Chapter Text
“So that’s it? That’s all you can do? Usually when a flight is cancelled the airlines at least make sure they have somewhere to stay,” Lupe said. It felt like she’d been back and forth with the help desk for nearly half an hour now arguing. She was aware of the line behind her and the growing list of disgruntled passengers trying to seek solutions to their own problems, but frankly, Lupe’s was more important.
“I’m sorry, ma’am but in the event of a flight cancellation outside of our control, we are not responsible for hotel accommodations. I have another flight departing at six forty am on the twenty sixth if-”
“The twenty sixth is after Christmas. I need to be there for Christmas,” Lupe said. “Certainly a snowstorm isn’t going to shut down the entire airport for five fucking days!”
“No, likely not, unfortunately though, it is a popular time of year for travel, and there is nothing available until the morning of the twenty sixth. I understand the inconvenience, however this is all I can do.”
Lupe opened her mouth, before she sighed slowly and shut her eyes tight. There was a headache forming in both her temples. She was tired, she hadn’t slept for almost twenty four hours, and even though she couldn’t believe the fact that she was saying it, she just wanted to be back in her childhood home in Dallas.
It took everything in Lupe to not pull the do you know who I am card that her teammates used to get their way. She didn’t know how much pull being a professional baseball player had in Regina, Saskatchewan. Unlike some of her teammates, she was well aware that she’d go largely unnoticed by most of the population most of her life. Still, it was tempting. Only if she didn’t make a fool of herself.
Which-
“Oh come on, lady! Take your voucher and move on!”
-it was definitely too late for that.
Lupe finally gave up, and took the voucher for the flight on the twenty sixth, and the stupid brochure for hotels, and pouted her way over to the payphones. She was lucky that she still had a handful of Canadian cash in her wallet, though it definitely wasn’t enough for a three night stay in a hotel. She didn’t want to use her credit card if she could help it. She’d already spent and risked so much… just for a snowstorm to ruin everything. Her first snowstorm, at that.
Lupe carried her bag outside, and immediately gasped at the harsh bite of the air. It was nothing like what she’d experienced before, and the wind cut right through her lined denim jacket.
Still, she tucked herself away in the smokers area and opened up the carton in her bag, placing one between her lips before she struggled with her lighter.
“Need help with that?” a voice asked.
Lupe looked up.
“With what?”
“The light. Your hands look like they’re going blue already.”
Lupe narrowed her eyes as the stranger took the lighter from her hand and lit it with ease, lighting Lupe’s cigarette before their own.
“Not used to the weather.”
The other snorted. “Yeah, clearly.”
Lupe could barely make out the person underneath all of their gear. They were wearing thick, baggy pants, a thick winter jacket, a green scarf wrapped around their neck twice and one of those ridiculous hats with little ear flaps on either side.
“Wasn’t supposed to leave the comfort of the airport,” Lupe said simply.
“Yeah… I think everyone in the entire airport heard,” they laughed. Lupe narrowed her eyes, before she deflated, already feeling the remorse of her anger washing over her. She leaned back against the wall.
“It’s really important that I got to Dallas in time,” Lupe said. “Really important.” She couldn’t tell if the sting in her eyes were from the cold, or if she was so frustrated she was ready to cry. Instead, she distracted herself with another drag, and then looked away from the person.
“Yeah well, I’m sure everyone on that flight had important places they needed to get to. That’s just how it is. Jess, by the way.” Jess stuck out a hand, which Lupe hesitantly took to shake.
“Lupe.”
“You know, with the amount of flights being cancelled, I doubt you’re going to find a hotel near the airport. And that brochure you’re digging into is where everyone is going to be calling,” Jess pointed out.
“I’ll figure something out… Maybe I’ll just fall asleep in the lobby,” Lupe muttered.
“For five days? I’m sure they’ll love that,” Jess said sarcastically. “Listen, I’m headed to Moosejaw, it’s about an hour's drive up the highway. There’s an inn there that I know would be accommodating.”
