Page 49

“Let me guess, Reed didn’t eat egg yolks.”
“You’d be right. Cholesterol, I think. He didn’t have a problem but thought he could in the future.” She shuddered. “I went months without eggs, and even sugar.”
“How did you survive that?”
“I snuck some in when things got desperate.”
I could see Stella with contraband stuffed into her purse. “That reminds me of the time you snuck in brownies in high school.”
“Oh, when Nick lied to me and didn’t tell me they were pot brownies? I could have gotten arrested for that.”
“I doubt?—”
“Could you see me in prison? Be honest, Alden.”
“I would have bailed you out.”
She rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. “There you go again, covering for Nick even in the hypothetical. He needs to own up for his own shit and bail me out himself.”
I didn’t have anything to say to her. She’d struck a little too close to home, and the memory of me telling her that we wouldn’t work to cover for his discomfort played behind my eyes.
Luckily, her eyes were now on the stove.
“Will you teach me how to keep the fire going?”
“Why?”
“It’s something I should know. Besides, I can’t let you do all the work.”
“I’m happy to do all the work.”
“Then I’m not the kind of woman to let a guy do everything for her. And if you die because you’re outside splitting logs, then I’ll need to survive somehow.”
“I’m not going to die because I’m splitting some logs.”
“Oh, then howwillyou die?”
My eyes moved to her. I had a feelingshewould be the death of me.
And it would be the greatest end I could ask for.
“Nothing,” I said. “I’m immortal.”
She rolled her eyes. It almost felt like we were kids again, getting along. “I still want to know how to take care of the fire. I need something to do with all of this time.”
“Keeping a fire going isn’t going to take all day.”
“Don’t remind me. The boredom is already eating me alive.” Her eyes went to the window, gazing over the white scenery. Everything was brighter than I’d ever seen. The sun wasn’t yet out and more flurries dumped from the sky. Hollywood would have a hard time crafting a winter wonderland as perfect as this one.
I let out a sigh when I looked at it.
“That’s gonna be a nightmare for everyone,” I said lowly. After years of working in parks, I had yet to see a storm like this, but even the smaller ones over the years had been a logistical nightmare.
She turned to me. “Do you remember when we got three inches of snow back when we were all in school? You, Nick, and I went out to the park, and Mom thought we were missing?”
“You guys got the lecture of your life.” I cracked a smile. “But it was fun. Watching Nick eat shit always is.”
“There are good hills here. And Amma has sleds in the shed.”