Page 47 of A Winter Thaw

“Just about.” Elaine shook her head, chuckling. “And how was everything with you here, Michelle?”

“Oh, I survived.” Michelle laughed. “I can’t even begin to tell you how glad I am that you’re here. I definitely felt like an octopus at times, trying to do eight things at once. Actually, maybe it would have been better if I was an octopus. I’m sure more limbs would have been useful.”

“I’m so sorry we left you here by yourself.” Audrey bit her lip. “If I’d had any idea we’d get stranded for so long, I never would have left.”

“Not your fault,” Michelle assured her. “And I was okay. Things… well, things always turned out okay in the end.”

“You were saying that someone other than Evan helped you,” Elaine said, picking up one of the chocolate-covered almonds.

Oh no, Michelle thought, groaning internally. I shouldn’t have mentioned that. Now they’re going to talk to me about Theo being here.

“Who was it?” Audrey prompted.

“Um, Theo stopped by a couple of times,” Michelle said, keeping her eyes fixed intently on a square of cheese on the charcuterie board. “He helped shovel the driveway and he came by when the power went out.”

“The power went out?” Elaine squeaked.

“Only for a while.” Michelle laughed. It was easy to laugh now that the ordeal was over. “Theo lit a fire in here and helped me get flashlights out to everyone. He was great.”

There was a long pause, and Elaine and Audrey looked at each other, their expressions clearly suspicious.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you describe Theo as great before,” Elaine said, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

“He really was.” Michelle cleared her throat. “I couldn’t have managed without him.”

“Really?” Audrey leaned forward, narrowing her eyes slightly. “So he shoveled the driveway for you, huh?”

Michelle could feel that her cheeks were flushed a bright pink. Still keeping her eyes glued to the piece of cheese, she spoke slowly. “He was really nice. He helped me bring in the groceries one day, and then he helped me with the driveway, and then he appeared out of nowhere when the power went out and helped me with everything. And um.” Michelle inhaled. Part of her never wanted to tell anyone about the kiss, in case she and Theo decided to just stay friends for the rest of their lives. But the rest of her was itching to tell them, even though she felt skittish and embarrassed. “Then we were on the porch together while I let Puddle out, because he said he wanted to make sure that I didn’t slip.”

“That was thoughtful.” Elaine’s tone was serene, but her expression was a little impish.

“It was.” Michelle cleared her throat. “And then, he um, he kissed me.”

“What?” Elaine and Audrey both gasped at the same time. Audrey reeled backward and then leaned forward, nearly spilling her wine.

“Yeah.” Michelle found herself smiling sheepishly, and she couldn’t stop. “He kissed me, and then right in the middle of it, the lights came on.”

“Oh, how romantic,” Elaine said.

“Oh.” Michelle had never thought of it that way. “Um, yeah I guess so. But then I felt really awkward and I excused myself, and then he didn’t come back inside. Which is my fault because I told him goodnight.” She shook her head. “And I still had his coat on because he gave me his coat—anyway, I went upstairs and blew out all the candles, and by the time I came back to the kitchen, Theo and his coat were gone.”

Audrey and Elaine exchanged a look. Michelle almost demanded to know what it meant, and then she decided that she’d rather not know. It was probably something along the lines of, “When is Michelle going to admit how much she likes him?”

Did she like him like that? Every time she tried to ask herself the question, her mind seemed to buzz with nervousness so intensely that she hardly knew what her own thoughts or emotions were.

“And then what happened?” Elaine prompted. “Have you seen him since?”

“Yeah, I have. I was sitting in Townsend’s yesterday getting some work done, and he came in and sat down with me.” Michelle paused, taking a deep breath. “He told me that he’s had a crush on me for a long time.”

She looked up at her mother and grandmother, wondering how they were going to react. Audrey blinked at her. The corner of Elaine’s mouth was curving upward.

“Well? Isn’t that crazy?” Michelle prompted.

“Noooo,” Audrey said slowly. She laughed. “I think everyone in town knows that Theo has a crush on you.”

“What?” Michelle spluttered. “I mean, he’s acted weird around me a few times…”

“He’s been acting weird around you ever since you were kids,” Elaine said. “I think everyone in Coral Sands probably saw this coming.”