“That’s a little far, but thanks.” Lupe dropped her cigarette and stamped it out, though it was useless in the foot and a half of snow she was already standing in. It practically disappeared in the white fluff.
“I’m telling you, you’re not gonna find anything ‘round here.”
“I’m sure I will.”
Lupe wasn’t one to take handouts from strangers, and she wasn’t going to catch a ride with someone an hour away just to stay at an inn. There were twenty hotels on the guide, one of them had to have a vacancy for a few days.
So she grabbed her bag, and pushed past Jess, back inside to the warm airport.
She took a few minutes to warm her hands before she stationed herself at one of the payphones, and dropped the first quarter in, and then dialed the first number.
Then she dialed the second… and the third, then the fourth and fifth and sixth.
When she hung up with the seventh, she realized that she had used up the last of the quarters she had stashed away. Now all she was left with was $260 in cash, and a few of the gold coins- loonies.
Lupe was about to go loonie.
“Here.”
Lupe looked to her right. She almost didn’t recognize Jess with the hat off and the scarf undone. She took one look at her, before she rolled her eyes and continued to fish through her wallet.
“Do you want my quarters or not?” Jess asked. “Clearly you’re striking out, maybe this ones lucky.”
Lupe reached out to take the quarter, but Jess jerked their hand away quickly.
“On one condition. You try one more hotel, and if they turn you away, you stop wasting quarters and just accept my offer. Moosejaw is nice this time of year… When it’s not covered in six feet of snow,” Jess said, a small smile on their face.
“Is it going to be covered in six feet of snow?” Lupe asked. Jess shrugged.
“Won’t know till we get there.”
Lupe looked at the brochure, and then to Jess, and then nodded.
“Fine, alright. It’s a deal,” Lupe said. Jess dropped the quarter in her hand, and she called one last hotel, this time choosing one further down on the list, with the hopes that because it’s not one of the first ones, less people would call it.
“This is The Four Seasons hotel, my name is Carl, how can I help you?”
Lupe glanced at Jess, who was waiting beside her with their arms crossed comfortably over their chest, a few stray hairs falling over their face.
“Hi uh, I was wondering if you had any vacancies for tonight… Ideally for a three night stay?” Lupe asked. She expected there to be a moment of silence as Carl checked his books, but the reply came instantaneously.
“No, I’m sorry. We’re at capacity until-”
“Alright. Thanks.”
Lupe hung up without even waiting for the end of his sentence.
In any other circumstance, she’d figure it out herself. She’d call every hotel and then when that didn’t work, she’d somehow find even more, and then she’d hop in a taxi and find somewhere. This wasn’t any other circumstance though. She was tired, and jetlagged and she needed a shower and a bed and a cry .
“Are you sure that this inn will have a room for me?” Lupe asked.
“Oh yeah. They like to take in stragglers,” Jess said with a small nod. Lupe raised an eyebrow.
“How am I supposed to get there?” Lupe asked.
“You come with me, obviously. My truck is in the parkade. Come on, we’ve kept my brother waiting long enough,” Jess said.
“Your brother?”
“Yeah. I’m here to pick him up,” Jess said. “Why else would I be here?”
“Well I don’t know I just-”
Jess was already walking, Lupe’s suitcase in their hand. Lupe huffed as she started off, following close behind.
It was nice to be able to tuck her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she walked. She hadn’t expected to be caught in snow. She was barely dressed for a mild snowfall, little lone two feet of freshly fallen snow in negative twenty eight degrees celsius (whatever that converted to, Lupe didn’t care. It was just cold ) with a harsh wind chill. Just that short walk across the parking lot and up through the elevator, she was already shaking in her bones.
Jess glanced behind them as they approached the truck. They tossed Lupe’s luggage in the back, making sure to cover it nicely with the tarp that was already wrapped around another two suitcases. Lupe opened her mouth to ask a question, but got distracted as Jess opened the passenger door and gestured for someone to step out.
