Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Jim just said.”
I pick a keyring off the carousel. It’s just a smooth, grey stone, with two white veins of quartz running through it, but there’s beauty in its simplicity.
She turns to us. “You’re at the Kinloch Cottage, right?”
“Yes, my cousin’s place,” Zach replies.
She lets out a disapproving snort and shakes her head. “Never seen him. Just make sure you’ve got the generator filled up. Don’t want any unnecessary SOS calls. In a red weather warning we only get SOS calls around here if some tourist has been stupid enough to leave the house, or some tourist has been stupid enough not to prepare.”
“There’s a generator?” Zach says. “Vincent never said anything.”
“How would he know?” she asks. “He’s never been to the place. Disgusting if you ask me. Anyway, you seem like a nice couple. Do yourself a favor and pick up some petrol for the generator.”
“How do I even know if the generator is working?” Zach asks.
“Angus checks it regularly just like he’s paid to.” Her tone is like she’s talking to a five-year-old. “But of course he doesn’t keep petrol in it because—” She pauses like she’s just realized she doesn’t know why.
Harry Potter fills the gap. “The ethanol evaporates. Petrol needs to be fresh.”
The disapproving woman nods. “Exactly. Generator’s in the outbuilding but you can go through the shed so you don’t have to go outside. Key’s hanging on the door by the downstairs loo.”
I wondered what that other door by the loo was for. She seems to know an awful lot about Zach’s cousin’s house.
“Thanks for the tip,” I say.
“But get the wood you’ve got in your shed in. Kinloch Cottage can get completely covered in snow because of the drifts. You might not be out for a few days.”
I glance up at Zach but he doesn’t look concerned. “Yeah, we’re going to head to the petrol station and then back to the cottage to get the rest of the wood in.”
I’m so used to being the one who has to come up with a solution for every problem, that it takes me a little off guard that Zach seems to know exactly what’s happening next. We’re dealing with life-or-death situations and he’s…on it. It feels good.
“Does this kind of weather happen a lot around here?” I ask.
“A few times a year. You get used to it. Have to say, wasn’t expecting it to turn red so early in winter.” She shakes her head and her face softens. “You’ll be grand. You’ve got all your shopping. Your wood. Go get the petrol and it’ll be fine. I’ll send Angus up there when it’s safe, just to check on you. And you have the emergency kit as well.” She glances between Zach and me and we must both be wearing the same what-emergency-kit? expression.
“In the box under your stairs. Really, if he’s your cousin, he should be telling you this stuff. You’ve got a torch and a radio and some foil blankets in there.”
Foil blankets? The seriousness of the situation starts to trickle in. This isn’t just me not being able to get the ferry home and having to stay inside a pretty stone cottage with a hot guy and plenty of ingredients to cook my days away. It suddenly feels more serious than that.
Seventeen
Zach
If nothing else we’ll be warm, because we have enough logs in this cottage to last at least ten days. Thankfully, Ellie didn’t shy away from helping to bring them all inside and we were done before eleven. Even though it’s nearly the middle of the day, it still feels a little like evening time. It’s not far off being completely dark and it suddenly feels very cold. Ellie comes out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, and pads across the sitting room towards the bedroom.
I have to hold myself back from taking hold of one end of her towel and watching her unwrap herself as she heads to the door.
I offer a half smile.
“I feel a thousand times better. I recommend it,” she says.
“Showering with you?” I clarify.
She tilts her head in an almost chastising way and scurries past to get to the bedroom. She’s right. I feel sweaty and cold at the same time. A shower is just what I need.
I’m pulling off my final layer of a long-sleeved t-shirt when Ellie reappears. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were—”
I push my fingers through my hair as we stand opposite each other—her in just a towel, me in just my jeans. It would be so easy to close the gap between us and spend the rest of tonight…
“Just wanted to know if you wanted anything from the bedroom before I…you know.”
Get naked? I don’t suggest. She’s practically naked now. I guess she has to towel herself dry. Maybe she’s got lotion to apply all over her soft, pale skin. Is she the kind of woman who likes to get dressed right away, or does she put her makeup on and style her hair in her bra and knickers the way teenage boys assume all women do?