Chapter Six

“I’d couldn’t forget that smoky voice, kitten,” Chase said without thinking. “You still sound the same,” he added, clearing his throat awkwardly. “So, um, what are you doing here? Is Parker coming in on furlough or something?”

 “He hopes to have furlough soon, but no, he’s still stationed in Afghanistan,” Polly said, sending up a silent prayer for his safety as she did every time she thought of her twin. “Do you know Carl Kershaw?”

“His mom get bad?” Chase asked, and Polly nodded. “So you’re here to take over for a while, I guess?”

Polly nodded again. “Yup. That’s me – Nature Girl takes on cabins in the woods. It was practically my major in college.”

“You’d think Nature Girl would take on the furnace first – it’s freezing in here,” Chase said, looking around for icicles. “Aren’t you cold?”

I was, Polly thought, until you walked through the door. “I… it’s broken. I was trying to build a fire, but… well, I failed fire making, apparently. I was just going to huddle with my laptop for warmth instead.”

“Sexy,” Chase said with a teasing grin. “Want me to take a look?”

“Yes, please,” Polly said with a winning smile, and Chase’s heart skipped a beat.

The wattage of that smile could start a fire, no problem, he thought, shaking his head quickly to banish the thought from his head.

This was little Polly Royston, for God’s sake. Parker would have his nuts if he made a move on his twin…

Chase examined the pile of logs in the fireplace, then looked over his shoulder and grinned when he saw Polly puckering up and giving Ajax kisses and ear rubs. The puppy was normally so skittish around anyone but him, but he’d taken to Polly in an instant.

That must mean something, right?

“Who’s a cute little boy, huh? Who’s a sweet boy?” Polly said in a silly voice, tousling Ajax’s fur and rubbing his belly when he rolled over on his back. “Who’s a cute little Ajax?” She paused, and then turned to Chase. “Ajax? Why did you name a dopily cute Lab Ajax?”

“Because I thought Kevin was pretentious,” Chase shot back, deadpan. 

“Ajax,” Polly said again. “Were you referencing the player in the Trojan War, the programming language, or perhaps, the household cleaner?”

“If it helps, I usually end up calling him Jack,” Chase shot back. “It was either that or, like, Palmolive or Woolite or something.”

“Jack is much better,” Polly agreed. “And who the hell names a pet Kevin?”

Chase chuckled as rearranged a couple of logs, then patted his pocket for his Zippo, remembering moments later that he’d left it behind on his kitchen table so he could refill it with fluid – dammit.

“Do you have a lighter with you?” Polly asked hopefully. “The flamethrower I was using just up and died.”

“Lighter is back at my place,” Chase said. “Doesn’t Park keep some matches in the kitchen? He used to keep them in the…”

They both jumped a mile as streak of lightning illuminated them, followed a few seconds later by a crash of thunder that reverberated through the woods. Within seconds, the skies opened and rain pounded onto the tin roof above.

"Uh oh," Chase and Polly said in unison.

"Popcorn storm," Chase explained as lightning lit the sky again. "I thought it might pass us by, but I guess not. Lake weather can be so weird."

Polly nodded absently, her eyes raised to the roof. "I love that sound," she breathed, a smile on her lips as she heard the rain reverberate on the metal roof.

Chase watched her smile, smiling himself at her reaction to a storm pounding her cabin, glad she wasn’t one of those shriek and hide under the bed types.

"Seems like a good time to get that fire going, since there won't be any dry lumber for a while…" Chase said, turning back to the fireplace. "Matches?"

"Oh. Yeah, let me look," Polly said, turning towards the kitchen.

The darkness in the cabin was so abrupt, so all encompassing, Polly caught her breath and froze in place.

The electricity was out.

Completely and totally OUT.

Polly stifled a scream at the sudden blackness, the next crash of thunder. "Polly?" Chase asked from behind her, his voice full of concern. "You okay?"

"I'm…I'm okay," Polly managed after a moment. "Okay, I didn't just go blind, right? We didn't get sucked into a wormhole? The lights went out?"

"Yeah, the lights went out," Chase said, her voice amused. "You grabbed the matches before that happened, right?"

"Well…"

At that, Chase laughed out loud.

"I'm thinking you should hold off on applying for that Nature Girl job for a while," he teased, and she turned around to slug him, missing his shoulder and connecting with his chest. 

"Oops. Sorry. I was aiming for shoulder," Polly apologized as Chase grabbed her hand in his, trying to pinpoint her location. "Shouldn't the lights come back on now?"

"In theory, yeah, but I'm having some doubts," Chase admitted. "Ow."

"What?"

"I just ran into your coffee table," Chase explained, moving around until he was standing beside her in the dark, his warm hand still clutching hers. "Where are the matches?"

"I think…in the far kitchen cabinet, if I remember correctly."

"Gotcha," Chase said, moving cautiously as he reluctantly released her hand.

"Ow."

"You okay?" He asked, pulling open a cabinet door and feeling blindly for a box of matches.

"Damn coffee table. This would burn, right?" Polly said with a giggle.

"Now that's a survival instinct!" Chase said before whooping triumphantly as he felt the small box under his hand.

"Of course, Parker would probably take it out of my share and since it’s an antique, charge me for it, not believing that it was accidentally-on-purpose immolated."

"You guys split the profits?" Chase asked, picking his way back across the room and stepping on Polly's foot in the process.

"If I have to stay here for more than two nights, we’re gonna," Polly joked, gasping as a sudden flame appeared before her, illuminating Chase's back as he bent over the fireplace.

"I have made fire!" Chase announced triumphantly, making Polly laugh out loud.

"My hero!" She said in a mocking voice, making him turn to give her a grin that matched hers.

Jack woofed once from his prone position on the floor, not having moved in all the commotion.

"Both my heroes!" Polly amended, throwing herself onto the sofa as the fire began to crackle and burn before them.

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