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An hour later, I stood at the door waving goodbye as Blake pulled out of the drive. I walked back in the house and saw Howard perched on the arm of the chair staring at me.
“Oh no you don’t,” I warned. “You don’t get to be judgmental about my private life. You’re a cat!”
Howard blinked once and hopped down off the chair, headed into the kitchen, and stood next to the food bin and meowed. I sighed and went to fill his bowl, then stood watching as he sniffed the food before walking away.
“It’s not a competition, Howard,” I called. He didn’t turn around, only swished his tail and kept walking. I shrugged, knowing that Howard was going to have to deal with his issues on his own since Blake was a keeper.
Chapter Twenty-One
Blake
I hadn’t been happy about having to leave Emily’s warm bed to return home to a moping teenager, but I pushed the frustration away and did the responsible thing. Nina had been asleep when I got home, and when I finally pulled myself out of bed, she was still snoring on the other side of her bedroom door.
I went into the kitchen to make coffee and start breakfast, and saw that more snow had fallen while I was asleep. I wondered if Emily was up yet, and then smiled as I wondered if she was thinking about me, too.
“I’m not a lovesick schoolboy,” I muttered, as I poured the first of many cups of coffee.
“What did you say, Dad?” Nina yawned, as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes.
“I said, I’m pretty sure your mother and I had a child so that we’d never have to shovel our own driveway or mow our own lawn,” I replied, as I pulled the eggs and bacon out of the fridge and held them up with a questioning look on my face.
“Haha, very funny, Dad,” Nina said, nodding. “You’re a laugh a minute.”
“I’m not kidding,” I replied. “The driveway needs shoveling.”
“Before breakfast?” she asked incredulously. “I’m not even dressed yet!”
“I didn’t realize that shoveling snow required preparation time,” I said dryly. “I thought it was just a matter of pulling on some sweats, boots, and a coat.”
“Oh my God, you are so…I can’t even,” Nina said, holding up a hand before walking out of the room.
I quickly whipped up breakfast, but by the time I had the plates on the table, Nina had gone back to sleep. I ate breakfast by myself and listened to the news, wishing that Emily were here to enjoy it all with me. I told myself that I could call her after I’d shoveled the walk and drive, so I put on my winter gear and headed outside.
I was halfway done with the sidewalk when Jake and Kathy walked over and started talking.
“Hey, Blake! How was your Christmas?” Kathy called. She was dressed in skin-tight leggings and a red parka. Normally, that would have been enough to set my motor racing, but today I looked at her in a new light and couldn’t find the attraction.
“It was good. Spent it with Nina and my parents,” I said, tossing a shovel full of snow onto the lawn and bending down to scoop up another. “How was yours?”
“It wasn’t bad,” Jake said, giving Kathy a pointed look. “But it could have been better, couldn’t it have, sweetheart?”
“Oh, indeed it could have,” she giggled, as she turned toward me and winked. “We’ve missed you, Blake.”
“Yeah, well, that’s nice of you to say,” I said, feeling uncomfortable. “I’m glad you had a good holiday.”
“Something wrong, buddy?” Jake asked, with a worried look.
“No, nothing’s wrong, it’s just…” I trailed off, trying to think of how to tell them I wasn’t interested anymore. “I met someone over the holiday.”
“Ah, I see,” Jake nodded. “Well, that’s great! Bring her along and we’ll finally have a foursome!”
“I don’t know that she would be into that,” I nodded, bending down to scoop another shovelful of snow so that I could avoid having to look at either of them.
“Are you sure, Blake?” Kathy asked, as she moved closer and unzipped her jacket enough to show me she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. “Why don’t you ask her?”
“Um, I’m not sure we know each other well enough to go down that road yet,” I said, looking away uncomfortably. I was pissed at myself for not just saying no, but there was something about keeping my options open that appealed to me. I wasn’t ready to close the door.
“Okay, well, when you find out, you know where we live,” Kathy said, as she patted my butt before turning and walking away.