“Sorry Lupe, but you’re a lot thinner than my brother, you’ll have to take the middle,” Jess said. “Jack, out. We picked up a stray.”
A man that looked strikingly similar to Jess stepped out of the car, with a deep furrow in his eyebrows. He was tall, and muscular- or maybe that was just the bulk of his jacket.
“Was wondering what took you so long. Jackson, nice to meet you. Hey are you-”
“C’mon, we’re already delayed. I want to get home before people get too drunk,” Jess said. They swung around to the driver's side and slid into place. Lupe followed, and Jackson right after. Once they were situated, Jess pulled out and started on their way.
“So… this is a normal thing for you, then?” Lupe asked.
“Picking up strays? Yeah that’s a McCready thing,” Jackson confirmed. “Jess tends to be the worst culprit, but it seems like every holiday the family gets together, someone’s brought someone. Last time it was Andrew and this circus performer that had just quit her company.”
“Right! At Easter. I forgot about her. She ended up going back, right?” Jess asked.
“I think so, she sent him tickets that summer,” Jackson said.
Lupe sat still, back straight and staring straight ahead, despite the fact that the siblings were talking over her and glancing at each other. She refused to shrink up and take up as little space as possible, but she had no idea how to contribute.
This was normal for this family? But Jess just said that they’d get her to an inn not that-
“Wait. Is this inn yours?” Lupe asked.
“Well, kind of,” Jess laughed. “What did you think I was going to do? Just blindly drop you off at an inn in hopes that there was space? Yeah, it’s our family inn. My uncle owns it, but he didn’t have any kids, so chances are it’s going to get passed to some combination of me and our siblings. Anyways, we shut it down for holidays and use it as the place for our family to all come together. There’s a lot of us.”
“And… you decided to let a stranger crash it? Without- you should’ve told me! I would have never- ”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” Jess said. “I know it’s strange enough, but I wasn’t going to leave you stranded at the airport. They probably would’ve kicked you out for loitering after that show you put on at the help desk.”
“They were being unreasonable,” Lupe simply said, even if she did wish she could go back and at least apologize to the lady on the other side of the desk. She was just doing her job, even if her job was to uproot all of Lupe’s plans.
“When the entire airport is delayed because of the storm, that’s not being unreasonable. I heard that the worst of it isn’t even supposed to hit until tonight,” Jess said. “That’s what the weatherman said, anyway. Dunno how much I trust Casey Porter to tell me whether it’s gonna rain or shine, but that’s just the nature of Canada.”
“So… it could clear up by tomorrow?” Lupe asked.
“Sure, if we’re optimistic.”
“I’m hoping you only need to keep me for the night… maybe two,” Lupe said slowly. “I’ll call other airlines in the morning and see if there’s anywhere else that can get me on a flight sooner than the twenty sixth.”
Jess and Jackson exchanged a look between the two, but neither of them said anything. Lupe shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not liking that silence. Sure, she was perhaps a little bit delusional to think she would find a flight she could afford, but she had to try. She couldn’t be stuck in Moose-Whatever Saskatchewan for Christmas. She just couldn’t.
Once they were getting to the edge of Regina, Jess pulled into a gas station. They had half a tank still, but they weren’t about to risk driving out on the highway with less than a full tank. It was a short drive, but with the snow and the wind, it wasn’t worth it.
“Let me pay,” Lupe said.
Jess shrugged.
“Knock yourself out.”
Lupe followed Jess out of the driver's side and flipped open her wallet. “I’ll be right back.”
Jess watched as Lupe crossed the parking lot and headed inside of the convenience store, leaned up against the open door.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Jackson said. Jess glanced at him.
“You’ve told me that before,” they said.
“You do know who that is, right?” Jackson asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Does she know we know?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t think she’d care, honestly. I mean, it’s not like she’s some A list celebrity. She’s a baseball player,” Jess said.
