“Alright,” I say with a laugh as I settle Violet into my lap.Ending the call, I watch as Oliver inhales his mac and cheese, and Violet happily drinks her bottle. We’ll be fine. Whatever that means.
We are most definitelynotfine.
“Auntie Ella, I’m scared,” Oliver whispers, his body suctioned to mine in my bed.
“I know, buddy. It sure is loud,” I answer. Loud doesn’t even begin to describe the sounds coming from all around us. Without the normal noises in our apartment when the furnace kicks on, or Oliver’s sound machine, we hear every creak and moan of the apartment building. The wind whips around from every direction, howling fiercely.
What’s worse, however, is how quickly the temperature plummeted in our apartment. My concern for the windows was valid. I can see the curtains moving because of drafts coming through the window seams. With every blanket I own piled onto my bed, and the three of us wearing winter coats, it’s still freezing.
Checking the screen on my phone, I find it’s just after ten o’clock. My battery is under ten percent, and I silently curse myself for not buying a portable charger when I saw it on sale for Black Friday a few months ago. I’m completely unprepared for this, and it makes me feel absolutely awful that my niece and nephew are suffering because of me.
“When will it stop?” Oliver whines.
“I don’t know. I wish I had an answer.”
A sudden banging makes me scream in fright, and it takes a repeat of the sound for me to realize someone is beating on the front door.
“Ella!”
“Leo?” I ask incredulously, ripping the blankets off the bed. Grabbing Violet, wrapped up in three sleepers, I run to the door.Throwing it open, I find Leo with his hands braced on either side of the door. Wearing a thick camo coat, a black and tan trapper hat, and massive boots, he looks like some kind of soldier lumberjack here to sweep me off my feet. “What are you doing here?”
He steps toward me, making me instinctively step backward. When he feels the air temperature in the room, he winces. “Saving you from yourself, woman. Why aren’t you at Everlasting with the rest of my family?”
My gaze locks on his boots. They’re tied today. It must mean his leg is feeling okay. “I’d be too uncomfortable, and I really can’t afford the price of a room there.”
“They wouldn’t have made you pay, El. You should know that,” he says quietly.
“Why? I’m nobody. I’m nothing to any of them. That’s just dumb,” I snap.
Leo steps toward me, his hand coming up to grip my chin. He pushes upward until my eyes meet his. “That’s not true, and you know it. You’ve always been mine. Put some shoes on. You’re all coming with me. Oliver, you want to go on an adventure?”
“Yeah!” Oliver shouts.
I don’t move, staring in shock at Leo.
“You good?” he asks, smirking, and that gets me out of my stupor.
“You can’t just come in here and demand that I stay at your family’s hotel!” I sputter.
Leo shrugs. “I’m not. I’m taking you to my place.”
“Wait. What?”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Did you think I still live with my parents, Ladybug?”
“No, not necessarily,” I answer warily. “But I’ve never heard of you having your own place.”
“Turns out some things actually do stay off the gossip website. I’ve got a house on the edge of the Everlasting property. Got generators too. It’s nice and toasty in there, but if you’d like tocuddle, I can be amenable to that,” he says, winking at me. My mouth drops open incredulously. Leo Santo just winked at me. That’s at least the second time he’s winked at me.
Before I know it, he takes Violet out of my arms. “What about you, pretty girl? You ready to go on an adventure?”
My sweet niece, who hasn’t smiled once in the past five months, looks right at Leo, and grins.
As we pull up to a rustic looking log home, my mouth drops open in surprise. A wraparound porch graces the front, and I see two rocking chairs on the sides of a bay window. With the street lights out, and no lights from within Leo’s home, I can’t tell how large the home is. “Are you sure you have a generator? Did you just bring us out here to murder us?”
“Dang, you’ve foiled my dastardly plan,” he says dryly. He pulls his truck next to a large garage. “I turned the generator off just in case I ended up staying in town. Since it’s off, I can’t open the garage. I’ll come around to help you out.”
“Leo, I’m not broken. I have a flashlight on my phone. I’m perfectly capable of getting out of a car,” I snap. Throwing open the door, I step onto the driveway right as Leo reaches me.
