“I’d like that,” he said over his shoulder.
She glimpsed his faint smile.
Back in her room, it seemed warmer than usual, especially compared to the frigid air beyond. Lissa picked up her Spider solitaire decks. She often played with two matching decks combined, one red on the back, the other blue. At the table, she quickly sorted the worn cards, setting one pile aside. “What would you like to play?”
Cam took the seat across from her. “Cribbage?”
“I don’t have a board. It wasn’t something I played alone.” She watched her hands while she spoke.
“Do you know how to play?” He shuffled the cards while waiting for her answer, the sound filling the quiet of the room.
She nodded. She’d been playing since fourth grade, when her teacher had taught the class.
“We can keep score on paper,” he said. “Winner is first to 121 points.”
Of course, it could be that easy. She tossed another chunk of wood onto the crackling fire and retrieved a pencil and paper. “Low card deals?” She arched an eyebrow. When he nodded, she picked up the deck and shuffled several times. The rapid rustling of the cards flipping filled the room. With practiced motions, she arched the cards into a bridge, loosening her grip to let them slotinto position. In the background, the fire snapped and the hot water she’d set to boil hissed, regular homey sounds.
Lissa cut a three while Cam cut a jack. Keeping her eyes on the tabletop, she dealt six cards each. With a quick glance at her hand, she tossed two cards into her crib hand. Despite not having played crib for years, how to play still came easily. “Hot chocolate?” she said, standing.
His eyes widened at her offer. “You’re full of surprises. Yes, please.”
While she collected mugs, he continued. “Even when I hoped it might be you, I didn’t expect anything except to solve the mystery of who you were. Thank you again. I don’t know what I’d have done if I hadn’t lucked into finding you. When my ankle heals, if there’s anything I can do to help or make your life easier before I go home, I want to.”
A lump formed in her throat. Of course he was leaving. Though he’d only been here for a day, the idea was upsetting. Wrestling her emotions under control, she heaped a couple of spoonfuls of hot chocolate powder into each cup. “You’re welcome.” Once more, heat crept upward onto her face. She remained facing the opposite direction while she mixed it with the boiling water, taking longer than necessary to settle herself.
She placed a steaming mug beside Cam and another beside her place. “I’m sorry, I don’t have marshmallows. I ran out ages ago.”
Cam met her gaze, and warmth spread through her veins. “This is already special treatment. Thanks.” Breaking eye contact, he added two cards to the crib hand, and they settled in to play.
“Since we’re stuck here for a few more days, or perhaps most of the next six weeks, maybe we can get to know each other better.” Cam sipped his drink, his kind eyes meeting hers once more.
“What did you have in mind?” Lissa’s mind seemed blank, though she was curious about Cam’s past. She fidgeted with the cards in her hand, making her fan neater.
“We could take turns asking questions,” he said. “I’m not great at talking about myself, but I can answer.”
“All right.” She was similar. This evening was turning out like an odd first date. “It’s your idea, so you ask first.” She played a card and started the counting section of the game by playing a four.
“How old are you?” He matched her card and tallied two points on the scoring page. They traded cards, continuing to count.
She played again. “Thirty. In the game, and my age.” She hadn’t paid attention to her last several birthdays. With no one to celebrate with, they’d seemed irrelevant. In April, she’d be thirty-one. Once she’d have considered that old. Now she just felt lucky to be alive.
“Go.”
She played an ace. “Thirty-one. For two.” She ‘pegged’ her two points. “You?”
He smiled. “Thirty-two in January.”
She liked how the numbers of their ages and the game went together. Her mind had always made odd connections with ordinary things, like sequential numbers. They kept playing, her attention given to the game. Though it was his turn, Cam waited before asking another question.
She was about to nudge him, as a reminder, when he said, “What was your dream job when you were a kid?”
Lissa hadn’t thought about her childhood ambitions in ages. While she’d enjoyed being a nurse practitioner, once she’d wanted to work with dolphins and whales. “A marine biologist, I guess. I wanted to work with and train whales. When I was twelve or thirteen, I read a book calledA Ring of Endless Light,and the main character swam with dolphins as part of a summer research project. I wanted to be like her.” She’d always been a reader.
“You grew up in that bunker place,” she said, still in the game’s flow as she counted the points in her hand. “Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, and a double run is fourteen.” She tallied her hand on the score sheet.
“Vita xTerra,” he said, smile lines appearing by his grayish-green eyes as he marked his score.
“Right. In xTerra. Are there jobs there or a community? Or do you all live underground, alone?”