“That your cousin is going to go crazy over,” Jackson said.
“Yeah, that’s why I invited her to stay at the inn. I mean, yeah she’s a stranger but at least she’s a stranger that I’ve seen on television. I forgot to make Esti a gift, figured this’ll be the next best thing,” Jess said. “And I mean… She was being a bitch to the worker but she seemed really stressed out. Felt kinda bad for her.”
“You forgot to make Esti something? You never forget her! She’s like. Your favourite… And she’s the only one not related,” Jackson said. The Gonzales family weren’t actually blood related to any of the McCreadys. They used to live in town, and Jess used to babysit Esti when they were sixteen and Esti was just a baby. The families stayed close over the years, enough so that they were always invited to family events and holidays since it was just Esti and her mother in Canada. They moved out west a few years back, but they always found their way back to Moosejaw for the holidays, even if it was because someone mailed them a cheque for some extra cash for the tickets.
“Pa told me that they weren’t going to make it up for Christmas this year,” Jess said. “Alma only got the time off last week, it was a miracle they found flights.”
“When did they get in?” Jackson asked.
“Yesterday. I’ll warn Lupe before we get there about Esti, promise,” Jess said.
“I don’t want to be in the car when you do it,” Jackson said. “Here. I’ll pump the gas, go buy her a hot chocolate.”
“Buy her a-”
“I saw the way you watched her as she walked away… I’ve also heard the way you’ve talked about her while watching games. Go talk to her.”
Jess sighed, watching as Lupe gave a thumbs up from the window to signify they could start pumping. Jackson got out and started, Jess took a deep breath and started towards the door.
At the same time though, Lupe made her way back outside. Jess met her at the door, and stopped her with a smile.
“You’re not going to be able to get your change if you wait outside,” Jess pointed out. Lupe looked back at the cashier, Jackson at the pump, and then took a step back inside. Jess gave a small nod to the disinterested teenage girl at the cash register, before they turned their attention back to Lupe.
“Jackson wants a hot chocolate for the road anyways. Figured we might as well,” Jess said. They made their way to the coffee bar and Lupe followed half a step behind. She was quiet, glancing around the rest of the convenience store.
“How do you take yours?”
“My hot chocolate?” Lupe laughed. She had a rich, beautiful laugh. Nothing like the laughs they’d heard through the television interviews, though those were few and far in between.
“Yeah?” It didn’t seem like a stupid question to Jess. People took their coffee differently, wouldn’t hot chocolate be the same?
“Well, powder mixed with hot water in a machine that’s kept hot for hours on end isn’t my first choice,” Lupe remarked. “But it’s not a bad option. Maybe a little bit of…” she picked up one of the flavoured creamers in one of the baskets. “Oh no, hazelnut flavouring. No thanks.”
“What’s wrong with hazelnuts?” Jess asked. They poured the first one and set it aside.
“Hazelnut is great when it’s not an artificial creamer flavour,” Lupe said.
“Prefer something more natural? Fancier?” Jess asked. Lupe hesitated, before she just shrugged and took her own club.
“I mean, once you’ve had a proper hot chocolate, the powdered stuff is never as good, but that doesn’t make it bad ,” Lupe said as she filled her own. Jess put the lids on the two cups and leaned against the counter.
“What makes a hot chocolate proper ?” Jess asked.
“Milk, not water, for one,” Lupe said. She sipped her hot chocolate before she added a few of the mini creamers, and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. “Usually the ratio of cocoa powder to sugar is wrong in the mixes, so it’s better to just make your own. Some melted chocolate, a little bit of salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper… I mean you can really mix and match it to your own liking.”
“I didn’t realize you were such a hot chocolate expert,” Jess said.
Lupe smiled.
“I mean you don’t know anything about me,” Lupe pointed out.
Jess hesitated.
