Hearts Afar

...23...

...23...

When I woke up the following morning, I half expected that Clay would still be in bed but when I rolled over, he was gone. I slowly sat up and gained my bearings before trudging downstairs. Once I got down there, I was swarmed with good smelling food again. I swear this boy could out cook Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray and Paula Deen put together.

    “Good morning,” I said, yawning.

    “Morning,” he smiled. “How’d you sleep?”

    “Pretty good once I got to sleep.”

    “Yeah, you tossed around a little. Was it because I was there?” he asked concerned.

    “No, it wasn’t. I know I spend a lot of time here but I think it was because I wasn’t in my own bed.”

    “Could be. I know I’m like that when I’m gone. Would you like some coffee?”

    “Sure. I’ll take it black today,” I smiled over at him.

Just as Clay was getting finished with the cooking, Mike and Hannah came downstairs. They took their seats while Clay went to see if Caroline wanted to come down to eat. When he came back down, he started serving up waffles and sausage. After refilling my coffee, I dug in. As with anything that I have tasted that he cooked, it was great. 

When we were finished eating and helped clean up, the kids asked if it was okay to go outside and play in the snow. I didn’t have any extra clothes with me so I knew if I went out, I would get extremely cold. Clay told me that he would let me have another pair of his sweats and a long sleeved shirt to wear. When we were all dressed, Caroline told Clay to let me use her gloves and we all went outside. 

Hannah and Mikey went right to building a snowman. Clay and I helped a little but let them do most of the work. I was just standing there, watching the kids when Clay came up behind me and smashed a snowball over my head. 

    “You are going to die,” I said when he took off running. 

I was a pretty fast runner but nothing compared to Clay so I could not catch up with him. Just as I rounded the corner where I saw him last, I slipped and fall. I felt my ankle twist and I dropped to the ground, it hurt but I didn’t cry out. I was trying to pull the boot off to check it out when Clay came back around.

    “What happened?” he said, dropping down beside me.

    “I fell, I think I sprained my ankle.”

    “Let me see,” he said, gently pulling my boot off. As his fingers skimmed my ankle, I felt sparks. I couldn’t keep my eyes on him so I just watched as he examined my ankle. “I don’t think it’s broken but you’ve got a pretty bad sprain. We might need to get you some x rays.”

    “Well Doctor Redden, how do you suggest that? The roads are bad and I certainly can’t drive myself.”

    “I’ll get Brent to come over and I’ll take you myself.”

    “The roads are bad, Clay. I don’t think we need to be out in it.”

    “Well then, maybe we need to go in and get your foot propped up.”

    “Okay. We can give it a little while and see how it does. If it doesn’t get any better than I’ll go to the hospital.”

    “Sounds like a plan. Come on, wrap your arms around my neck.”

    “Wh.. what?” I stuttered.

    “Claire,” he smiled his breath taking smile. “I’m not going to make you walk, well, hop inside. It will just be easier if you let me carry you. Come on, wrap your arms around my neck.”