Chapter 4The following week, Joar goes away on a work trip for a few days. Before he leaves, he stops by my house. “You’ll be okay?” He inflects it as a question, with a worried gaze and hands shoved resolutely in his pockets as though he’s trying hard to not reach out and touch me.
I nod. “You’ve made sure I’ll be warm. My freezer is full, so I don’t need to go to the store if there’s another heavy snowfall. And I’ve got gas for the generator should the power go out. I’ll be fine.”
I’ll be lonely, though.
“I’ll be back on Thursday.”
I nod. “Would you…would you like to come over for dinner when you get back? It’s always such a pain in the ass to have to cook something when you’ve been away.”
His lips curl up in a smile. “I’d like that.”
“Let me know what time you’ll arrive, and I’ll