“Well, I know a little bit about you,” Jess said. “You’re from Dallas, presumably. You yell at customer service workers-”
“I already feel guilty about it-”
“And I also know you pitch for the Rockford Peaches .”
“Oh.”
Jess offered an awkward smile, before they grabbed the two hot chocolates.
“Anyways, the gas should be pumped by now, so-”
“Wait, you know who I am?” Lupe said. She didn’t seem… angry, at least?
“Yeah. Pretty much from the start, my cousin’s a big fan,” Jess said. “For the record, I would’ve offered it regardless of that.”
“It’s… okay. As long as there is actually a proper inn and you’re not about to kidnap me and stuff me in your basement,” Lupe said. Jess laughed.
“No, no. There’s an inn… You might have to share a room though, there is an extra double in the one that I’m staying in… in the basement,” Jess said. Lupe raised an eyebrow.
“Sounds like a kidnapping in progress to me,” she said.
“I promise you’ll be caught and released! Like a fish,” Jess said.
“Like a fish ?”
“Yeah. I… I guess maybe that’s not the best allegory,” Jess said.
“Maybe not.”
Jess paid for the three hot chocolates, and Lupe got her change for the gas, and the two made it back out to the car together. Jess handed Jackson his drink through his open door, before Lupe slid into the middle seat and Jess back into the driver's seat. Jackson and Jess shared a small look, a simple everything’s good and then they were off again.
On average, the drive usually only took about an hour from the airport. The only issue was the snow falling thickly on the road, and the highway was dark. Jess was a seasoned winter driver, but the unpredictability of animals was never fun.
So Jess usually preferred to drive in silence. Jackson understood, but having a third person cramped between the two made the silence… a little less than ideal. So instead, they turned on the radio and let whatever cassette that was in play through. Then, when it ended four songs later, they asked Jackson to switch it out with another one in the glove box. Neither of them ever asked for the silence, but Lupe seemed to understand their unspoken agreement.
Once they were pulled into the small but packed parking lot of the inn though, that was a completely different story.
Beyond the big, welcoming windows of the front room, a handful of the older adults were playing a game of sorts, while shadows of younger children ran through the windows upstairs. The inn was bigger than Lupe expected, three stories on a large plot of land, with a large wrap-around porch and a small makeshift parking lot.
She counted four cars lined up side by side, but something told her that didn’t reflect the amount of people inside at all. Jess and her brother unloaded the suitcases from the back as Lupe tried to count the amount of people seen through the windows, but after she realized she counted the same person three times because of how… dynamic the game of charades seemed to be, she gave up and turned around to take her luggage from Jess.
“You sure there’s a bed here for me?” Lupe asked. Suddenly the floor of the airport seemed a lot more appealing to her. It wasn’t like she didn’t do well in crowds, she was perfectly fine with strangers, but the fact that this seemed like a big family reunion… well. Lupe didn’t care much for other families' reunions. She had her own to attend.
“You’re here either way,” Jess said. “I’m not risking that highway again until at least the morning, or when the roads clear. There’s a bed though, don’t worry. Like I said, there’s two doubles in my room.”
Lupe gave a small nod, and followed them inside.
Inside, the entire main floor was lit in a warm incandescent glow. The entryway was large, with a small front desk that had been pushed up against the wall. The walls had a dated beige floral wallpaper, and three engraved arches split off into different directions. To the left, the group playing charades were laughing loudly and bickering about something. The right held a vacant room, with couches and a fireplace. There was a set of mahogany stairs that led upwards to the second floor, and then beside it a narrower arch that was a hallway for access to whatever was beyond the front half of the inn.
There was tinsel and lights wrapped around the railing, and a small Christmas village display on a shelf above the welcome sign, held by a short, plump Santa statue. In the vacant room, there was a fully decorated tree, and the fireplace seemed to host an even more elaborate Christmas village that spilled out to the room around it.
Come to think of it, the more she took in those quick seconds, the more she realized every inch of the inn was decorated for the holiday season.
