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Will helped her down from the truck and he took her all the way inside the house and down the hall to her bedroom. Elvis streaked out, but Gretchen just shook her head.
“I’ll go feed him,” Will whispered in her ear, his lips landing on her neck for only a moment afterward. “You change and get in bed. I’ll be right back.” He removed his hands from her body, and Gretchen felt the earth sway at a million miles an hour.
Will left, his strides long and sure, and Gretchen wished she could rewind time just a few hours and tell Jon to close the shop early. Whatever he’d been making, he didn’t need to make.
She moved like her joints had been replaced with wood, but she managed to get out of her clothes and into pajamas before Will returned. “What did you give Elvis?” she asked as he put one arm around her waist and drew her into his chest.
“Some chicken and those green peas in the fridge,” he whispered. “Come on, baby. In the bed.” He pulled down the comforter, and Gretchen started to cry as she climbed between the sheets.
“I have to call my aunt,” she said.
“Tomorrow,” he whispered, getting right into bed with her.
“My daddy.”
“Tomorrow,” he said again. “I’ll call them both.”
Gretchen turned to face him and curled into his chest, already crying again. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t seem to mind as she soaked the front of his shirt with her tears.
* * *
The next day,Gretchen woke in her bed, alone. Her mind felt fuzzy and her mouth like she’d swallowed a bag of cotton. She reached up and touched her face, which felt crusty and tight, and she couldn’t open her right eye all the way.
“Yeowl.”
Gretchen kept rubbing her eye as she rolled over and found Elvis stalking into her room. The cat jumped up on her bed, his tail straight up.
“Are you hungry, buddy?” she asked. She couldn’t remember feeding him last night—and her brain suddenly switched on.
She sucked in a breath and sat up, dislodging Elvis as she did. “The fire. Will.”
She flung the blankets off her feet, realizing now why her eyes had been glued shut this morning. She’d fallen asleep crying. She’d probably cried all night long, and she raced into the hall and down toward the kitchen.
She had no idea what time it was, or where she’d put her cell phone. She needed to call Aunt Patty, Daddy, and then Jon. She needed to get the official fire report from the fire department, and she needed to call a really good restoration company.
No, she needed to call Kevin Barnett first, because he owned the building which housed Sweet Water Taffy, and he needed to know what had happened there. He’d likely have insurance, but she wondered if there’d be some fee or deductible he’d want her to pay.
She couldn’t worry about that right now. As she entered the kitchen, Will came in through the front door, his phone at his ear. “…I’ll let her know,” he said, a half-smile on his face. “Yes, sir. I’m going to check on her right now.”
He lifted his eyes in that moment, and their gazes met. He lowered the phone without saying goodbye.
Gretchen didn’t know what to say to him, and he seemed frozen to the spot just inside her front door, which he hadn’t closed.
She caught a streak of gray as Elvis saw his escape route, and she pointed and made some squeaking noise from somewhere inside her throat.
Will kicked the door closed, thwarting Elvis in his flight. The cat meowed in disagreement, and to her great surprise, Will stooped and picked the tabby cat up.
He cradled him in his arms, smiling down at the feline like they were the best of friends.
“I’ve entered another reality,” Gretchen said.
Will smiled at her and approached. “We became friends last night. Slept together on the couch and everything.”
Gretchen’s eyebrows went up. “You didn’t go home?”
“I couldn’t.” He arrived in front of her and with Elvis between them, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “How’d you sleep, sweetheart?”
“What time is it?”
