AllFreeNovel
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The opening music forThe Polar Expresscomes on downstairs.
“Look,” I say. “We’re both adults, and it’s a...well, it’s not a queen-sized bed. What do you call them here? Doubles? Point is, there’s room for the two of us. We all have to share a bathroom anyway, so there’s a limited amount of privacy. Let’s just share for the night and see how it goes.”
He studies me for a few moments before answering. “Okay.”
“Great.” That decided, I turn around and walk back to the bedroom.
Peter follows me, putting his bag on the floor just inside the door. “Do you want to use the bathroom first?”
We could go back and forth all night long, being super polite to each other, or we could just set some boundaries. “I’ll shower first. You pick which side of the bed you want.”
“Okay.”
I pull out the big bag of dirty laundry from my luggage and prop it up in the corner. That’s when I realize that I’m out of clothes.
I mean, it’s not that I’m out of clothes, per se, but I did shove my pajamas into the dirty laundry, and they are not near the top when I open the bag.
Pushing the bag aside, I dig through my clean clothes options. Nice blouses, underwire bras, a few thongs, and some dressy pants. Work attire, because the outfits I wore casually on my own time are in the dirty pile.
“Um,” I start, turning to Peter. “Could I do some laundry?”
He’s sitting on the bed playing with his phone, a small pile of folded clothes next to him.
“And maybe you should shower first.”
He puts the phone down on the nightstand and rises to his feet. “I’ll show you to the laundry.”
I grab my bag and follow Peter downstairs. The movie’s on in the TV room, casting flickering lights across the faces of the kids and their dad. In the kitchen, Nora and Juna sit at the counter stools, talking quietly over their wine glasses.
Peter speaks in Swiss-German, gesturing to my laundry bag.
“Oh, of course,” Nora says, hopping up. She leads me to the laundry room and waits while I pick out the clothes that can go in without getting ruined or needing special care. It’s not much, honestly, some leggings and sports bras and my pajamas. I’m going to need to be stingy, depending on how bad this storm gets.
I make note of the time on the machine when Nora starts it and then grab my e-reader from upstairs. The bathroom door is closed and the shower on, so I guess Peter has taken my advice to shower before me. I go to the back room with the big dark windows and the cozy stove. Liam is in one of the armchairs, reading, and glances up when I come in.
“Just thought I’d read for a bit while I wait for my laundry.” I gesture to the chair next to him, and he nods.
“Please,” is all he says before he returns to his book, a thick hardcover with an embossed spine.
I try to read, but it’s hard to focus. There are the soft noises from the TV and the women in the kitchen, the crackling of the fire. Outside, the snow is still a small flutter of flakes, but the wind has picked up. The yard extends pretty far back, and the wind rustles the trees aggressively.
Back home, it’s much more difficult to get quiet reading time. There’s always an argument happening between one of us sisters or a kid crawling into my lap.
But this is my first night in the Toch household, so maybe they just haven’t released their drama yet.
Instead, I’ll just enjoy the nice, quiet, dark night...
A throat clears and I jerk awake. Movement catches my gaze from the corner of my eye, and I turn my head. Peter walks into the entrance of the room. He’s padding gently on socked feet, his hair dark and damp, wearing a shirt and shorts.
“The shower is free.” He says it low and soft, and his dad smiles gently into his book.
“I’m going to wait until the laundry is done to come up to shower. I don’t have clean pajamas.”
Peter frowns. “You’ll have to borrow something. We hang our clothes dry.”
“I saw that you have a dryer.”
Peter’s dad speaks up. “It does not work. It is one of those things I have needed to replace, but...” he trails off with a shrug.