Lupe wasn’t a scrooge. Christmas was fine. If she was at her apartment for the holiday she put up a small tree, but this was… a lot.
Jackson dropped his bag and made his way to the group in the living room, and was quickly greeted by a round of hello and cheers. Before Jess could join them, there was the sudden booming sound of footsteps, and young voices screaming Jess’s name.
Lupe sank closer to the front door, leaning up against the wall next to the rack of jackets all hung up, waiting for the excitement of seeing family to die down before she could introduce herself and disappear to the alleged room Jess promised.
“Jess! Jess! You were gone for ever !” one little girl exclaimed. She looked about eight, with two blonde braided pigtails and rosey cheeks.
“I know, it was a long drive to the airport, and then Uncle Jackson’s flight was delayed. I made a friend though!” Jess said.
“You did?!”
“I did!” Jess looked over to Lupe, who had been watching the interaction unnoticed. She offered a small, awkward smile to the two girls standing in front of her.
“Lupe, this is Sara and Inez, two of my nieces,” Jess said.
“We’re not sisters though!” the girl with the pigtails said. “Inez’s sister is upstairs and I don’t have one.”
“It’s… nice to meet you both,” Lupe said. Her instinct was to hold out her hand for them to shake it, but children didn’t do that. So she just continued to stand there as more footsteps seemed to come from upstairs. Jess looked up as three more children came bounding down, two of them with the same sandy blonde hair that Jess had, and another lagging behind with darker hair. The two blondes ran past, yelling a hello to their aunt as they crashed into the other room with the adults.
The third girl was frozen on the staircase though, staring directly at Lupe. She straightened up her posture, before she gave the same awkward smile to her. The girl stared, wide eyed. Lupe couldn’t tell if she was scared or not.
Unless this was the cousin Jess mentioned at the gas station.
“Hello,” Lupe said. “I’m Lupe.”
“I know that,” the girl said. “You play for the Peaches.”
“I do, yeah. Jess told me you liked to watch us play,” Lupe said. “What’s your name?”
“Esti! You- How did Jess find you?” she asked. Lupe laughed, and glanced at Jess.
“Well, I needed a place to stay, and Jess said you guys have an extra bedroom.”
“So you’re staying?! Jess, is she staying?” Esti asked.
“Just for a few nights,” Lupe said. “I have to get home to my own family for Christmas.”
“You will sign my baseball, yes?” she asked.
“Course! Before I go, I promise,” Lupe said.
“Why don’t you go join the others, Esti? I still have to introduce Lupe to everyone, and I bet she’s pretty tired,” Jess said. Esti was still watching Lupe, but she nodded and gave Lupe another smile. She could tell the kid wanted to ask for a hug, but was unsure if she should, so Lupe just awkwardly opened up her arms. Esti hugged her back enthusiastically, before she ran off again.
“She seems sweet,” Lupe remarked.
“Yeah, she is. You should see her play, she’s the faster runner on her team,” Jess said. “I wasn’t half bad in my day either.”
“You played?”
“Course I did. Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
What came next was a blur of names, all of which were associated with different blondes with either brown or green eyes. It was easy to tell who were the significant others, because the McCready genes seemed strong among the siblings.
There were Jess’s parents, Joseph and Mary-Anne, and then their uncle who owned the inn, Michael (who was definitely going hard on his spiced rum and cokes, and had spilt half of his drink on the carpet while shaking her hand), then there were her siblings, which truth be told, the only one Lupe could remember was Jackson. Andrew was the oldest, and he brought his girlfriend Andrea, and then Sam and his husband who’s name started with an M but he had run off to take something from his daughter before they could shake hands. Then Ian and James weren’t present, one was in jail and the other was spending Christmas with his wife (she couldn’t remember which one was where) and then there was another brother she couldn’t remember the name of, but he hadn’t brought anyone with him. Then there were the kids, but they were there and then they were gone and at this point Lupe was so lost, she barely even processed the names.
