When they were both standing on the concrete floor in the aisle, he looked her over again.“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Other than my pride being bruised, I’m okay.But it’s really cold in here.”She rubbed her bare hands together.“Let’s get going.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of black gloves.“Here.”He held them out to her.“Put them on.They might be big on you, but they’ll help keep you warm.”
For once, she didn’t argue as she accepted the gloves.“Thanks.”
He held the box of sewing supplies with one arm while picking up the sewing machine with his other arm.“You go first so you can get the door.”
They walked to the exit.Felicity pushed the door open.Frigid wind pushed through the opening, bringing with it what felt like a wall of snowflakes.She stepped back, letting the door slam shut.
“It’s bad out there,” she said.
He put down his load.He stepped past her and pushed the door open once more.He took one step outside and squinted, but there was nothing to see.It was a total whiteout.
With a resigned sigh, he retreated into the storage unit, closing the door behind him.He ran his hand over his hair, brushing off the snow.He reached for his phone and tried to make a call.It wouldn’t go through.He tried to check the weather radar.Nothing worked.The storm must be disrupting everything.
“What are we going to do?”she asked.
“We’re going to have to wait it out.There’s no way I can drive in that.I wouldn’t even be able to find the gate.”
Felicity wrapped her arms over her chest.She was right.It was really cold.There was no heat within the storage unit.
“Come on.”He led the way back to the couch.“Let’s sit down until the storm passes.”
Her brows were drawn together as worry shone in her beautiful eyes.“How long do you think that will be?”
“If it’s just a snow squall, it shouldn’t last too long.Just long enough for you to catch me up on your life in New York.”If he kept her talking, it might take her mind off the cold.He pulled the cover off the couch.“Here, sit down.”
Felicity stared at the couch but didn’t move.His gaze moved from her to the couch.What was wrong?Was there a big spider on it or something?
He took a step closer but still didn’t see anything wrong.“What is it?”
She shook her head.“It’s nothing.”
“It’s obviously something.”He sat down first.“Come sit and talk to me.”It wasn’t until he’d spoken the words that he realized she didn’t have any reason to open up to him.And yet he willed her to let him in.
She shouldn’t be here.
Felicity had no idea how hard it was going to be seeing her childhood home packed up in boxes and stuffed into some dark, drab storage unit.Seeing her father’s name on some of the boxes drove home the fact that her mother didn’t want her father’s things around her.
It hurt to be here.She wanted out of there.Away from all of these memories and the realization that her mother had gotten rid of the memories of their family.Her heart ached.
There were even boxes of Christmas decorations.Some of them were heirlooms and others were just silly crafts Felicity had made in elementary school.Her mother hadn’t kept everything, but she’d kept quite a bit.With Christmas next week, why wouldn’t her mother have some of those decorations out?
As she stood there, staring at the couch that used to be in the family room just off the kitchen, she recalled finding her father stretched out on it.He would make himself comfortable to watch a football game and promptly fall asleep.
“Felicity, are you all right?”Justin’s voice drew her from the memories.“I was right.We need to get you to the hospital.You might be concussed.”
She turned to him.“I’m fine.It’s just being around all of this stuff.The memories…”
He reached out to her.His hand touched hers and he gave her a squeeze as though to let her know she wasn’t alone.“I’m sorry.I should have thought of that.”
She shook her head.“It’s okay.I just have a lot of changes to get used to.”
She sat down on the couch, leaving a respectable distance between them.Being cold, she folded her arms over her chest.The next thing she knew, Justin placed the folded dust cover over her lap with the clean side toward her.She noticed that he’d snuggled the cover around her, leaving none for himself.That wasn’t right.She picked up the edge and placed it over his lap.But the way the cover was folded, it wouldn’t reach across him so she scooted closer to him.
Once their shoulders and thighs were touching, she said, “There.Now, both of us can keep warm.”
