Deep Freeze (West Coast 1)

“If this is surviving.”

“Just wait until I have you splitting wood and stoking the fire and cooking in the cast iron skillet over the coals if we lose power. We’ll all get to sleep down here in sleeping bags in front of the fireplace.”

“Oh, save me,” Cassie said.

“Think of it. No MTV, or hot showers or hair dryers or electricity for anything. Maybe, if we’re lucky, the cell phones will work.”

“You enjoy making me miserable, don’t you?” her daughter accused.

“Just pointing out that things aren’t so bad.”

“Yeah, right.” Cassie rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs. Jenna poured coffee into a thermos and was about to carry it out to the pump house, when she heard a rap on the back door. Half a second later, Harrison let himself inside. “You must’ve read my mind,” he said as he spied the steaming canister. He called over his shoulder, “Seth! I told you she’d have coffee for us!”

Through the glass of the door, Jenna saw Whitaker wave as he carried tools to his truck.

“So tell me, do I have water?” she asked.

“Not yet. But soon. We started thawing out the pump and Seth fixed a couple of the loose wires. It’ll take a little time. We’ve got a heater running in the pump house and have a drip pan and a hose that’ll siphon the water out of the house, so it doesn’t refreeze in there. While he was working on the pump, I put up some more insulation. It’ll take a few hours, but before the night’s over, everything should work and yes, you will have water again.”

“Hallelujah!”

“You might consider building a more substantial pump house next summer.” He settled into a chair at the table as Jenna poured him a cup of steaming coffee. “Until then, I’ll help you get through the winter.”

“Thanks,” she said, though there was a part of her that objected to his proprietary tone. She ignored it. Right now she needed his help. A few minutes later, Seth appeared at the back door. She offered coffee, but the handyman declined as he stepped into the house and wiped his boots. “Too much caffeine,” was his quick excuse. A quiet man, he glanced at his watch.

“You in a hurry?” Harrison asked.

“Another job.”

“In that case, we’d better shove off.”

“What do I owe you?” Jenna asked the handyman.

“I already paid him.” Harrison was zipping up his coat.

“What? For me? No way.” She was reaching for her purse.

“He did,” Seth said.

“Wait a minute. I can’t accept that. Harrison, really. Thanks for your help today, but I pay my own bills.” She looked him steadily in the eye. “It’s the way I want it.”

Harrison’s face turned red. “Then think of it as a favor. One neighbor to another.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t like to be in debt. To anyone. Favors tend to mount up.” She turned her attention to the handyman. “Business is business. I’ll pay you for your time and any equipment you had to buy.”

Seth shifted from one foot to the other, obviously embarrassed by the awkward scene. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But I do.”

“This is how we do things up here,” Harrison explained. “We take care of each other.”

“Hey, no!” She held up both hands. “Wait a minute. This is not the way I run my life! I can’t let you ‘take care of me.’ No way. Believe it or not, Harrison, I can take care of myself, and that’s the way I like it.”

He was having none of it. “Like it or not, I’m concerned about you and your kids alone up here. I already talked to Seth, here, about helping install a new security system here at the house. And I don’t like the way the main gate is froze open.”

“What?” Jenna nearly came unglued. “I think this is my decision.”

“Your old system is shot.”