Christmas Where They Belong

‘I had two fire engines in mind,’ he admitted. ‘But I feel the same.’

‘So you’ll stay until ordered out?’

‘If it doesn’t get any worse, maybe I can clear any debris, check the pumps and sprinkler system, fill the spouts, keep any stray spark from catching. At first light I’ll go right round the house and eliminate every fire risk I can. I can’t do it now. It’s too dark. For the sake of a few hours, I’ll stay. I don’t want this place to burn.’

Why? she wanted to say. What does this house mean to you?

What did it mean to her? A time capsule? Maybe it was. This house was what it was like when...

But when was unthinkable. And if Rob was here, then surely she could go.

But she couldn’t. The threat was still here, even if she wasn’t quite sure what was being threatened.

‘If you need to stay,’ she ventured, ‘there’s a guest room.’

‘Excellent.’ They were like two wary dogs, circling each other, she thought. But they’d started this sort of game. She could do this.

‘Would you like supper?’

‘I don’t want to keep you up.’

‘I wasn’t sleeping. The pantry’s stocked and the freezer’s full. Things may well be slightly out of date...’

‘Slightly!’

‘But I’m not dictated to by use-by dates,’ she continued. ‘I have fresh milk and bread. For anything else, I’m game if you are.’

His brown eyes creased a little, amused. ‘A risk-taker, Jules?’

‘No!’

‘Sorry.’ Jules was a nickname and that was against the rules. He realised it and backtracked. ‘I meant: have you tried any of the food?’

‘I haven’t tried,’ she conceded.

‘You came and went straight to bed?’

‘I...yes.’

‘Then maybe we both need supper.’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s almost too late for a midnight feast but I could eat two horses. Maybe we could get to know each other over a meal? If you dare, that is?’

And she gazed at him for a long moment and came to a decision.

‘I dare,’ she said. ‘Why not?’

* * *

He put the cars in the garage and then they checked the fire situation. ‘We’d be fools not to,’ Rob said as they headed out to the back veranda to see what they could see.

They could see nothing. The whole valley seemed to be shrouded in smoke. It blocked the moon and the stars. It seemed ominous but there was no glow from any fire. ‘And the smoke would be thicker if it was closer,’ Rob decreed. ‘We’re safe enough for now.’

‘There are branches overhanging the house.’

‘I saw them as I came in but there’s no way I’m using a chainsaw in the dark.’

‘There’s no way you’re using a chainsaw,’ she snapped and he grinned.

‘Don’t you trust me?’

‘Do I trust any man with a chainsaw? No.’

He grinned, that same smile... Dear heaven, that smile...

Play the game. For tonight, she did not know this man.

‘We have neighbours,’ Rob said, motioning to a light in the house next door.

‘I saw a child in the window earlier, just as it was getting dark.’

‘A child... They should have evacuated.’

‘Maybe they still think there’s time. There should still be time.’

‘Let me check again.’ He flicked to the fire app on his phone. ‘Same warnings. Evacuate by nine if you haven’t already done so. Unless you’re planning on staying to defend.’

‘Would you?’ she asked diffidently. ‘Stay and defend?’

‘I’d have to be trustworthy with a chainsaw to do that.’

‘And are you?’ The Rob she knew couldn’t be trusted within twenty paces of a power tool.

‘No,’ he admitted and she was forced to smile back. Same Rob, then. Same, but different? The Rob of after.

This was weird. She should be dressed, she decided, as she padded barefoot back to the kitchen behind him. If he really was a stranger...

He really is a stranger, she told herself. Power tool knowledge or not, four years was a lifetime.

‘Right.’ In the kitchen, he was all efficiency. ‘Food.’ He pushed his sleeves high over his elbows and looked as if he meant business. ‘I’d kill for a steak. What do you suppose the freezer holds?’

‘Who knows what’s buried in there?’

‘Want to help me find out?’

‘Men do the hunting.’

‘And women do the cooking?’ He had the chest freezer open and was delving among the labelled packages. ‘Julie, Julie, Julie. How out of the ark is that?’

‘I can microwave a mean TV dinner.’