Page 89 of Double Booked

Cole awakened next to Eden’s warm body, but the bedroom felt unusually cold. He turned over to see what time it was, but the alarm clock was blank and dark. Realizing they must have lost power during the night, he climbed out of bed to investigate. Eden barely budged as he padded out of the room into the hallway. His suspicion was confirmed when he went downstairs into the cold living room. He went over to the large picture window and peered outside. The lawn was snow covered, and it was still snowing heavily.

“Great,” he muttered. The gas fireplace wasn’t going to do them any good without power. Glancing around, he spotted the small woodstove in the far corner of the room. He’d noticed it before, but dismissed it as part of the decorations. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a working stove, probably installed for this very reason. Then he recalled seeing a covered bin on the deck that he hoped contained wood. He put on his coat and boots and went outside to the deck. Thankfully, there were two bundles of wood inside the bin. He pulled one out and went back inside.

Soon, he had a fire going, and the living room started to feel warmer. He was adding another log to the fire when Eden emerged from the bedroom and paused on the landing.

“Why is it so cold in here?” she asked.

“We lost power sometime in the night. We’ll have to make do with a fire until it comes back on.”

She came downstairs in his T-shirt and disappeared into her bedroom. A few minutes later, she reemerged wearing pajamas, a robe, and slippers.

Cole had moved the couch closer to the woodstove, and he patted the space beside him. She joined him, and then he spread a blanket over their legs. “Better?”

“Much.” She cozied up next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Sorry this happened.”

“I’m not.”

“Really?”

“Now we’ll get to spend the whole day together instead of working.”

“I was going to take the day off, regardless.”

“Oh.” She smiled up at him.

Later, he’d send some of the photos he’d taken horseback riding to a local magazine, minus the ones of the four of them.

“This could be challenging, no TV, no internet, no heat.”

“No interruptions,” she added.

“It sounds like you’re looking on the bright side,” he teased.

“You taught me well.”

He gave her a squeeze. “I planned on whisking you off to Grand Lake today, but the road won’t be passable.”

“Where’s Grand Lake?”

“It’s a quaint little town on the other side of Rocky Mountain National Park. I thought we could make a day of it.”

“We can go there when the weather clears up.”

“Right.” He had a feeling they were both thinking that there wasn’t much time left. At the end of the week, they were both leaving for home, their separate homes. For a few minutes, they stared at the woodstove without speaking.

“We could play Scrabble,” she said suddenly.

“Great idea, but maybe we should eat breakfast first.”

She shook her head. “Whoever loses has to make breakfast for both of us.”

“Okay then.” He went and retrieved the game from the coffee table. He was still barefoot, and the floor was cold beneath his feet. Returning to the couch, he set the board between them, and they picked their tiles.

“Remember the first time we played?” she asked.

“Of course.”