Page 53 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
By the time I have him settled and make it back to the lobby, Micah is nowhere to be found. Alice and her friend have also disappeared, as well as the two young men, which has my stomach twisting itself into a knot, though I have no idea why.
“Where did she go?” I ask Kenny, once again clenching my hands into fists and letting the pain of my fingernails digging into my skin keep me steady.
He chuckles. “She’s off playing matchmaker, I think.”
“But all the rooms are full.”
“Pretty sure she’s giving themherroom.”
Cursing under my breath, I ignore the several people who call out to me and stalk down the dark hallway to the room directly across from mine. Sure enough, Micah stands in the doorway as the four apparently single people discuss how they’re going to share the two beds.
I grab Micah’s arm, gently tugging her away from the door and into my room, shutting the door behind us. The windows are a wall of white and darkness, which makes me shiver. I flip on my phone light before the darkness makes me dizzy, setting it on the small table by the door.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
She blinks. “I’m making sure everyone has a place to sleep.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea, putting the women with those men? You don’t know what they might do.” The men or the women. Alice wasn’t shy about showing her interest in me, and we don’t need strangers hooking up in the lodge in the middle of a snowstorm.
“It’s fine, Fischer. Besides, I think they’d be cute together.”
“You don’t even know them.” I growl, knowing I’m not frustrated by her matchmaking. What I am frustrated about eludes me, but it’s not that. “Where are you going to sleep now?”
“I didn’t need two beds.”
“Now you don’t even have one.”
She blinks again, and I realize something’s off. She’s not smiling. In fact, her expression is shifting in the opposite direction, eyebrows pulling together and mouth pressing in a firm line. “It’s fine,” she says again, though she’s not convincing with her breathless words. “I need to go check on everyone.” But she doesn’t move.
I stand there for a few beats, watching her chest rise and fall with too-quick breaths. “Micah?”
“We need to find some food or something,” she says and lifts a shaky hand to tuck some hair behind her ear. “And I don’t think there are enough blankets. And without the fires it’s…it’s going to get… I don’t…”
I swear and press my palms to her cheeks, recognizing the beginnings of a panic attack. “Hey, stay with me okay? What can I do?” That’s a stupid question. She’s already lost to overthinking, and I’m just making it worse. Brushing my thumbs across her cheekbones, I try to keep her gaze on me, but she closes her eyes, a tear slipping onto my thumb.
It’s killing me that I don’t know her well enough to talk her down. For all our talking during the drive, with all the things I learned about today and over the last couple of weeks, she’s never mentioned anxiety or panic attacks, and I feel like there should have been signs of something like this. She’s always so happy. So positive. So in the moment. She said it drives her brother crazy because he never has to worry about her.
Well, maybe he can worry now. Micah needs someone familiar. Someone who really knows her. I wish that someone was me.
“Can I take your phone?” I ask her, moving one of my hands to her waist. It’s in her back pocket, but I’m not about to grab it without permission. She manages a nod, and that’s good enough for me. Carefully reaching for the phone, I swipe it open and search for her brother’s number. What was his name? Chad? I curse when I don’t find him.
Micah suddenly puts her hand over my mouth. “You shouldn’t say bad words,” she breathes and then takes her phone, scrolling until she finds the contact info for someone named Grizz. Once it starts ringing, she presses it to her ear and then curls up against my chest.
Though a moment ago I’d still been feeling the lingering effects of Alice’s touch, Micah in my arms soothes all of that and leaves me warm and calm.
“I need your help,” Micah says, and I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or Grizz. “We’re stuck at Greenwood Lodge and there’s a storm so the power went out and there’s a bunch of people here because a bus got stuck and I don’t know what to do. I have to take care of them but I don’t… I can’t…”
After a pause, she sucks in a breath. I hold her tighter, hoping I’m actually being helpful because I’ve been useless until now.
“I can’t do it,” she whimpers.
I hate this. I hate that I can’t help her.
Micah attempts a deep breath, and this time she seems to get a decent amount of oxygen into her lungs. “Thanks, Chad,” she says into the phone after two more breaths.
Okay, Grizz is her brother. Noted. At least there’s not some burly mountain man out there somewhere to stir up feelings of jealousy that I have no right feeling.
“Um.” Micah relaxes a little as she continues speaking into her phone, and thankfully that just melts her body into mine and makes her easier to hold. “We don’t have a lot. All of the beds are taken now and we handed out all of the extra bedding.” She pauses. “I don’t know any of that. You know that. I only know how to plan parties. But what if this turns into aDonnerparty situation? What if people starteatingeach other?” She snuggles in deeper, almost knocking the wind out of me with her elbow. “Sorry,” she says, probably to both of us.
