To give her a little passive-aggressive nudge, I pull out my own phone and hit Dial on Margorie’s number. She answers after two rings.
“Hey, hon.”
“Hey, Marge. My boy all right? Y’all safe at home?” I ask, and Cece’s eyes whip up to mine so quickly she takes a step sideways to keep her balance. My brows furrow, but I listen for Marge’s reply, pushing the speakerphone button and setting my cell on the bar top so I can use both hands to dry some glasses.
“Yeah, we’re home and hunkered down in the bathroom. Ready to throw a mattress on top of us if it gets any worse,” she assures.
“Dad! The rain is sideways! It looks so cool, like that time we were on the plane and it took off in the rain and the water went sideways on the windows!” Nick yells from a short distance, his voice echoing slightly in his grandparents’ bathroom as Marge puts me on speaker.
Cece’s eyes widen, her lips parting, and I have the sudden urge to wrap my arm around the small of her back, pull her to me, and kiss the fuck out of her.
“That’s awesome, buddy. Just listen to Grandma and Papa, and they’ll keep you safe until I get you Monday, okay? Just two days, all right?”
“’Kay, Dad. Love you,” he replies.
“Love you too. Bye, Marge,” I add.
“Bye, hon. See you soon,” she tells me, and we end the call.
Cece blinks up at me. “I… I didn’t know you have a son.”
“Which I find rather fascinating. How have you worked here for six months and not known I have a kid?” My head tilts to the side in question.
“How would I know if you didn’t tell me?” she fires back.
I shrug. “I figured Steph would’ve mentioned Nick by now.”
She shakes her head. “Nope, he hasn’t come up in any conversation. Are you with his mom? Do you not see him much?” she asks rapid-fire, and then she slaps her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening adorably in embarrassment. She mumbles behind her hand. “I’m so sorry. That was rude of me and totally not my business.”
I chuckle, pulling her hand away from her face by her wrist. “It’s okay, naekkeo. No, his mom and I aren’t together. Haven’t been for over three years now. And yes, I get him every other week.”
A look of relief flits across her face before she can hide it by turning toward the bar, and I can’t help but smirk. So, Cece is relieved I’m—
Suddenly, all the lights go out, and a loud crash right outside the front doors makes Cece gasp as her hand lands on my chest, latching onto me. I turn on the flashlight app on my phone and see the terrified look on her beautiful face. Immediately, it sends me into action.
My arm swoops around her, and she’s up against my chest with her arms locked around my neck as I carry her bridal style to the door leading to the kitchen.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,” she chants as I stride to the stainless-steel, walk-in refrigerator. I set her down at the door, and she looks up at me in a panic.
“Stay here,” I order, and as she lights up her own cell, I take off out of the kitchen and to my office, grabbing the armful of moving blankets in the corner I use to help transport our alcohol supply and my coat off the back of my chair before hurrying back to Cece. “The generator will keep the refrigerators and freezer going, but not the lights. Come on.”
I open the door, and she steps inside, and then I pull the door closed behind us. I drop the pile of blankets to the floor and wrap my coat around her, and she automatically sticks her arms through the holes. I pick up one of the blankets, wrapping it around her, and then pick her up once more, sitting down on the floor of the cold room with her now in my lap. Grabbing one more of the blankets, I wrap it around the both of us, and I see her eyes widen as the building around us makes a god-awful noise. It almost sounds like that part in Titanic when the ship starts to stand straight up in the air. It sends a shiver up my back that’s not from the coldness of the refrigerator. No, I’m not feeling a bit of chill, because right now, even with the terrifying weather happening seemingly on top of us, I feel nothing but the heat of Cece’s tiny body wrapped up in my much, much bigger one.
I feel her body quiver, and I tighten my arms around her, but when I hear her wet sniffle, I realize it’s not from being cold. I pull back enough to look into her face, so close to mine, closer than it’s ever been before, and if it weren’t for the tears streaming down her pale cheeks I see from her flashlight app, there’s no way I would be able to resist kissing her the way I’ve wanted to since the moment she first walked into my kitchen all those months ago.