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Chapter 7
Eleanor sat in frontof the cat in the dark, relief that she was able to get the kitten out, and at least save the life of the cat, and possibly the life of the kitten that had already been born, making her weak.
Knowing that the large kitten had made it, and that was almost certainly because of Sally’s scheme, made her unable to be angry.
But she supposed there really wasn’t any time to be angry anyway. Considering that her phone had just clicked off, Franklin didn’t have his, and they were stuck in the cabin together. For at least the night.
“You drove here, didn’t you?” Franklin said.
“I did. It was snowing pretty hard.” She paused for a moment. “And I’m almost out of gas.”
“Do you think you have enough to get back to Strawberry Sands at least?”
She hated the hope that was in his voice. Hated to have to crush the hope. “I might. But if I don’t... Do we really want to be stuck in the car in the storm? Or would it be better to be here?”
“If we’re close enough, we could walk. It must only be ten miles or so.”
“That’s probably right, but...neither one of us are really dressed to be out tramping for miles in the snow.”
There was the off chance that something or someone would come along the road and pick them up. Of course, there was also the off chance that a snowplow wouldn’t see them and would run over them.
Somehow, going to the worst-case scenario did not make her feel better.
“Maybe it’s best for us to just plan on staying here tonight?” Franklin wasn’t bossing her around; he had gone through all of the options that he could see and had chosen the best one. Now he was leaving it up to her.
“I think that might be right.” Then she realized that he might not know everything she knew. “Sally told me that there was wood for the fire and that she left a care package for... She thought she was getting Peter, your brother.”
“I figured that out before she left. I think her realizing that I was the wrong guy was the thing that scared her and made her run away.”
“Yeah. She... She was afraid you were going to be angry. It was probably a fear that is justified. Because you certainly were within your rights to be upset.”
“Yeah.”
He didn’t say anything else, and Eleanor cringed. Maybe he still was upset. He said that they both agreed that good things happened because they were here, but that didn’t change the fact that he absolutely was not planning on spending the night in anything but comfortable, soft, and cozy warmth.
“Sally said there are supposed to be blankets and maybe a few other things. I’m not sure what she did with it.”
Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned it until she found it. Maybe Sally had been so upset that she hadn’t thought to bring it in.
She hoped not. She didn’t really mind staying in the shed, but she didn’t particularly want to be cold. And the only way to get warm would be to...snuggle with Franklin? He didn’t seem like a very snuggly type of guy.
“That would be really nice. Do you have any idea where she put it?”
There was relief in his voice, and she was happy to be able to ease his mind a little. He was probably more upset than she was, because even though he’d grown up in Strawberry Sands, which was definitely a small town, he’d spent a lot of time in Chicago. Even his early years in Strawberry Sands would not have prepared him for roughing it in the middle of a Michigan snowstorm.
Not that she exactly had that kind of experience either, but she was definitely not as used to being pampered as he probably was.
“Let’s hope there are candles or something in it,” she murmured as she straightened to her feet, hearing the contented sounds of the mama cat purring as she licked and cared for her babies.
Eleanor couldn’t see her at all, but hopefully she was snuggled down with them, and they would stay nice and toasty warm.
She’d seen plenty of kittens born outside and thrive, and she actually thought it was probably better for kittens to be born in the winter rather than the summer. There were a lot more predators out, plus the heat had a tendency to help diseases thrive.
“She wasn’t in this room at all, was she?” she asked, knowing that there weren’t very many places to search, but if they could narrow it down, that would make it easier.
“I think she led me in here.” Franklin’s voice sounded thoughtful. “It won’t take long to look. I assume it’s a bag or a box or something?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. As they moved through the room, the thought came to her that Franklin, with his easygoing, laid-back personality, would be a great man to be with. If something like this didn’t upset him, didn’t turn him into a raving lunatic, then she couldn’t think of too many situations that he wouldn’t have a cool head in.
