Page 71 of Rival Hearts

“We’ll be okay,” Charlotte said. “We don’t have anything we need to cook, and our body heat will keep us warm. At least it’s not winter.”

“Thank God.” I tied my blanket around my waist like a towel so I could use both my hands.

I opened the trunk and rummaged through it. I found bits of rope, rags, a few odd tools. Lightning struck again, and the light reflected off a tin. When I lifted it up, it had liquid in it. I shook it to be sure.

“What’s that?”

“If this is what I’m hoping it is…” I opened the cap and sniffed it, coughing when I inhaled the pungent, diesel-like smell.

“Kerosene.”

“How is that possible?”

“It’s been sealed, and I think it might have been left here more recently. Maybe we’re not the first people to use this place as a haven overnight. Now all we need…” I kept rummaging, hoping beyond hope that this good luck would last and I would find the last thing I actually needed.

My fingers found a little box, and when I pushed it open and fiddled inside, it was exactly what we needed.

Matches.

There were only two left, but it was better than nothing.

I carried the lamp to the table.

“I can’t see much,” I said. “Can you help me?”

Charlotte shifted, coming closer to the table. She sat on a chair.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just hold the lamp steady.” I carefully screwed off the glass chimney. I opened the brass lamp, and feeling where the opening was with my fingers, I poured kerosene into it. The smell of the fluid filled the air, and Charlotte coughed.

When the lamp was filled, I put the wick back in place.

“Here goes nothing.” I struck a match.

By some miracle, the match caught fire, and it didn’t burn out. It had to be some kind of miracle because finding a lamp,kerosene, and dry matches in this place was highly unlikely. But I wasn’t going to question fate right now.

I held the match to the wick. It took a moment before it caught alight, but the kerosene seeped into the wick, and the flame burned bright.

Warm golden light flooded from the lamp, and when I looked at Charlotte, she beamed at me. The soft light made her features that much more beautiful.

I screwed the chimney back onto the lamp and pushed it to the middle of the table so that we didn’t risk knocking it over.

Charlotte sat back, and I took a seat on the other side of the table. We stared at the little flame, dancing happily now that it had enough fuel to burn.

“How did you know how to do that?” she asked.

“What? It’s just a kerosene lamp.”

“Yeah, I know. But you’re just… you know,rich.”

I blinked at her, and she blushed. “I mean…” She shook her head. “You just seem to know a lot about survival, and I didn’t think you would need to know anything like that. Since you have enough money to survive.”

I chuckled. “Just because I have a lot of money doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn about things like survival. Chris and I used to go on adventures together all the time. We learned how to pitch tents, how to follow tracks, read the stars, start fires…”

“I didn’t take you for that kind of guy. You look like the type who belongs in a boardroom, not in a tent.”

I cocked a grin at her. “The wild mountain man idea doesn’t suit me?”