“Good morning,” I said back politely.
She walked behind me, running her hand up my arm and over my shoulder. “Maybe today we can watch that movie?”
“Uh, maybe,” I replied, trying to be polite.
I was used to girls throwing themselves at me and handing me phone numbers, even the occasional hotel room key, but I never followed up. It wasn’t my style, and Ashley certainly wasn’t the one changing that for me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Kacie watching us, cracking a grin when Ashley made the movie suggestion, again. Kacie knew I’d lied to Ashley about having a girlfriend the night before, and she was thoroughly enjoying my squirming. Ashley turned around to look out the back door of the family room, and I shot Kacie a playful glare and shook my head. She threw her head back and laughed silently.
“How’s the weather looking?” Fred said as he came into the family room.
“Mornin’, Fred. Not sure, I haven’t turned the TV on yet,” I replied, shaking his hand.
“Well, let’s check it out.” Fred grabbed the remote and flipped on the morning news.
“Yes, Bob, raining cats and dogs is an understatement, and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping any time soon. Folks, if you had plans today, you’d better cancel them. We are expecting more rain and lots of it. In some areas it’s coming down at the rate of one inch per hour. Massive flooding all over the county and power outages galore-”
Fred clicked the TV off in the middle of the weatherman’s report and dropped the remote on the couch, his head falling back in exasperation. He looked over toward Sophia and my eyes followed. Poor Sophia. I knew that look anywhere—my mom made it too. She was panicked, clutching her necklace, staring back at Fred. He got up off the couch and walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay, don’t worry. The sandbags are keeping the lake at bay and you bought that back-up generator for a reason. It’s business as usual around here.” She looked over and smiled at him, her face more relaxed.
I walked into the kitchen, up behind Kacie who was on her tiptoes trying to reach something in the fridge.
“Need help?”
“Ah!” she yelled, spinning around. Her back slammed against the refrigerator shelves.
“Whoa! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. My mind was somewhere else.”
“I hope wherever it was, it was having fun.” I winked at her playfully. “What can I help you with?”
“Knowing my brain, it was re-organizing a closet and sorting dirty laundry into color coordinated piles.” She grinned up at me. “Um … wanna cut up some strawberries?”
“Yep, I’m all over it.” I grabbed the cutting board and pint of strawberries and got to work.
“Kacie, did Fred tell you about the shower?” Sophia asked her.
“The shower?” Kacie pulled her brows in close and looked at her mom, confused.
“Nothing major. I think it’s just a broken cartridge, but no water comes out, so no one can use it until it’s fixed. I’ll get to it this afternoon,” Fred said, walking over to pour himself a cup of coffee.
“Oh, no biggie. If I smell today, it’s Fred’s fault.” Kacie teased, nudging him with her elbow as he walked by.
I discreetly stared at Kacie as she continued small talk with her mom and Fred. I had found myself doing that a lot over the last eighteen hours, but I couldn’t help it. She was mesmerizing, every little thing about her. From her bright green eyes, to her cute little nose that crinkled just a little bit every time she smiled. When we were talking last night, I was trying hard to concentrate on what she was saying, but I kept drifting off, getting lost in her features. Twenty-four hours ago, I didn’t know this girl existed. Now I wanted to know every single detail about her, all the way down to her shoe size.
“Mmmmm, I love strawberries. So sweet and juicy.” Ashley winked at me as she reached over and grabbed a berry, popping it into her mouth.
I smiled politely, finding it hard to hide my annoyance with her any longer. Though this detour to the Cranberry Inn wasn’t planned, it had been surprisingly awesome so far, except for Ashley. She was a thorn in my side that I wish I could remove. I didn’t have a lot of time left here, and she was not the one I wanted to spend it with.
Just then, Kacie wiggled in between Ashley and me with catlike prowess and set down a cast iron skillet full of gooey, delicious-looking cinnamon rolls on the island. She took the cutting board from me, brushing the strawberries into a bowl. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I knew what she was doing.
She was saving me from Ashley, amongst other things.