Page 14 of Because of Blake
“Thanks,” she says, and stalks down the porch with Dylan bouncing alongside her.
Blake turns his gaze back to me, his eyes drinking me in from head to toe, lingering a moment on the dangerously low neckline of my halter before meeting my gaze again. “Scarlet Witch?”
“Wanda Maximoff, in the flesh.” I do a small curtsy, immediately feeling like an idiot. “I’m glad it’s obvious. I was afraid I wasn’t pulling it off.”
“I think I have a new favorite superhero.” His tone is husky and it makes me blush.
I bite the inside of my cheek, flicking my gaze from his. “I sort of thought you’d be at a party. Isn’t that what young, single people do?”
Blake chuckles. “A lot of them do, yeah. My buddy throws one every year but I don’t go. I’ve never been a big party guy. Don’t get me wrong, it can be fun, but it’s also exhausting. Besides, if I don’t pass out this candy, I’ll end up eating all of it. I’m saving myself a stomach-ache, really.”
I laugh and watch Blake’s eyes soften. Something in the air changes and a shiver goes down my spine, but not from the cold. I swallow and say, “Where are all your pumpkins?”
“Excuse me?”
“We were at the garden center the other day and saw you in the pumpkin patch. Thought maybe you were getting some for decorations.” Great, now I sound like a stalker.
“Oh, um, no. I was working.”
“You work at the garden center?”
“No, but I work with them.” He reaches his arm up and rubs the back of his neck, flicking his gaze away from mine. “I’m a landscaper. We were there to pick up an order and I was waiting for the owner.”
“You’re a landscaper?” I try not to sound incredulous, but I can’t help it as I glance over the railing at Blake’s barely landscaped yard. “I would’ve never guessed.”
He shrugs. “It pays the bills.”
“That’s what matters.” An awkward silence takes over, the electricity from a moment ago is gone. I killed the mood by bringing up work.Smooth move, Maggie.“Well, thanks for the candy. Happy Halloween.”
“Wait, you didn’t get any.” Blake turns to grab something off his entry table. When he comes back, he offers me a full-size Twix.
I gape at him. “How did you know this was my favorite?”
“Come on, Maggie. It’s everyone’s favorite.” He winks, and just like that, the electricity shoots back through me.
“Well, thanks.” I put my hand up to wave, but it’s too quick and I seem too eager, so I pretend to scratch my shoulder instead. I must look like a fool. “I’ll, uh, see you later.”
“See you, Maggie.”
Chapter six
TheweekendbeforeThanksgivingbrings our first big snowfall of the season. Not only is it over a foot deep, but it’s also the wettest, heaviest snow I’ve seen in a while. Years ago, I would have bundled up my children to build snow-forts and snowmen while Charlie shoveled. Now, they aren’t interested.
Dylan would be if he had someone to play with, but since Sydney can’t be bothered to do “kid stuff” anymore, he’d rather play Xbox. I should really encourage him to bring a friend over, or maybe I should get him into a sport this spring. He’s an energetic kid, and a natural when it comes to agility, but I’m so far from the sporty type, I wouldn’t know which one to get him into. Charlie would’ve been the one to do those things.
It stops snowing in the late morning, so I suit myself up and head out to shovel. After about ten minutes, I take a break. I drive the shovel into my measly snow pile and toss my coat onto the trunk of my car inside the garage. It may only be thirty degrees out here, but moving heavy snow with the sun shining will warm you up in no time.
Maybe I should buy that snowblower Charlie always wanted.
A hollowness settles in my chest as I think about the multitude of conversations we had about it. Charlie argued since he was the one in charge of snow removal, it should be up to him if we bought one. I told him he was young and shoveling was good exercise. In truth, I didn’t want to spend the money. I was always the frugal one, even though we didn’t have to be.
After his death, I hired high school kids on our street to do it. Now I’m the one doing it and I realize I should have let Charlie spend the damn money.
I pick up the shovel and resume my slow, but steady excavation when I see a figure moving down the street. As I lift my head, I find Blake trudging through the snow. His body a stark contrast against the bright white terrain, he heads in my direction with a shovel in his hands.
Surely, he’s not coming here.But even as I try to justify the reasoning behind his trek, I find myself hoping he is. Would it be such a bad thing?
“Hey, Maggie. Want some help?” he asks with a hopeful look in his eye as he scratches at the scruffy beard covering his face.