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That’s what everyone thought. Franklin was the stick-in-the-mud, and Peter was the fun one. Figures that Eleanor would feel the same way.
“Did you think I was Peter when you asked me to dance?” He didn’t really mean to ask that question, but it came out anyway.
Her eyes grew big, and she glanced at him. “No! Not at all. I knew who you were.” Her brows drew down. “Why? Did you think that because Sally got confused?”
“I guess.”
“Well, you were wearing his cowboy hat when she saw you, right?”
He nodded. After he made the fire, he’d taken it off and set it down on top of the duffel bag. “I also have his shirt on. After he spilled his punch on mine, he gave me his, because he had an extra one out in his truck.”
“I can see how she’d get confused. Your hair is the same color, and with that hat on, you guys have the same chin shape.”
He understood what she was saying and agreed. “I didn’t know that taking my brother’s shirt was going to cause such a problem.” He almost said that if he had to do it over again, he would refuse the shirt and wear the dirty one. But... While he had been annoyed at first, especially after Sally closed the door and ran away and he was alone, he...couldn’t be upset about the way the evening had turned out.
Maybe, maybe if the storm was really bad and they ended up stuck and freezing to death, he would be more upset, but he couldn’t believe how chill he was about it.
Part of him whispered in his ear that it was because of Eleanor. He hadn’t been impressed with her when she had asked him to dance, apparently, but there had been something kind of enjoyable about the evening.
“You know, I don’t have too many opportunities to do life-and-death situations in my life. If this situation can even be called this.”
“It could be. If we hadn’t had a fire, I think I would have suggested that we try to get back to town. It’s going to get really cold overnight as the storm moves through, and hypothermia and freezing to death is nothing to mess with.”
“I guess I just... I’m not as upset as what I would have thought I would have been. And it’s surprising me.”
“I suppose I’m with you a little bit. I wasn’t locked in, and I had a choice about coming, so I’m not trying to compare our situations. But I was pretty upset at Sally for doing something so dumb. But I have to admit, I’ve kind of been having a good time.”
He smiled at those words. She was basically saying the same thing he was, and it was hard to believe. He would never have thought in a million years that he would actually enjoy something like this. He should be angry, demanding to go home, complaining about Sally, and longing for a do-over where he could keep his own shirt on, but he almost felt like maybe he should go home and thank Peter for spilling that punch. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been here.
But there was the small matter of how they were going to spend the night. He watched as she grabbed the blankets out of the bag and shook them out.
“This one is slightly bigger. Let’s give that to you.” She held up the darker of the two blankets. He thought the color was blue, but with the orange flames, he couldn’t be sure.
“I’ll take the smaller one.”
“No. It makes more sense for me to take it, since I’m smaller.”
He took the blanket she handed him without further comment. He didn’t want to make suggestions on how they should sleep, since he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. Maybe if they were both curled up under their blanket next to the stove, they would be okay.
“This is a little awkward,” she said as she bit her lip.
“Same,” he said, relieved that she was going to admit it and maybe they were going to talk about it, instead of just ignoring the fact that somehow they were going to have to figure out a way to sleep with a total stranger tonight.
Only she really wasn’t a total stranger. They’d known each other a little since he’d started building the hotel, and after the last few hours, they definitely were no longer strangers.
“So, I guess I’ll just say, I think probably the best idea is for us to lie down side by side and share both blankets. I’m not trying to hit on you or anything like that—”
“I didn’t think you were. And that was what I was thinking too, but I didn’t want to suggest it, because I didn’t want to come off like that either.”
She gave him a relieved look. “I think we’ll be okay. Truly, but I do think it’s smart to share the warmth that we have. This shed is not insulated at all, and the heat from the fire is going to blow out.”
“I’m assuming we’ll probably have to get up and throw wood on the fire several times as well.”
“I agree. And maybe we should bring in a few more armloads of wood, so no one has to go outside in the middle of the night.” She bit her lip and looked at the flue pipe where it came up from the stove and then went into the wall.
“What’s the matter?” He didn’t like the look on her face.
“I don’t really have any experience in flues or fires. We’ve always had some other kind of heat source. But... I think I remember hearing about people cleaning their flues, and I was just trying to remember what makes the flue catch on fire.”
