I leaned down and scooped her up. She stuck her head underneath my neck.
“Mildred says hi,” I said.
“So does Lottie. I miss you.”
“I miss you,” I said. “I’ll see you in a month for your wedding.”
“A month is too long,” Poet whined.
“I don’t want to have this conversation again,” I warned her. “We have it every time we talk.”
“Fine.”
“I better go. I have laundry to cycle.”
“Talk to you later,” Poet said.
We hung up and I sighed. I looked at Mildred. “You want to help?”
She nuzzled harder into my neck.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I carried Mildred to the laundry room and set her down. She began to whine.
“Just give me a second,” I said to her.
I pulled the warm towels out of the dryer and put them in the laundry basket to fold. And while I was transferring thewet clothes to the dryer, Mildred took it upon herself to hop into the laundry basket full of toasty linens.
“You’re not supposed to be in there,” I said with a laugh, leaning down and booping her snoot.
I removed her from the laundry basket and then took it to the folding table. As I folded towels, I got lost in my head about Christmas time and being back in Huckleberry Hill.
I was so deep in my own world that I didn’t hear Mr. Carrington come into the laundry room still dressed in his ski gear.
“Oh!” I squeaked in surprise. “Hi.”
“Sorry,” he said with a smile. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“How were the slopes?”
“Crowded,” he said. He unzipped his ski pants and shucked them off, leaving him wearing nothing but his long underwear—and a stubby erection.
Alarm trumpeted in my head.
“Uh, I’m basically done here,” I said as I grabbed the laundry basket full of clean towels. “I’ll just get out of your way.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, his beady eyes tracking me.
“It’s fine,” I said, forcing a smile. “I promised Mildred a walk, so we should get to it before the temperature drops.”
He took a step toward me. “You want company?”
“I’m good.”
When I tried to move around him, he blocked my exit.
“My wife is having lunch at the lodge. She’s about a glass of white wine in right now.” His hand skimmed my arm.
