the kitchen.

“Oh, sure. You want a little more wine?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, they were laughing over a game of checkers while the aroma of the enchilada casserole filled the kitchen.

Man, I could get used to this, Theo thought, feeling a pang of longing. I wonder if we’ll ever do anything like this again?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Elaine’s eyelids fluttered open slowly. She smiled when she saw the charming wallpaper of her and Audrey’s Boston hotel room. The light seemed different that morning than it had on the other mornings of their trip—it was paler, and grayish.

I almost don’t want to leave this morning, she thought, rolling over onto her side and gazing at the window for a moment. The curtains were half-closed, letting in a little light but not much. It’s been so lovely here. But I absolutely cannot wait to get home to Michelle and The Birchwood House—and to Shep!

She reached for her phone, hoping that Shep had sent her another text. So far on her trip, he’d texted her first thing every morning, and since he woke up early to run the bakery, his text was always waiting for her when she woke up.

As soon as she’d clicked her phone screen to life, however, her eyes widened and a pit formed in her stomach.

“Oh no,” she gasped, reading a text from the airline.

She began to tap her phone screen hurriedly, checking her email and then the weather. She inhaled, feeling a rush of dismay.

Our flight has been cancelled? she thought, hardly able to believe it. I had no idea the weather was going to take such a turn. Brutal cold, and now a snowstorm. Looks like we’re stranded in Boston.

She sat up fully, immediately wanting to tell Shep. She glanced at Audrey, who was still sleeping soundly. She didn’t have the heart to wake her just yet, so she grabbed her phone and hurried across the room into the bathroom. She dialed Shep’s number quickly and held the phone to her ear, inhaling again while she listened to it ring.

It only rang once before Shep answered it. “Hey, Elaine,” he said, his voice as gruff as usual. She could hear in his tone, however, that he was happy to talk to her. “How are you?”

“Not so good.” Despite her best efforts, tears sprang into her eyes. “I just saw that our flight has been cancelled because of the weather.”