“Here you go.” I offered her the clothes. “You can get changed if you want, or take a shower or whatever, and I’ll start a fire.”

“Thank you.” She looked down the hall and hesitated.

“You can use my room if you want. I haven’t gone through Cal’s yet. Shower is—”

“Connected to the bedroom,” she finished with a small smile. “I remember. Be right back.”

She disappeared into my bedroom, and I started a fire in the living room fireplace. The solar batteries would hold—I wasn’t worried—but there was something to be said for a fire on a night like this. When I carried the last load of wood in from the garage, I found Willow sitting in front of the flames, pulling a tiny brush through her wet hair.

“Let me help,” she offered, climbing to her feet. The socks came up to her knees, and she had my athletic shorts rolled a few times, leaving only her knees bare. My hoodie engulfed her, hitting her just below mid-thigh, and she had the sleeves rolled on that, too.

“I’ve got it,” I told her and added the stack to the log rack that sat at the end of the mantel. “Where were you hiding a brush?”

She popped the back, and it compressed into an even tinier rectangle. “I managed to strap my purse on under my coat. Good thing, too, since I have my wallet and all those important things.”

“Because you were planning on taking a trip to the store?” I teased as we both sat. She curled her legs under her, and I brought up my knees to brace my elbows as we both stared into the fire.

“I bet you think I’m the biggest damsel ever.”

“What?”

“Damsel. You know, ‘save me!’” She waved her hands in the air and shook them, still looking into the flames.

“Why would I think you’re a damsel?” I questioned.

“You’ve been home what, two weeks? And now you’ve had to come to my rescue twice.” She shrugged, but I knew she wasn’t taking it as casually as she made it seem.

“Okay, well, I’ve been home more like two and a half weeks, and last time I checked, you’ve done your fair share of saving me, too.”

She shot me a puzzled look.

“You stood up in front of the entire town, and you took my side when you didn’t have to. When you knew it was going to cost you. I may have taken a bullet for you, but you took on your dad for me. I’d say that counts us as even for this go-round.” A side of my mouth drifted up.

“This go-round?”