Page 6 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

Four

Gage

My mind had been racingsince the moment Julie said she was running from her boss and I hadn’t been able to stop obsessing over needing all of the information she refused to give me.When I saw how much stuff she had packed with her, I knew that she wasn’t just running from someone, but that she didn’t have any plans of going back.

Part of me hoped that it was just because her daughter was there and she didn’t want to worry her, but another part of me worried that she wouldn’t open up to me because of the current status of my friendship with her brother.

“Does she like macaroni and cheese?”I asked Julie as I stared in the fridge for kid-friendly dinner options.

“She’s not a picky eater, and like I said, you don’t have to cook for us.”

I closed the door and turned around to stare at her.

“If you truly think that I will cook for myself and not make enough for every person in this house, then you don’t know me at all.”

Lunch had been a battle as well, with Julie fighting me over making a ton of grilled cheese sandwiches and insisting she didn’t need me to take care of them.It wasn’t that I felt like Ineededto take care of them, but more so that Iwantedto.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she replied, sighing heavily.“I just feel bad that you’re doing all of this cooking for us.That’s extra work that you didn’t ask for.”

“It’s literally not any extra work.I just need to know what she likes.I don’t want to make something and she only eats it because she feels like she has to.I want her to like it.”

“Well, she’s probably still full from the popcorn and snacks you loaded her up with earlier,” Julie teased, walking beside me in the kitchen as she dug through one of the paper bags filled with food I had brought in from her car earlier.I had insisted on storing everything in the pantry for her, but she was still reluctant to do anything that might insinuate they would be staying with me for a while.Even when I showed them around the house and let them pick which bedrooms they wanted, I could see the anxiety rolling off of Julie as her mind raced with trying to figure out another option.

“She ate her lunch just fine,” I objected with raised hands.But she was right, I had given in and let Daisy have more snacks after lunch because I couldn’t say no to her adorable little face.

“Since you’re being so nice about it and won’t take no for an answer, this is her favorite macaroni and cheese.”

She handed me a box that had cartoon dogs on it and smirked.

“You want me to make herdogmacaroni?”I questioned, holding the box and examining it as I turned it around and looked at the other side.

“It doesn’t have actual dogs in it.”She laughed.“But this is her favorite cartoon to watch, so she will be excited when she sees it.”

“Wait—she hasn’t had this one before?”I asked, hating how excited I was to impress a child.

“No.”She shook her head.“I grabbed it at the store the other day, but didn’t have a chance to show her yet.After everything happened, my mind was kind of scattered.But it will be a nice surprise for her here.”

I nodded as if I weren’t affected by this at all.I didn’t want to come across as overly invested in things and scare her off, even though deep down I hated that something bad had happened, which left Julie and her daughter in danger.

While she worked on fixing a salad with the vegetables I had in the fridge, I focused on following the directions on the back of the box because I wasn’t going to be the one who ruined Daisy’s favorite macaroni.

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After dinner, I finishedpreparing the guest room for Julie while she gave Daisy a bath.While I had come up to the cabin with the intention of clearing it out so I could sell it, I hadn’t been there long before Julie showed up this morning.I had arrived the day before and had only enough time to unpack the essentials, knowing I would be there for a few weeks, thanks to the storm rolling in.Being a general contractor meant I didn’t have to hire anyone to come out and do the work that needed to be done.

Before dinner, I threw some linens in the wash so they would have fresh towels in the guest bathroom, and clean sheets and blankets for their bed.I had offered them any room in the house, aside from the one I had already taken.But instead of taking one with two beds, Julie chose the one right next to mine, which had a king-sized bed.She insisted that it made her feel better to have Daisy close to her, but I couldn’t stop myself from hoping that they would both feel safer being in the room right next to me.

I sat on the couch, pretending to watch TV while Duke laid beside me, tired from a long afternoon of cuddling with Daisy.I didn’t know if Julie would come out and talk with me once she got Daisy to sleep, but I hoped she would.I needed to talk to her and get answers to the questions that wouldn’t stop infiltrating my thoughts.

The news began with the meteorologist discussing how this storm would be greater than anything they’d seen before.I’d lived in Washington, close to Mount Rainier, for most of my life, so I knew how bad the snow could get.This storm seemed to be having a “hold my beer” moment with what the expected snowfall was forecasted to be.All of us were guaranteed to be snowed in for at least a few days—if not more.Thankfully, between what I brought with me and what Julie had, we had plenty of food to get us through until the roads were clear again and we could get to the store.