Chapter 6

Lisa

I woke up to the smell of bacon assaulting my nose, and my stomach responded with a loud growl.

"Is she dead?" A tiny voice whispered.

I cracked my eye open just a bit to see Ruby and Jane sitting on the fireplace bench staring at me.

"No, she's not. She just moved," Ruby whispered to Jane.

"Her nose holes are opening and closing," Jane responded, making a gross face.

Unable to hold it together, I laughed out loud at Jane's comment.

"Girls, get over here!" Jennie whispered sternly. "Did you wake her?"

Ruby cupped her hands around her mouth and turned to face her mom. "We were making sure she wasn't dead." She not-so-quietly whispered back.

I laughed again as they scurried back to the kitchen. Rolling onto my stomach, I propped myself up on my elbows to face Jennie.

"I'm so sorry, go back to sleep. I'll make them hush." She apologized.

She looked even cuter than she did last night, if that was possible. She had on little black pants that said Pink across the back and made her ass look phenomenal, and a Minnesota Twins t-shirt.

She's a sports fan too? This girl just got better and better.

"It's ok, really. What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes and looked around for my cell phone.

"Seven-thirty. I'm making breakfast. You hungry?" she asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

"Starving."

"Wanna help me cut up some fruit?" she asked shyly, biting her lip.

Can I eat it off of you after we cut it?

"Sure, I'll be right there, just gimme a minute to wake up."

That was a lie. I didn't need to wake up. I was wide awake, but if I stood up right now I would most likely embarrass both of us.

"Okay, everyone else should be down soon. I'd better get cooking." She smiled again and turned back to whatever she was mixing on the counter.

I lay there for a minute, wishing the others weren't coming down. I couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but I liked being around her, especially alone. We had a blast talking late last night. She had no idea who I was but seemed to be into me. I wanted to explore that a little more.

I got up and folded up the blankets Jennie had given me the night before and piled them on the floor next to the fireplace.

"Good morning, everyone!" Ashley chirped loudly as she bounced into the kitchen.

"Morning, Ashley." I heard Jennie greet back.

"Hey, gorgeous." She cooed annoyingly when she came into the family room.

I studied her face as she got closer. Who wore that much makeup this early in the morning? She looked like she got smacked in the face by a drunk rainbow.

"Good morning," I said back politely.

She walked behind me, running her hand up my arm and over my shoulder. "Maybe today we can watch that movie?"

"Uh, maybe," I replied, trying to be polite.

I was used to girls throwing themselves at me and handing me phone numbers, even the occasional hotel room key, but I never followed up. It wasn't my style, and Ashley certainly wasn't the one changing that for me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Jennie watching us, cracking a grin when Ashley made the movie suggestion, again. Jennie knew I'd lied to Ashley about having a girlfriend the night before, and she was thoroughly enjoying my squirming. Ashley turned around to look out the back door of the family room, and I shot Jennie a playful glare and shook my head. She threw her head back and laughed silently.

"How's the weather looking?" Fred said as he came into the family room.

"Mornin', Fred. Not sure, I haven't turned the TV on yet," I replied, shaking his hand.

"Well, let's check it out." Fred grabbed the remote and flipped on the morning news.

"Yes, Bob, raining cats and dogs is an understatement, and it doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon. Folks, if you had plans today, you'd better cancel them. We are expecting more rain and lots of it. In some areas it's coming down at the rate of one inch per hour. Massive flooding all over the county and power outages galore-"

Fred clicked the TV off in the middle of the weatherman's report and dropped the remote on the couch, his head falling back in exasperation. He looked over toward Sophia and my eyes followed. Poor Sophia. I knew that look anywhere—my mom made it too. She was panicked, clutching her necklace, staring back at Fred. He got up off the couch and walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay, don't worry. The sandbags are keeping the lake at bay and you bought that back-up generator for a reason. It's business as usual around here." She looked over and smiled at him, her face more relaxed.

I walked into the kitchen, up behind Jennie who was on her tiptoes trying to reach something in the fridge.

"Need help?"

"Ah!" she yelled, spinning around. Her back slammed against the refrigerator shelves.

"Whoa! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. My mind was somewhere else."

"I hope wherever it was, it was having fun." I winked at her playfully. "What can I help you with?"

"Knowing my brain, it was re-organizing a closet and sorting dirty laundry into color coordinated piles." She grinned up at me. "Um … wanna cut up some strawberries?"

"Yep, I'm all over it." I grabbed the cutting board and pint of strawberries and got to work.

"Jennie, did Fred tell you about the shower?" Sophia asked her.

"The shower?" Jennie pulled her brows in close and looked at her mom, confused.

"Nothing major. I think it's just a broken cartridge, but no water comes out, so no one can use it until it's fixed. I'll get to it this afternoon," Fred said, walking over to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Oh, no biggie. If I smell today, it's Fred's fault." Jennie teased, nudging him with her elbow as he walked by.

I discreetly stared at Jennie as she continued small talk with her mom and Fred. I had found myself doing that a lot over the last eighteen hours, but I couldn't help it. She was mesmerizing, every little thing about her. From her bright eyes, to her cute little nose that crinkled just a little bit every time she smiled. When we were talking last night, I was trying hard to concentrate on what she was saying, but I kept drifting off, getting lost in her features. Twenty-four hours ago, I didn't know this girl existed. Now I wanted to know every single detail about her, all the way down to her shoe size.

"Mmmmm, I love strawberries. So sweet and juicy." Ashley winked at me as she reached over and grabbed a berry, popping it into her mouth.

I smiled politely, finding it hard to hide my annoyance with her any longer. Though this detour to the Inn wasn't planned, it had been surprisingly awesome so far, except for Ashley. She was a thorn in my side that I wish I could remove. I didn't have a lot of time left here, and she was not the one I wanted to spend it with.

Just then, Jennie wiggled in between Ashley and me with catlike prowess and set down a cast iron skillet full of gooey, delicious-looking cinnamon rolls on the island. She took the cutting board from me, brushing the strawberries into a bowl. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I knew what she was doing.

She was saving me from Ashley, amongst other things.