Obviously, I’m not as important as I think I am.
Feeling annoyed, and then annoyed with herself for being annoyed, she finished dressing, slipped some silver hoops into her ears, and went back into the hallway. From Lucas’ room she could hear the shower running, so she decided to head downstairs and make some tea. Not that she really expected a cup of tea to help much with clearing her head, but at least it gave her something to do.
Today she knew her way around much better, so she got the tea going without much delay, did the same with Lucas’ Italian roast and the automatic coffeemaker, and then went to the kitchen door so she could gaze out on what the snow had wrought. All of his hard work of the day before had been more or less erased, the driveway now buried in what had to be more than a foot of snow. She felt a pang of dismay on his behalf, and wished he had two snowblowers so she could at least help him get it cleared.
Speaking of clear, the clouds overhead looked as if they had actually begun to part, patches of blue appearing above the snow-crowned tops of the ponderosa pines. That had to be a good thing, an indication that the storm was moving on.
As she was pouring hot water into a mug, Lucas appeared in the kitchen, scrubbed and smiling, hair damp. “I thought I smelled coffee. Thanks for getting it going.”
“It seemed the least I could do.”
He bent down and kissed her then, and she breathed in the clean scent of his freshly washed skin and hair. What was it that made a man smell so good? She wasn’t sure, but she knew she wanted to wake up to Lucas every day just so she could breathe deeply of his scent.
All right, that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to wake up next to him every day….
She turned away and watched him pour himself a cup of coffee. Today he was wearing more jeans and a Northern Pines sweatshirt. Had Damon given it to him, or had he bought it himself? She supposed it really didn’t matter, but something in her felt a little pang for Lucas and the friendship he’d lost. It had been easy for her to hate Damon; he was merely a figure of fear to her and the others in her clan, not a man at all. Now, though, she realized it had been a little more complicated than that, and she could only wish him peace, wherever he’d ended up.
Lucas wandered over to the door and peered through the thick glass, a resigned look on his face. “Looks like I’ll be hitting that driveway again after breakfast.”
“But at least it’s clearing up.”
His features brightened a bit. “True. I think we’re out of the woods for now.”
Was he talking about more than just the storm? She flickered a quick glance at him, but she couldn’t tell anything from the placid, pleasant expression he currently wore.
“Then I suppose I’d better get some breakfast together before you go out and break your back a second time.”
He brightened up at her suggestion. “That sounds good.”
It was another round of scrambled eggs, this time with sausage and toast. When they sat at the counter to eat, their legs brushed against one another, and Margot felt her body grow warm just at that casual touch. It was enough that she felt like taking him by the hand and pulling him back upstairs. But no, he had things to do, and she needed to learn how to restrain herself. Anyway, if he got all sweaty from clearing off the driveway again and had to take another shower, maybe that would be the time to cash in that rain check….
Snow check, she thought then, and fought back an implausible giggle. Margot Emory did not giggle. And yet…right now, she sort of wanted to. Despite everything.
As they had yesterday, she cleaned up breakfast, and he went to get “suited up” for another round in the driveway. Unlike the day before, however, he gave her a strong, hearty kiss before he went, one tasting of coffee, and she thought she could tolerate coffee when exposed to it that way. A few minutes later, she heard the roar of the snowblower, and hoped the noise wouldn’t irritate the neighbors too much. After all, it had to be barely nine in the morning; she didn’t know for sure, as all the digital clocks in the kitchen were still blinking. Then she had to remind herself that yes, it was early, but it was also a weekday. Presumably the neighbors to either side were not independently wealthy warlocks, and therefore had to get up and go to work, necessitating an even earlier driveway clearing than the one Lucas was currently engaged in.
Fixing the clocks was something useful she could do for him, so she fetched her phone — still free of texts or voicemails or emails — and used the time on it to reset everything. Well, everything she could reach. There was a clock high up in the living room that would have to be Lucas’ problem, but otherwise she took care of things as best she could.