Chapter 19

XANDER.

The day was perfect. Nadine and I spent the whole day together until it was time to go home, only for us to realize that Hanna had no gas on her stove and that the house had no electricity.

We thought it was cut off when Hanna left, but Nadine saw a disconnection notice from four months ago. They’d been living without electricity, and I wondered how they would survive the colder nights.

Nadine was able to find the candles and oil lamps we used to light the house, while I went to the backyard and found the area where Hanna cooked using wood. I had no problem with that, as I had a time in my life when we had to resort to this. And I would do most of the cooking, as my mother would cough violently whenever she inhaled smoke. Her lungs were not that strong.

Despite all these challenges tonight, I felt complete. Nadine was just perfect. I never saw her cringe because of the lack of basic things in this house. She just took it lightly and helped me get things done.

We prepared the