“And this is Alma, Esti’s mother. They’re not blood related, but they’re both practically family,” Jess said, finally introducing the last woman sitting in the arm chair. Lupe smiled, and shook her hand, ignoring the pressure steadily building in her chest.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Lupe said. She cleared her throat, and blinked rapidly a few times.
Maybe Jess sensed her growing discomfort, or maybe they just were being thoughtful, but Lupe was relieved when they spoke up next.
“Alright, I’m going to get Lupe settled. You’re probably tired, yeah?” Jess said, cutting off any more questions. Lupe gave a small nod, grateful that she didn’t have to be subjected to any more grilling for the night.
“You two will be back up for the next game though, right?” one of the women said. Was it Mary? No, Shelly. The wife was Shelly.
“I definitely will be. No promises on the grinch,” Jess said playfully. Lupe gave her a small look. Jess just offered a smile that said they were joking, and then they were guiding her out into the hallway again.
Jess grabbed Lupe’s suitcase and Lupe grabbed her backpack, and then Jess brought her down the hallway.
“The basement doesn’t feel like a basement at all,” they said as they opened the door to the basement stairs. “It’s only half underground so the rooms all have big, beautiful windows. When the inn is in service, the basement is the staff’s space. My uncle’s room is down here, a couple of staff bedrooms. The billiards table down here is nicer than the one upstairs in the games room,” Jess rambled as they guided Lupe down the red carpeted stairs.
The basement looked like a nice, lived in space. The Christmas decorations were inescapable, but there was less down here. Some snowflakes hung from the ceiling, all of which looked like they were kids crafts cut out of printer paper, and the room was mostly lit by those same warm, coloured Christmas lights.
Jess opened the door to their bedroom, and Lupe slipped inside.
It was obvious which bed was Jess’s right away. The bed was made, but obviously slept in, with a pair of slippers tossed half under the bed and a stack of miscellaneous things on the nightside table. The other bed was pristine, with nothing but a couple extra folded blankets stacked on top of the perfectly creased bedding. Lupe dropped her things down by the foot of the bed, not worried about actually unpacking her things. She’d be gone in the morning. Jess seemed unsure of it, but Lupe was going to make it work.
“Bathroom is the first door to the left of ours, you can use whatever you need,” Jess instructed. “I can give you a tour when we go back upstairs of everything else. It’s not all that confusing, honestly. The only important thing to know is the bedrooms but they’ve all got numbers on them, obviously.”
“Do you mind if I actually just head to sleep? No offense but I’m really not… in the mood to be around a bunch of strangers,” Lupe said. Jess hesitated before they nodded.
“Right. Course. Are you okay if I go up though?” Jess asked.
“Course. Why wouldn’t I? I’m a heavy sleeper, don’t worry,” Lupe said, giving them a small wink. A small don’t worry . Jess nodded again.
“Alright. Well, if you do need anything, I’ll be upstairs in that front room.”
“Thanks,” Lupe said. “Actually, one last thing. Do you have a phone I could call someone with? In Dallas? I should probably let my family know my plane’s been delayed.”
“Yeah. Course. There’s one down here, it’s on the desk beside the fireplace.”
“Thanks, again.”
They exchanged another look, Jess lingering a moment longer than they realistically needed to before they left the bedroom, closing the door gently behind them.
Lupe waited until their footsteps disappeared up the stairs before she started to get changed. She brushed her teeth quickly, and then made the phone call, talking with the woman on the other line in slow, exhausted spanish. She was understanding, the weather is uncontrollable in Canada, but Lupe could hear the disappointment in her voice. We'll have to rearrange plans a little bit but we will make it work. Keep us updated.
Lupe hung up the phone with a small goodbye, and then she curled up in her bed, unfolding an extra blanket for the extra weight, and then, for the first time since she felt the burn in her eyes earlier today, she cried.