Page 45 of It's a Brewtiful Day
“Yeah, I prefer the quiet of the small-town life too. Except in moments like this.” He glances toward the window.
One thing about small towns was that the services weren’t up to a big city level. The downed tree blocking our exit could be there for … I swallowed. I didn’t want to think how long we could actually be trapped in here.
The reality was, we could be stuck for days.
Chapter Nine
“Well, we’ve danced and eaten everything in sight, and it seems too early to go to sleep,” I said.
Not that I was even remotely tired. Truth be told, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to sleep. With the winds still howling, and the occasional knock on the window from a random piece of garbage crashing into it, it was going to be hard to sleep or rest even. Most likely, I was going to be up all night playing the woulda-shoulda-coulda game.
Would rescuers stop checking after ten pm as per the noise prohibition bylaw? The last time we checked the phone, it was already past that hour and there hadn’t been any type of rescue vehicle to have passed by our window.
It was going to be a long night.
I tapped my chin. “Hey, are you up for a friendly game of chess? I rememberdropping off two game boxes earlier.”
“What was the other game?”
“Not a chess fan, are you?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I can’t think that way. My brother-in-law is like a chess prodigy. He plans out moves five or six turns ahead and can anticipate what you’re going to do.” He pulled a stool over to the bar-height table at the window. “He’s no fun to play with.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t sound that way. If he only plays to outplay someone else where’s the fun in that? If it helps, I suck at chess and have never once won a game.” I tucked a piece of wild hair behind my ear.
“Never?”
“Nope. So you’re guaranteed a win playing me because I doubt you suck more than I do.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like fun for you.”
“Oh, but it is.” I cocked an eyebrow, knowing full well how truly aggravating it was to play against me. The grunts and groans from games past still nestled in my head. “I make the stupidest moves. Throws everyone off.”
He laughed a sweet and delicious sound. “Then you need to play Bryan. That would frustrate him to no end.”
“Maybe someday I will.” I shrugged, knowing it was as likely to happen as us being rescued in the next thirty minutes.
I tossed a quick gaze down the street; it was still lifeless. Nope, no rescue in sight.
Through the muted darkness, I grabbed the box off the bookshelf and opened it, dumping out all the pieces across the table upon my return. “There should be two of everything, right?”
“Eight pawns, one Queen, and one King each, but yeah, otherwise, two of everything.”
The board was warped and wobbly, but it would work. We quickly sorted the pieces, coming up two white pawns short.
“Well, there goes that,” he said with a huff.
“Don’t be so hasty. We can improvise.” But I hadn’t the foggiest idea with what. We needed something small that would fit within the limits of the square like a salt or sugar packet. “Any ideas of a sub-in pawn? Got anything fun in your backpack?”
“Oh! Maybe?” He hoisted his bag and rifled on through, producing an unchewed piece of gum (which he popped out of the blister pack) and a tube of lip balm, which I wanted a better look at.
“You like the lip balm for the flavour or the lip softening properties?” I asked, raising a brow sky high, and repositioning myself on the stool to look up into his beautiful eyes.
My favourite was a pina-colada flavour that whenever I used it—and licked my lips—reminded me of a sunshiny day on a beach.
“Both.” For good measure, he popped the cap and swiped it over his lips, handing it to me. “Want some?”
“No, thanks. That’s just weird sharing atube.” Even if, upon closer inspection, it was Dr. Pepper flavoured.