Thirty minutes later, I finally turned onto her street and parked as close to her walkway as I dared, and grabbed my phone.
Getting out of the car was like stepping into a freezer. The temperature was in the teens, and the wind was cutting through my coat like it wasn’t even there. Every step toward her front door required complete concentration as one wrong move would send me sprawling.
When I finally made it to her porch, the door opened almost immediately.
And despite everything—despite the cold and the fear and the dangerous drive—I almost laughed.
Holly stood in front of me, looking like that scene fromFriendswhere Joey puts on all of Chandler’s clothes. She was wearing so many layers that I couldn’t actually tell what her body shape was. She wore a sweatshirt over what might have been a puffer coat, with a wool pea coat on top. A knit hat was pulled down over her ears, and a long, thick scarf was wrapped around her neck multiple times. Her hands were lost in mittens that looked homemade.
But it was her face that made me panic.
Her lips were blue.
Not figuratively or exaggerating for effect—her lips were actually tinged blue, and her face was pale.
“You’re freezing.”
“I’m f-fine,” she said through chattering teeth.
“Holly. Your lips are blue.”
She touched them with her mittened hand, like she hadn’t realized. “Oh. That’s probably not good.”
I reached out and took the bag sitting at her feet. “Come on. The car’s warm.”
She fumbled with her keys, her hands shaking so badly it took three tries to get the key in the lock. I watched her struggle, shoving my hands into my pockets so I didn’t just take the keys from her and do it myself. She’d hate the implication she couldn’t handle it.
Even if her lips were fucking blue.
Finally, she got the door locked and turned to me with a smile that would have been reassuring if she weren’t visibly trembling. “Okay. Let’s go.”
I took her elbow to steady her as we picked our way down the icy walkway. She slipped twice, and both times my heart nearly stopped before she caught herself. When we finally made it tothe car, and I got her settled in the passenger seat, I cranked the heat even higher and aimed all the vents at her.
“Oh my God,” she said, holding her mittened hands up to the air vent. “This is amazing. You’re amazing. Have I mentioned how amazing this is?”
“You might be a little hypothermic.”
“I’m just really, really cold. There’s a difference.” She turned to look at me, and despite the color of her lips and the shaking, her eyes were warm. “Thank you for coming to get me. This was … you didn't have to do this.”
“Yes. I did.”
Something in my tone made her study my face for a long moment, and I wondered what she saw there. Whatever it was, it made her smile. “Well. Thank you anyway.”
The drive back to my place was slower than the drive to hers, if that was even possible. I was hyperaware of the precious cargo I was carrying, and I took every turn at a speed that would have made my grandmother proud. Holly didn’t complain about the pace. She just sat there with her hands pressed to the vents as the heater worked its magic.
By the time we pulled into my driveway, there was color back in her face.
Holly stopped just inside the mudroom entryway and sighed, her head dropping back.
“Oh, this is heavenly.”
I set her bag by the mudroom bench. “Living room’s even warmer.” I held out my hand, then immediately second-guessed myself. Was that too forward? We’d kissed. We were going on a date. Surely holding hands was?—
Holly’s mittened hand slipped into mine, cutting off my internal spiral.
I led her through the house, and when we reached the living room, she made a beeline for the fireplace and practically collapsed on the floor in front of it.
“I’m never leaving,” she announced to the fire. “I’m going to live right here. You can bring me food and water, and I’ll just exist in this spot forever.”
