Getting Warm

by Mary Higgins

Charlotte opened the door cautiously. The man stood there on the porch in a black woolen coat, his muffler tucked around his neck securely, shoulders hunched up to his ears from the cold.

“Are you Charlotte? Hello, I’m Dan, from Saint Peter’s Church.”

“Won’t you come in?”

Stamping the snow off his boots Dan entered.

Charlotte showed him into her living room where the baby sat peacefully in his playpen in the center of the room.

Looking around at a sparsely furnished room with its red love seat, a wooden rocking chair that had seen better years and faded beige wall-to-wall carpeting, Dan noticed the small living space was old but clean.

With his broad shoulders, a mustache and piercing blue eyes that spoke volumes., Charlotte’s eyes opened wide.

Her sweet round face, framed by a mop of brown curls, Charlotte made a pretty picture. It had been one year since Richard had been killed in Afghanistan, his helicopter bringing supplies rained down by enemy fire and Charlotte had done the best she could eking out a living now as a widow. Saint Peter’s had been a true blessing with its steady  supply of parishioners bringing her hot meals and offers to watch the baby.

Shelving books at the college library allowed Charlotte to put food on the table but life was still a constant struggle. When the hot water heater breathed its last, she called the plumber to have the water shut off before the basement flooded. There was barely enough to pay the rent and feed the baby. For the first time in her life, she needed to apply for funding to pay for a new hot water heater.

With her tow-headed 13 month old son on her lap, Charlotte sat on the sofa, looking up at the handsome stranger. She admired the clean cut of Dan’s nose and the little cleft in his chin.

“So your hot water heater broke yesterday?”

“No, actually last Thursday.”

“You’re been without any hot water for over a week?

“Yes”

“I just received your request yesterday”, he smiled warmly

“Now do you have a reliable plumber?”

“yes” she offered his name and number.

To her surprise, there were no papers for her to sign. Charlotte felt herself growing warm as she looked into his crystalline eyes.

“I’ll get in touch with your plumber and we’’ll see if we can coordinate his schedule with yours. With Christmas next week, we may need to install the heater on a weekend day. Is that ok with you?”

“Sure” Charlotte said. “Would you like something hot to drink?”

“Yes that would be nice. I have some time before I need to pick my daughter up at daycare.”

Walking into the kitchen, Charlotte wondered if there was a “Mrs.” in the picture. Setting out the only china cups she owned, her brain was humming with expectation. Could more than a hot water heater be warming her this winter?