“No problem, Ellie. I’m glad you came over,” she said, holding the door open for me. Lyla held her chubby arms out, and I gave her a hug.
“She’s pretty awesome, D,” I said, ruffling the little girl’s dark curls.
“I think so, though I am biased,” Dania said, giving Lyla a gooey, maternal smile.
“Well, I guess I’ll see ya around,” I said. Even though Dania and I had really talked the night before I knew that our days of being in each other’s back pocket were over. I didn’t think we’d ever be able to go back to being the kind of friends that called each other every day and texted randomly. Too much had happened.
And even if we were trying to put the past behind us, the dynamics of our relationship had altered completely.
“You know where I live and I know where you work. It might be a little hard to let another three years go by without talking,” Dania said, following me out into the hallway, Lyla squirming on her hip, wanting to get down.
“I guess so,” I agreed, waving as I hurried down the stairs.
Once I got in the car and started back toward Flynn’s house I knew there was no chance I’d make it up his driveway. Wellston had gotten easily eight inches of snow in total and the plows were obviously only focusing on the main streets. The back road towards Flynn’s was icy and downright treacherous. I ended up parking my car off the road and in a ditch. I grabbed my purse and pulled my coat tightly around me.
I was only wearing sneakers, not the best for walking through almost a foot of snow. I could see that someone had been out and plowed Flynn’s driveway, though obviously they hadn’t done the best job.
My feet were soaked by the time I got to the house. I stomped my feet on the porch and I could hear Murphy’s frantic barking inside. Before I could open the door, Flynn was there.
“Good morning,” I said, trying to get my shoes off.
Flynn surprised me by reaching out and pulling on my arms until I was pressed against his chest. He hugged me tightly, not letting go.
I brought my arms up and around him, hugging him in return, not understanding what had prompted this.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked, pulling back.
“I didn’t like you not being here last night. It sucked,” Flynn said, and I cupped is cheek with my hand.
“Aww. That’s sweet,” I teased.
“Your hands are freezing,” Flynn said, jerking away from my touch.
“Yeah, well I had to park at the bottom of your driveway. There was no way I could get my car up here.”
Flynn frowned. “Dexter Mullins is supposed to plow the driveway. He lives down the road and I pay him. Did he not do it?”
“Oh it was plowed, but my car still wouldn’t have made it. So I walked,” I said, closing the front door and finally starting to melt in the warmth.
“You’re all wet. You should change before you get sick,” Flynn announced, pointing at my dripping socks.
“Good idea. I’ll be right back,” I said, all but running to the bedroom to find some dry clothes.
A few minutes later I came out to find that Flynn had made me some coffee. He had obviously been working on his sculptures. There were several new ones lined up along the table.
“It looks like you’ve been busy,” I said, indicating the new sculptures.
Flynn shrugged. “I had to keep my mind busy. I didn’t like you being at Dania’s. So I worked on these. It helped,” he said, shrugging.
“I’m sorry that you didn’t like me being there,” I told him, carefully running my hands through his hair in the way I knew he liked.
He leaned into my hand and closed his eyes for a minute. He seemed relaxed now that I was home. He seemed content. It made my heart swell to know that I put that look on his face.
I sat down beside him at the table and sipped on my coffee while he continued to work on his sculptures. We were quiet, the only sound coming from the television.
I thought about Dania saying that I didn’t seem to be happy. If she could see me right now, she would never have questioned my feelings.
Watching Flynn work reminded me of how we used to be when we were young. I had always loved this side of him. When he worked on his art he was confident and sure. There was no hesitation or resistance. He immersed himself totally.
