Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Where was she?
Please, don’t let her be at the bottom of that heap. He only had himself to blame if she was hurt. He should have insisted on going to get the sewing machine.
“Felicity?” When he didn’t hear her, he raised his voice. “Felicity, speak to me.”
He leaped onto the couch. He bounded over the back. All he could think about was Felicity. She had to be okay.
When he reached the area where the avalanche of boxes had occurred, he couldn’t see her. But he knew she was under those boxes. Please, don’t let her be hurt. If she wasn’t seriously hurt, why hadn’t she answered him?
And then he started lifting boxes out of the way. It was easier said than done because the area was so congested. He had no choice but to stack them again. And these were not small boxes nor were they light.
“Justin, I’m over here.” Her voice was muffled.
Hearing her speak sent relief flooding through his body. “Just hang on. I have to move a few more boxes.”
Whoever put these in here should have known better than to stack them this high.
No wonder they collapsed. Anger at the unknown person pumped through his veins, giving him the extra oomph he needed to raise the heavy box above his head and place it on top of the stack. That just left three boxes to move.
He moved the one closest to him. When he did, he could see Felicity’s legs. As he worked, he once more felt guilty for not being the one to get the sewing machine. It should have been he who got knocked to the ground. Not her.
Maybe if he wasn’t so busy trying to put distance between them, he would have stopped her and gone after the sewing machine himself. Then she wouldn’t be hurt. He just had to hope her injuries weren’t serious.
“Just two more to go.” He searched for a place to put the box.
It took him an agonizing moment to find a spot for the box. He had never seen so much stuff in a storage unit.
He turned around to find Felicity pushing the final box off herself. It was such a relief seeing her moving. He gave her a hand with it.
Once he had the last box out of the way, he turned to her. “How are you?”
She got to her feet. “I’m fine.”
He gave her a once-over. “Are you sure? Maybe we should head to the hospital and let them have a look at you.”
She frowned at him. “When did you become such a worrier?”
“Well, those were heavy boxes. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”
“I’m sure. It was my fault. I saw a box with sewing supplies in it, and I wanted to take a look in it, but I must have bumped another box. The next thing I knew they were tumbling down on me.”
“Let’s get you out of here.”
“Not without the supplies.” When he frowned, she said, “I can’t sew anything without thread.”
“Fine.” He turned to straighten the boxes.
It took them a couple of minutes until she located the right box. “I’m not going to open it here.”
“What if it doesn’t have what you want?”
She shrugged. “I’ll deal with it.”
“You’re sure?” When she nodded, he said, “Okay. You go first.”
She arched her brow at him before moving. But the next thing he knew, she tripped over something. He reached out and drew her to him. Her shoulder slammed into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs, or maybe it was her nearness that had him losing his breath.
She turned in his arms and stared up at him. It felt as though time stood still as they stared into each other’s eyes. His heart pounded against his ribs. Could she feel it? Did she know what sort of power she could still wield over him?
In that moment, the past and present collided. His gaze dipped to her lips. They were plump and rosy, just begging to be kissed. Common sense utterly fled him.
He lowered his head to capture her mouth with his own. Thunk! It sounded like one of the boxes he’d moved had fallen. The sound jarred him from the spell that had been cast over him.
Felicity pulled out of his arms. She was now avoiding his gaze. “This can’t happen.”
Her words hit him like a slap in the face. It felt as though the past were repeating itself and not in a good way. She was right. Of course, she was right. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He just needed to get away from her and regain his senses.
“Let’s go.” He nodded toward the furniture they still had to climb over.
She hesitated as though there was something more she wanted to say, but then she turned away. As she climbed onto the armchair, he reached out, holding on to her waist to steady her. Once she was out of reach, he turned and picked up the cardboard box.
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.”
Justin lifted his phone. “There’s no signal in here.”
“Is there someone you need to talk to?”
He shook his head. “With the bad weather, I just wondered if Michael would be calling me back to work. But I guess it doesn’t matter right now because no one will be driving in this storm.”
“I’m sorry I got you stuck out here.” While she was apologizing, she felt there was another apology that was long overdue. “I’m also sorry about the past—about the proposal—”
“Stop.” He held up his palm as though to halt her words.
“I just thought we should clear the air.” Even though it had been a long time since she’d turned down his marriage proposal, the tension still hung between them. “I’d just like to start over.”
“We don’t need to do this. Everything is good.”
She arched a disbelieving brow. “So, you think after eight years of awkwardness that everything has been fixed between us?”
He shrugged. “The thing is, we’re speaking now.”
He had a good point. So, she summoned the courage and even though her stomach knotted up, she asked, “Does this mean we can go back to being friends?”
He was quiet for a moment. It was the longest moment of her life. And if he said no, it was going to break her heart all over again.
“Yes.” His voice was soft but firm. “I would like that. I’ve missed having someone as annoying as you in my life.” He sent her a teasing smile.
“Hey, who are you calling annoying?” She turned and lightly punched his arm.
He pouted and rubbed his arm. “See. You proved my point.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “And I forgot how dramatic you can be.”
“Not true. And now I need to go check on the snow.” He lightly punched her arm.
“Hey. That wasn’t nice.”
“You’re the one who started it.”
She smiled and shook her head. Maybe this Christmas she’d gotten an early present—a very special one—she’d gotten her oldest friend back.
“Hey, the squall passed over.” Justin called out to her. “Let’s get going before more snow moves in.”
“I just have to cover the couch.”
“I’ll help.”
Together, they righted things. Then Justin carried the sewing machine and box out to the pickup. In no time, they were slowly creeping home over the snow-covered roads.
Surprisingly, she was grateful for the storm. It gave them the time they needed to right things between them. Were they perfect? No. But it was a beginning—something they could build on.
He was her friend once more. Her heart fluttered in her chest. And even though he was quiet as he navigated the snowy roads, there was an easiness between them. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.