For Now and Forever

Emily loosened her grip. She didn’t even care that yet another person was telling her to stop, to give up, that she wasn’t good enough. The house now had heat along with water, and that meant she didn’t need to return to New York as a failure.

“Here,” Emily said, grabbing her purse. “How much do I owe you?”

Eric just shook his head. “It’s all covered,” he replied.

“Covered by who?” Emily asked.

“Just someone,” Eric replied evasively. He clearly felt uncomfortable being caught up in the unusual situation. Whoever had paid him to come over and stock up her oil supply must have asked him to keep it quiet and the whole situation was making him awkward.

“Well, okay,” Emily said. “If you say so.”

Inwardly she resolved to find out who had done it, and to pay him back.

Eric just nodded once, sharply, then headed back up out of the basement. Emily quickly followed, not wanting to be in the basement alone. As she climbed the steps, she noticed she had a renewed spring in her step.

She showed Eric to the door.

“Thank you, really,” she said as meaningfully as she could.

Eric said nothing, just gave her a parting look, then headed outside to pack up his things.

Emily shut the door. Feeling elated, she rushed upstairs to the master bedroom and put her hand against the radiator. Sure enough, warmth was beginning to spread through the pipes. She was so happy she didn’t even mind the way they banged and clanked, the noise echoing through the house.

*

As the day wore on, Emily reveled in the sensation of being warm. She hadn’t fully realized how uncomfortable she’d been ever since leaving New York, and hoped that some of the crabbiness she’d thrown at Daniel had been in part because of that discomfort.

No longer needing the dusty blanket from the master bedroom for warmth, Emily draped it over the broken window in the pantry before setting about cleaning up the glass fragments. She hung her wet clothes over the radiators, beat the dust out of the rug in the living room, and dusted all the shelves before setting the books up neatly. Already the room felt cozier, and more like the place she remembered. She took down her old, well-read copy of Alice Through The Looking Glass, then set about reading it by the hearth. But she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind continually wandered back to Daniel. She felt so ashamed of the way she’d treated him. Though he acted as though he didn’t care, the way he’d thrown the shovel and stormed back to the house was evidence enough that her words had frustrated him.

The guilt gnawed at her until she couldn’t take it anymore. She abandoned the book, put on her now toasty warm sneakers, and headed out toward the carriage house.

She knocked on the door and waited as the sound of someone moving about came from inside. Then the door swung open and there was Daniel, backlit by the glow of a warm fire. A delicious smell wafted out of the house, reminding Emily again that she hadn’t eaten. She began to salivate.

“What’s up?” Daniel asked, his tone as measured as always.

Emily couldn’t help but peer over his shoulder, taking in the sight of the roaring fire, the varnished floorboards and crammed bookshelves, the guitar propped up beside a piano. She hadn’t known what to expect from Daniel’s home, but it hadn’t been this. The incongruity of the place in which Daniel lived and the person she’d assumed him to be surprised her.

“I was…” she stammered. “Just here to…” Her voice trailed away.

“Here to ask for some soup?” Daniel suggested.

Emily snapped to attention. “No. Why would you think that?”

Daniel gave her a look that was a cross between amused and reproachful. “Because you look half starved.”

“Well, I’m not,” Emily replied brusquely, once again infuriated by Daniel’s assumption that she was weak and unable to care for herself, no matter how right he really was. She hated the way Daniel made her feel, like she was some kind of stupid child. “I was actually here to ask you about the electricity,” she said. It was only a half-lie; she did need electricity at some point.

She wasn’t sure but she thought she saw a flicker of disappointment in Daniel’s eyes.

“I can get that fixed up for you tomorrow,” he said, in a dismissive kind of tone, one that told her he wanted her off his doorstep and out of his hair.