“Thank you so much, Jonas.”
She hung up and exhaled. Now that she’d called him and he was coming to the rescue she felt sure that the door would miraculously open just to make her look like a fool but no, when she tried it again it was still firmly stuck. Well, that was something.
Nobody had walked by in the entire time she’d been looking out of the window so when she saw a figure crossing the road, she knew it must be Jonas. He was smiling at her as he approached the door.
“Thank you, Jonas,” she called loudly through the door. “I’m so sorry to call you. I just didn’t know what to do.”
“It’s fine. I love being out in the snow.”
She could tell by his expression that he meant that.
“Can you pass the keys out to me? Maybe I can let myself in.”
Rachel posted them through the letterbox and Jonas caught them and tried to unlock the door. He tried the main lock but that didn’t work, then he tried something else which Rachel couldn’t see but whatever it had been meant that the main lock worked and he was letting himself in.
“Oh my God! Thank you! Don’t let the door close behind you!” Rachel went to grab the door but there was no need as Jonas was holding it slightly open.
“It looks like thedauðboltihad partly locked. Did you slam the door? It must be very loose for that to happen.
“The deadbolt? I did kick it shut when I came in. Do you think that was what it was?”
Jonas shrugged. “Probably.”
He made sure the bolt was back and gently closed the door. Rachel held her breath. The last thing she needed was for both of them to be locked in but when he tried to open it again, it opened the first time.
“I think you just need to be gentle with it and get it changed sometime. What are you doing here anyway?” he asked, with an amused smile.
“I was just sheltering from the snow. I had my hands full,” she gestured to her bags of wool, “which is why I kicked the door.”
“You’re a big knitter then?”
“Oh God, no. This is for my mum. She sent me a list.”
“Right. Well, are you staying here or shall I help you lock up?”
“No, I think I will get going.”
Rachel collected the bags and stood aside as Jonas locked the shop door then handed the keys to her. He took one of her bags without saying anything and they headed in the direction of the hotel together.
A good few centimetres of perfect snow-covered the pavements and it gently crunched under their snow boots as they walked in easy silence. The sky was still dark with clouds promising more of the same although the snowfall had slowed to a few floating flakes for now.
As they approached the hotel, Jonas handed the bag of wool back to Rachel and dug his hands into his pockets.
“Well, it was nice to be able to come to your rescue, Rachel.”
“Thank you so much, Jonas. Who knows how long I’d have been there.”
He smiled and she could feel her heart begin to beat slightly harder as she waited for the inevitable kiss on the cheek.
“Bye Rachel.” The briefest kiss touched her cheek and then he turned and walked away, disappearing into the gently falling snow and ever fading light.
“Bye Jonas,” she whispered to herself.
After a hot bubbly bath and with a glass of wine, purely for Dutch courage as she entered the unknown realms of knitting, Rachel sat on the bed trying to knit.
Over an hour, and several rows of slightly uneven but nevertheless pleasing knitting later, her phone rang. It was Adam.
“Hey, Rach. How’s it going? You obviously managed to get out of the shop in the end?” She put her knitting down and hugged her knees to her chest.
