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Which was beyond sweet.
And I liked that, even if it was just for a short while, Isaac had a healthy male role model in his life.
I could hear the grind of the garage door as it opened, where I imagined the breaker was for our cottage.
He must have flipped it.
Because the power popped on.
“Knew it,” Isaac said, happy to be right.
But then just as suddenly as it came on, it went back off again.
And again.
And again.
Isaac moved from the window to the door, pulling it open as Seth approached.
“I don’t know what the f—heck is going on,” he said, wiping his brow. “It just keeps tripping,” he added, reaching out to rub a hand across Isaac’s head. “How you holding up?” he asked him.
“We’re good,” Isaac insisted.
“It’s hot,” Hazel said with a pretty epic lower lip pout.
“Yeah. I think it’s hotter in here than outside,” Seth agreed.
“I’ll open the windows,” I said, shrugging.
It wasn’t ideal, but we would figure out how to keep cool. People existed without air conditioning since the beginning of time. We would survive for a day or two.
“I will have someone out tomorrow,” Seth said. “But why don’t you guys pack a bag, and come hang with me tonight? My air is working fine.”
“Oh, no,” I said, shaking my head. “No, we’ll be fine. Thank you, but it’s gonna cool down when the sun goes down.”
“The humidity is at like fuc—freaking ninety percent,” Seth insisted.
“We’ll be alright. We’re used to not having air cond—“
“Lana, the baby is sweating,” he cut me off, making me look over at Clara in her playard. And, sure enough, beads of sweat were on her forehead.
I mean, it was true, we had gone without air conditioning before, but I had fans going at least. Anyone could feel cool with a high-powered fan blowing on them. But with no power at all? We’d be sweaty and miserable. And I wouldn’t be able to warm bottles up.
“Lana…” Seth said, voice soft, and when I looked over, his gaze was just as gentle. “Pack some stuff. I have plenty of room,” he insisted.
Then, before I could object again, he was moving outside.
“Okay,” I said, attempting cheerful again, clapping my hands at the kids. “Let’s act like we’re going to Miss Patricia’s, and pack some of our favorite things to keep us occupied,” I said, and the kids were quick to hop to.
I packed some things for Clara as well as a pair of pajamas and the usual toiletry stuff for all of us.
“I know, bud,” I said to Rodney who was panting hard. “We’re going as fast as we can,” I assured him.
“Need help carrying anything?” Seth asked, coming back in.
“Actually…,” I started, looking toward the fridge, “would it be alright if I used your stove? Hazel wanted baked ziti. I had it all made but then…” I said, waving out.
To that, Seth sighed. “It’s gonna be hard to convince you to treat my place like your place, huh?” he asked, rolling his eyes at me, then going to the fridge himself to take the pan out. “We probably only have four hours left on this fridge,” he said, closing the door. “After everyone is settled, we can move your shit over to my place. No reason to lose all your food.”
I’d been worried about that, actually. The idea of having to replace a whole week’s worth of food was daunting when I was just starting to get ahead on things.
“Good idea,” I agreed, putting Clara in her pumpkin seat. I would have to get her chair and playard on another trip.
“You guys ready for a sleepover?” Seth asked when the kids emerged from their bedroom with their bags packed.
“Yeah!” Hazel said, excited for any sort of adventure.
And Isaac looked just as pleased.
Me, on the other hand, I had a feeling this was going to be a big, giant, epic mistake.
But there seemed to be no way out of it.
CHAPTER TEN
Seth
I couldn’t tell if she was being such a stubborn ass just because that was her nature, or if it had to do with the whole hooking up at the range shit.
I mean history did tell me that she was just a little on the stubborn side about things. But when the air was out, it was over a hundred outside, and you had kids and a fat, flat-faced dog that had breathing troubles on a cool day, yeah, it was over the top to fight me on the offer of an air-conditioned place to stay.
Granted, yeah, she was a mom. And maybe that was where the hesitation came from. I wasn’t a stranger by any means at this point, but you always had to have your guard up when your kids were around someone you hadn’t known for a long time.
Either way, I was glad she gave in. The kids looked red-faced and miserable when I’d walked into the flat.
