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“I know,” he nodded, agreeing with her. “It’s crazy out there.”
He wasn’t sure how she felt about watching TV or if the older model even offered closed captioning. Was that how she even watched television? He felt helpless, yet he didn’t want to ask a ton of questions either.
Walking over to the storage closet where they’d always kept their games, Caleb rummaged through the shelves in search of something for them to do. It’d been years since he’d checked out the contents and seeing all the board games he and his brothers had played when they were younger brought back lots of memories. Drew was always the competitive one, hiding cards or game pieces just to have the upper hand. He’d even gone as far as to take some of the Monopoly money when no one was paying attention. But dad was quick to call him out on it when he’d tried to buy up a lot of property. Sneaky guy—too bad his guilty conscious gave him away every single time.
As Caleb stared at the board games’ boxes, some with their edges crushed or sagging in the middle, a wave of memories suddenly came rushing back. What he wouldn’t give to be able to challenge Drew to a game of Checkers again. It was truly a prized collection of games, and he was so thankful his parents had decided to hold onto everything.
A clear, plastic pouch on the top shelf caught his eye and Caleb stretched so he could pull it down. Dominoes. Talk about another classic. He remembered his mom and dad sitting at the dining room table playing for hours and hours, with him leaning over his dad’s shoulder waiting to select the right wooden tile. He wondered if Naomi would be interested in playing or if she even knew how.
When he turned around, he nearly bumped into her. “My bad,” he apologized, the bag almost slipping from his hand. “I didn’t know you were standing there.”
“Sorry, sorry,” she said and took a few steps back.
Caleb held up the clear bag for her to see. “Do you know how to play?”
Naomi studied his mouth carefully and nodded. “No. What are they?”
“Dominoes.”
“Domi-no-es,” she repeated, mispronouncing the last few letters like they were spelled.
Caleb had noticed this about her earlier once she’d gotten comfortable speaking around him. Sure, some of the things she said were a little off and sounded differently, but he knew what she was trying to say.
“Want me to show you?”
A smile formed on her face as she nodded. “Sure.”
Caleb grabbed onto Naomi’s hand and led her to the dining room table where she took the seat across from him. He didn’t think anything about it until he sat down. The last time he’d held a woman’s hand was…well, he couldn’t remember. If felt nice, his big hand wrapped around her tiny one. His ex hadn’t been the affectionate type—not that handholding was anything more than a warm gesture—but she’d been totally against any public displays of affection.
He emptied the plastic bag, making sure that the dotted side of each wooden block faced down. Then using both hands, he slid the blocks in circular patterns across the table until he felt they were well mixed. Naomi studied him intently. Rather than select the tiles for her, he instructed her to slide the appropriate number of pieces to her side of the table and then flip them up on their side so she could view them easily. When he showed her what he meant, she followed suit.
Once he laid the first piece down, he carefully tried to explain what she needed to do when it was her turn. He wasn’t worried about keeping score—getting her to fully understand how the game worked was more important.
They played several rounds and despite how late it was getting to be, she never showed any signs that she was getting tired. Caleb, on the other hand, began to yawn. When she came back from using the bathroom, she finally admitted she was getting tired. Thank goodness because he could hardly keep his head up.
Glancing at her phone, she looked over at him. “Happy Christmas Eve.”
“I guess it is, isn’t it?” he replied. He’d originally wanted the holidays to pass with a blur—the reason he’d wanted to come here in the first place—but somehow it didn’t quite feel like that anymore. It did, but it didn’t. He was sure Naomi had big plans with her family tomorrow and he hoped Gene and his wife were able to make it home safely today.
Glancing out the front window, the rain had subsided, but that wasn’t what he was worried about. Rather, the ice. With all the rain that had fallen, the puddles were going to be ice patches come daybreak. Snow, he could deal with, but icy road conditions were not good, even for the most experienced drivers. If things got as bad as he expected them to be—considering how cold it currently was outside—the roads were going to be treacherous. And if that were the case, Naomi might be better off staying right where she was.
Since he’d only brought linens for the one bed and he’d already had to use them to contain the water in the kitchen, they were both left in an awkward spot as far as sleep was concerned. Thank goodness there was still a blanket or two and the comforter.
“You can sleep in the bed in there,” he said and pointed down the hallway. She’d already spotted the soaked sheets earlier, so he didn’t have to explain that whole mess to her. Next time, he’d bring extras of everything. “If you’d like, you can leave the door open, so it doesn’t get too cold in there. If you want to.”
As though thinking about what she wanted to say, she finally replied with a questioning expression on her face. “Okay. But where will you sleep?”
Caleb pointed to the sofa. “I’ll be fine right here.”
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Caleb woke to a blanket of snow and ice mix covering the ground. “Whoa!” he said to himself. Though the inside of the cabin was nice and toasty, he didn’t want to think about what it felt like outside.
He heard a noise in the kitchen and assumed Naomi was already awake. Maybe she’d been able to find herself something to eat.
Not wanting to startle her, he stood inside the doorway until she saw him. The sight of her still wearing his flannel shirt caused his heart to skip a beat. Was he crazy? Okay, she was an attractive woman—there was no denying that—but why was he even thinking that way about her?
“Good morning,” she said, that gorgeous smile of hers quickly appearing on her face again. He’d never thought about how often or how little he smiled until being around Naomi. Not only did she have a beautiful smile, but she radiated such positivity.
