7
The door swung open and Whitney was standing there with the baby on her hip.
"Oh, my goodness! Michelle, what happened? We were worried sick!"
I walked in and instinctively took the baby from her.
"It's a long story, Whit," I said, hoping that she didn't notice my cheeks reddened as Elijah smiled at me coyly.
I could tell that he was remembering what had happened in the cave. I could still feel the ache from him being inside of me. But, I didn't want to tell any of them about it.
"It's my fault," said Elijah, stepping forward.
"Come on in," said Darren, walking past the door and disappearing down a long hallway. We stepped into the foyer, stomping snow off our shoes onto the welcome mat, and Hope appeared, inviting us to join her for tea in the kitchen. It was warm, and the house smelled like delicious chocolate chip cookies.
"I knew it!" called out Harlow from the living room. "I knew that something bad would happen and tried to warn you."
"Oh Harlow, stop it," I said, trying to hide my irritation with him.
We had barely been in the house for a few minutes before he was already starting in on Elijah. I wished that he would get whatever chip he had on his shoulder off and leave Elijah alone, for once and for all.
"No, it's okay," said Elijah, waving a hand in my direction. "The huge storm started as soon as we got to my other place, the cave in the woods. And since I didn't want to risk either of us getting hurt, I suggested that we wait out the storm.”
“Yeah,” Whitney said, nodding her head. “We knew you must have gotten trapped in the storm. We were just hoping nothing bad had happened. We called the police and they were about to start a search crew, but they said that Elijah knew the lay of the land and probably knew how to hide out and protect himself from the elements until it blew over, so, they wanted to give it a couple days for the weather to clear up. We are just so glad you weren’t hurt.”
Elijah looked proud to hear that the local authorities knew he knew how to take care of himself. I was proud of him, too.
“I had no idea it would last as long as it did,” he said. “I wish that I would have taken a better look at the forecast. I didn't know that it would get that bad, of course; I really didn’t mean to whisk Michelle off for so long. I apologize, you guys."
"It's okay," said Monica, appearing as if out of nowhere. "I'm sure that you guys found something to do to entertain yourselves.”
Her smile grew bigger and eyebrows were raised as she moved closer. Oh, Lord, here we go again, I thought.
"Tell me everything and don't leave out any of the juicy parts," she whispered loudly.
I elbowed her and grinned, hoping that no one else had heard, but sure that everyone had.
"Actually, Elijah was very prepared. His cave was stocked with all of the goodies that we needed to survive."
"Like condoms?" asked Monica slyly, not giving me a chance to change subjects.
"Like food," I said. "We were able to eat some of the canned goods that he brought along. He made a fire in the cave to keep us warm. I was really impressed with the way that Elijah handled things out there. He is really capable. And a gentlemen."
"Awww! That's good to hear," said Whitney. "I was worried that you had been eaten by bears or something. Did you get any of the messages I’d sent?"
I picked up my phone to check and saw I had no signal.
"No," I told her. "I don't even show where I've missed any calls or texts."
"Oh," said Whitney. "We called you several times. The guys were going to load the truck up to go find you, but the way that it was storming, there was no telling if they would have made it back safe or not."
"Mommy said that you died!" came a squeaky voice from under the kitchen table where we sat. I almost jumped up out my chair. I hadn’t known that there was a child under the table.
"I didn't say that she died," said Whitney. "I said that I hoped that nothing bad happened to her. And I really am."
Whitney looked like she was going to break down into tears.
"Were you scared?" asked Monica.
"Not really," I said. "I just wanted to get back because I wanted to be here for Whitney and Harlow. I felt really bad about going out at all. I felt like I should have followed my first inclination and stayed here, and then maybe we wouldn't have been trapped in the storm."
"Yeah, but it's not every day that you meet a sexy mountain man and get invited out for an adventure either," said Monica.
"That's true," said Hope, looking at me with her eyebrows raised.
"I saw it coming from a mile away," said Harlow, his eyes fixed squarely on Elijah. "I saw it coming and we were right to worry. Something terrible could have happened out there."
Elijah didn't say anything. But he looked right back at Harlow as if to say that he wasn't afraid of him. I felt so much respect for him in that moment. He was so brave.
"But it was wonderful," I continued, undeterred. "We had a great time enjoying being in the woods. Being in nature and in good company is always refreshing. Even when it started storming, I had a chance to get to know Elijah better. I am really grateful that I had the chance to spend time with such an interesting and kind man."
I smiled at Elijah. He smiled back.
"Are those sparks that I see flying?" asked Monica, jumping up and down excitedly.
I didn't say anything and neither did Elijah.
"Well, why don't you stay for dinner, Elijah?" asked Hope. "That way we can all get to know you better and spend more time with you. I have some wonderful dishes prepared and they are almost ready."
"And those are chocolate chip cookies that I smell baking, right?" I asked. My mouth was starting to water at the thought of having a home-cooked meal and a tasty dessert.
"Yes! Oh, my goodness!” Hope exclaimed. “Thank you for reminding me! I'd better take them out before we have burnt chocolate chip cookies."
Hope ran off in the direction of the stove, to take the cookies out of the oven. Elijah walked over to where I was at the table and sat in the chair next to mine.
"I would love to stay for dinner," he said, not taking his eyes off me.
I had all his attention and I was really beginning to like it.