Snowed In by Rachel Hawthorne Page A

could hear her eating. “It’s amazing.” I laughed. “I figured you’d like it. The street is lined with fudge shops, but since Nathalie works in one, I’m not sure how I can try out the others without being disloyal.”
    “Wear a disguise, because you are obligated to try every one. It’s, like, the law or something.” 73
    “Or something. You just want more fudge.”
    “You bet. So how are things up there?” she asked.
    “Cold.”
    “Are you going to say that every time we talk?” she asked.
    “Well, it’s really cold right now, because I’m half naked.” I yanked a pair of sweats free from the pile and managed to pull them on, while holding the phone between my head and shoulder.
    “Are you just now getting up?”
    Unlike me, Tara’s a morning person. She loves dawn. Go figure.
    “No, I ran into some wet paint.”
    “Huh?”
    I explained about Mom’s renovations, how I came to have paint on my clothes, and that Josh was coming up so I really needed to cover up the old birthday suit.
    “So is he hot?” Tara asked.
    “It’s too cold for anyone up here to be hot,” I said, digging out a shirt.
    She groaned.
    “Hold on.” I set down the phone and pulled on my shirt, just as a knock sounded. I picked up the phone, opened the door, waved Josh in, and went back to talking. “I’m back.”
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    “Is he there now?”
    “Yes.”
    I’d never had a guy in my bedroom. My heart started thundering again, but it had to be the situation, not the actual guy.
    “So why are you still on the phone?” Tara asked.
    “Because—”
    “Shouldn’t you be trying to hook up with him?”
    Him was walking around my room, looking at my various candles. I had one that sounded like a crackling fire when it burned. It was my favorite. I also had lots of little fuzzy toy mice and china figurines of cute rodents.
    Josh was looking at things like he thought the assortment was odd. Maybe he’d never been in a girl’s room before.
    “I mean, that’s your usual modus operandi—
    date, date, date.”
    Tara still didn’t get my whole no-boyfriend-until-I’m-older attitude. Which was fine. I still didn’t get her whole hooking-up-with-Shaun-of-the-Dead thing, so that made us even.
    “Yeah, I need to go.” Even if I wasn’t exactly sure if I should be flirting with Josh.
    I snapped my phone closed. “My friend Tara.”
    “Can’t be a very close friend if she doesn’t 75
    know you well enough not to call before noon.”
    “Ha-ha, very funny.”
    He grinned, still glancing around. “You like mice?”
    “You say that like it’s weird.”
    “I just picture most girls screaming and squeal-ing whenever they see a mouse.”
    “I’m not most girls.”
    “I guess not.” He seemed to think about that for a while, or maybe he was thinking about the room, because he suddenly said, “I see what you mean about the shape. This is kinda wasted space.” He went to the rear of the room, where the roof slanted down. From his shirt pocket, he pulled out a small notebook and pen. He held them toward me. “You write down the measurements.” Using a rolled metal measuring tape, he began calling out numbers. When he was done, the tape snapped back into the roll with a loud thwap .
    He duckwalked out until he could stand up straight. He was quite a bit taller than me. I had to look up at him when he took the notepad back. He wrote some things down on it.
    “What color?” he asked.
    “What?”
    He looked up. “What color do you want the shelves?”
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    “Uh . . .” I shrugged. “White? Brown? I really don’t care. You don’t even have to paint them—”
    “Wynter Warranty. Everything done to your satisfaction.”
    “How much are these going to cost?”
    “Don’t worry about it. And don’t worry about the color, either. I’ll take care of it.”
    “I wasn’t worried exactly.” We stood there, looking at each other like there should be something else to say. Having a guy in my bedroom made it seem so much