Now that I’m off my feet, sleepiness is setting in for me too. I want to stay awake until Liam returns, so I drink my hot chocolate and eat one of the sandwiches I brought over. Followed by a cookie and then another cookie a few minutes later. Then I drink Rex’s hot chocolate because why not? This inevitably leads to a full bladder, which I ignore for as long as possible, not wanting to move Rex. The second he shifts in his sleep, rolling to his other side with a sleepy murmur, I hop to my feet and practically run to the bathroom.
There’s still no sign of Liam by the time I return. I had hoped to exit the bathroom and find him sitting beside Rex or hitting up the snack table for a hot drink in an attempt to warm up after being out in the snow. I venture to the front door and struggle to open it against the wind. Snow blows inside, making me gasp as it flies into my face. That’s one way to dispel my drowsiness. The creeping worry that starts in my stomach and makes its way up my chest and into my throat is another.
With a great deal of effort, I pull the door closed. There’s nothing to see out there anyway; it’s a complete white out. I head back into the main room, stopping to check in with a few people who are still awake. The sense of unease grows despite trying to keep my mind busy. I also try to keep moving by offering to get extra blankets for a couple who are damp from being out in the blizzard.
Is this what it’s like to care for someone? This antsy feeling of fear and concern at their prolonged absence? I was married for years and didn’t worry about Alan this way. Maybe it’s because we spent so much time apart, I grew used to spending as much time without him as I didwithhim. I have a vague recollection of missing him when we were first married and had to be apart for work, but I must have grown accustomed to it pretty quickly. How did I not notice something was missing from our relationship? And not justsomething,but a lot of things. The realization now brings a combination of shame and a sensation akin to self-disgust.
Luckily I don’t have long to dwell on my thoughts before the front door bangs open, letting in another gust of wintery air and blowing snow. It takes me a minute to realize the person in the doorway is Liam. He throws back his hood and shakes the white flakes from his coat while stomping more snow from his booted feet.
Before I can think better of it, I run and throw myself at him. He sees me just in time to catch me, letting out a throaty laugh as he staggers back a few steps.
“Miss me?” he asks, pressing an icy kiss to my cheek.
“Maybe a little,” I say, mortified at the wobble in my voice.
“Hey, I’m fine.” He gently pushes me away so he can meet my eyes. “Back in one piece, none the worse for wear.” His rosy-cheeked smile is reassuring, although I still feel shaky. When I give a violent shiver, I realize the vibrations through my body aren’t just from leftover anxiety, they’re also because some of the snow from Liam’s coat transferred to my tracksuit.
“How am I supposed to resist you in this get-up?” he asks, fingering the sleeve of my top. When I swat at him, he moves back to remove his coat and boots. “Let’s go get warmed up.”
It takes us a few minutes to cross the main room because people keep waving us over to ask Liam about the weather and various townspeople. Liam keeps his arm locked tightly around me, rubbing my arm as if to warm me up even though he was the one who just spent the last two hours making rounds in a blizzard. We check on Rex next, who’s still sound asleep in the exact position I left him.
When we finally reach the supply room, Liam finds some clean towels. He wraps one around me before slinging one around his shoulders and using a second one to rub vigorously at his damp hair.
“Everyone and everything okay?” I ask.
He ditches the towels in a big laundry bin and grabs a blanket from one of the totes I left open earlier. “It’s wild out there,” he says, taking the towel from me and depositing it in the laundry. He wraps the blanket around his shoulders and then opens his arms. I step into them, sighing against his chest when his arms come around me, cocooning us both in the blanket. “Power’s out across at least half the town, but they’re working on it. We met a few people on the roads heading in this direction when we set out, but thankfully the streets were empty by the time we headed back. People in Honeywell know enough to stay off the roads if they can when the weather gets like this.”
“Thank god for the center being open.” I tell him about Rex and me setting up the beds with help from Delia and Addy, and about the extra food being put out for people. “I’m going to call my financial advisor as soon as we get out of here and ask about freeing up enough money to donate to the center to keep it open.”
Liam’s hand freezes where it’s been rubbing my back. “Joss, that’s incredibly generous.” He eases me away, his serious gaze roaming over my face. “I’d never tell you how to spend your money, but I’m afraid it would only be a temporary solution. Like a small bandage on a gaping wound, you know? The center needs continuous funding.”
I contemplate his words. He’s right, although I can’t help thinking a temporary fix would be better than no fix at all. And maybe in buying some time and keeping the center open, the people of Honeywell could come up with a more permanent solution.
“I love that you care and you want to help,” Liam says quietly, the corners of his eyes crinkling deeply in that heart-stopping way. “You may not plan to stick around, but you can’t deny Honeywell is working its way into your heart.”
I make a non-committal sound, not because I don’t agree with him but because I’m afraid if I open my mouth to reply, I’ll confess Honeywell isn’t the only thing working its way into my heart.
“Let’s go join Rex and get some sleep,” Liam says, pressing his cool lips to my forehead. “And on the way, I’ll tell you about the phone call I got from my very pissed-off best friend. It appears the storm caught up with him after he dropped off Thea and now he and Fiona are stuck in Toronto overnight…”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The snow continues through the night and into the next morning. With power still off across a good portion of Honeywell, Liam and I decide it’s best if we stay at the center. Delia offers to be in charge of making snacks and meals; as she’s preparing breakfast, she announces there’s enough food in the deep freezer to feed a small army, and suggests we have a feast if we’re still here tonight.
Rex comes out of a storage closet I hadn’t seen before with a bunch of old board games and decks of cards. We set up folding tables and chairs, and about half the people who spent the night break into rotating teams to play games likeMonopoly, Sorry!, Scrabble, andUno. Rex grows restless after lunch, so we raid the closets and cobble together enough pieces of outerwear to allow us to play in the still-falling snow.
Liam disappears as we all troop outside. Rex takes a flying leap into a snow bank, and I double over with laughter when he emerges looking like a human snowman. He’s trying to convince me to join him when Liam appears at my side carrying a massive cardboard box.
“How do you feel about sledding?” he asks, dropping the box to the ground. It’s full of colorful carpet and saucer sleds.
“I prefer my bones unbroken, thanks.”
Liam tilts his head to the side, eyeing me with a sardonic expression. “Speaking from experience?”
“Not personal experience, no. I wasn’t allowed to go sledding when I was little. It was actually in my contract during filming ofOur Thorny Family. I wasn’t supposed to do anything that could potentially cause bodily injury. Basically all winter sports were out of the question.”
“You’re kidding,” he says.
I shrug. “It didn’t really bother me. I preferred to be inside anyway.”
