Page 16 of Because of Blake
“No problem. I’m happy to help.”
My gaze flicks to his house, where the driveway and sidewalk lay still covered in snow. As guilt settles in my gut, I have to ask, “Can I come help you with yours?”
“What? No, Maggie, you don’t have to.”
“I know, but you worked hard on mine. Besides, it’s the neighborly thing to do,” I tease.
A slow grin spreads across Blake’s face. “Well, then I’m glad you’re my neighbor.”
I’m grateful for the biting cold keeping my cheeks red. “Let me tell the kids where I’ll be. Hold on.” I put up a gloved finger and turn back into the garage. As I open the door to the house, I find Sydney right where I left her on the couch with her book. “Hey, Syd. I’m going to help Blake shovel. I’ll be back in a little while.”
She shakes her head without looking away from her book. “You have weird ideas on dates, Mom.”
“Sydney!” I gape at her. This is as far from a date as anything could be, and why she would think that is beyond me. “I’m returning a favor. He helped me shovel, so now I’m helping him.”
“Okay, whatever.”
“Will you guys be okay?” I huff. “I’ll be right down the street and I have my phone. I’ll shut the garage door, but if you need anything give me a call and–”
“Mom!” Sydney rolls her eyes. “We’ll be fine. Go do your weird ‘not’ date. Sheesh.” She scoots down farther into the couch, pulling the blanket to her shoulders.
It’s my turn to roll my eyes before shutting the door. Once I’m outside, I use the keypad to close the garage, grab my shovel, and join Blake on the sidewalk. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Kids okay?”
“They’ll be fine,” I say, but part of me is reeling inside at the millions of things that could happen while I’m gone. Ninety-nine percent of which are highly improbable, but the pit in my stomach is still there.
Blake nods, but doesn’t say anything as he heads toward his house. In fact, we don’t say a word as we trudge through the snow.
I chew on the inside of my cheek, wanting to fill this void between us. Blake seems like he needs to hear something encouraging. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I know where they will inevitably lead to. “I know how it feels to have someone be disappointed in your life choices.”
Blake’s head whips up to look at me, his eyes searching mine for an answer.
“My father-in-law wanted us to move to Boulder after college because he lived there, but we didn’t want to. So, we ended up in Aurora.”
“Does your father-in-law still live there?”
My stomach drops.It’s okay. He’s asking about Charlie’s dad, not Charlie.I swallow down my pounding heart and shake my head. “No. He passed away three years ago.”
Blake’s eyes become sullen. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, thank you.” I inhale deeply, realizing I’m not out of breath from the anxiety bubbling in my gut. This snowy trek is much more arduous than I expected. Though Blake doesn’t seem to have any trouble. “How tall are you?”
He glances over at me, a slack look on his face. “Uh, about 6’3”. Why?”
“Because I’m little miss struggle bus over here, and you’re gliding through these drifts effortlessly.” Even at 5’7”, I wish I had a couple more inches for this excursion.
“You want me to carry you?” Blake asks, a playful look in his eyes.
I have no doubt in my mind he could carry me. The image of Blake whisking me into his strong arms and hiking through the neighborhood threatens to put a smile on my face, so I shake my head. “No, but could you slow down?”
His deep chuckle sends butterflies through my stomach.
We reach his house and begin with the sidewalk. He tackles the long way around the side of the house, and I work on the shorter part in front. When it’s time to start the driveway, we stand next to each other and stare at it a minute.
“Do you want some water or something?” Blake asks.
“Water would be wonderful, thank you.”