Snow Day: Heart of the Storm / Seeing Red / Land's End

“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Brody said quietly.

“I didn’t exactly put up a fight.”

“No, but now everybody will be talking and...I’m sorry.”

She grabbed two buckets and put a cleaning rag and a plastic gallon of bleach in each one. They’d fill them with hot water from the kitchen. “At least it’s only a matter of time before you get to leave. Again. So you won’t have to hear it.”

“Delaney, come on.”

“At least this time you have to sign yourself out so, as long as I’m manning the clipboard, I’ll know you’re going this time.”

He put his hand on her shoulder, making her stand still. “I don’t know how many times I can apologize for not telling you in person I was leaving.”

“Screw the note, Brody. Has it occurred to you I’m having a little trouble with the fact you didn’t ask me to go with you?”

He didn’t know how to make her understand. “If I’d asked you to go, you would have wanted to think about it and make plans and...I don’t know. Sort through all your stuff and come up with a whole pile of stuff you wanted to take.”

“Like any normal person would.”

“If I’d had to wait for you, I would have lost my courage. I drove out of here in a beat-up car with a duffel bag of clothes and two hundred bucks in my pocket because right then, at that moment, I was more afraid of staying than leaving.”

“Fine. Just don’t lie to me—or to yourself—and say that right then, at that moment, I factored into your decision at all.”

He blew out a breath, then took one of the buckets from her. “You sure know how to take the blush off a good kiss.”

That was the point. “I have work to do.”

She left the supply room and hurried into the gym before he could say anything else.

They worked in silence, washing down almost every touchable surface in the gymnasium with the diluted bleach mixture. He took some good-natured ribbing from some of the guys about his bright yellow rubber gloves, but Delaney tried to ignore the rich sound of his laughter. She tried to ignore the way he stopped to talk to people now and then, rebuilding old bonds he’d severed so unexpectedly.

But no matter how much she tried to focus on the past and wrap herself in a security blanket of old hurts, her gaze was drawn to him time after time. More often than not, he’d catch her looking and his expression would be pensive, as if he were trying to gauge her mood. And she was keenly aware that most of the people in the gym with them were watching them watch each other.

Probably making little tsk sounds under their breath. Poor Delaney. That Rollins boy broke her heart once and now she’s going to let him do it again. Foolish girl.

That thought finally ignited the anger and resentment his kiss had cooled and she held on to it throughout the rest of the day. Even when he helped her clean up after they’d served supper to the crowd, she managed to be polite and appreciative, but decidedly detached.

But when they dimmed the lights and everybody around her started drifting into restless sleep, Delaney lay awake, staring at the ceiling because every time she closed her eyes, she relived that kiss again.

And ached for another.

CHAPTER FIVE

TUESDAY MORNING CAME early, thanks to the kids who couldn’t sleep in when away from their homes. Or maybe kids never slept in. Brody didn’t have a clue, but he knew these kids were up and at ’em like a horde of two-legged, overeager roosters.

Brody sat on the floor, his back up against the wall. He felt trapped and restless and, from all reports, the freak storm wasn’t abating any. He’d already powered up his phone to deal with some email, including responding to the message from his office manager, who thought her boss being stuck in a school gym was the funniest thing that had ever happened.

He’d helped serve breakfast, with nary a word from Delaney. Then he’d suffered through watching her lead the kids in a fun but energy-burning morning exercise. It had been torture, watching her bounce and shimmy, but it would be worth the physical suffering if the kids napped later.

Brody was nodding off himself, his head against the hard gym wall, when Sandy nudged him with her foot. He took Noah and, after nestling him in one arm, used his free hand to help guide his sister into a sitting position.

“I turned my phone on for a few minutes and I had a voice mail from Mike.”

Her voice had a serious undertone that immediately concerned him. “He’s okay, right? Did he go off the road?”

“No, he’s fine. But I had asked him to stop by and check on my parents—our parents, I mean—and their power went out Sunday night shortly after ours did. Ma had the burners on the stove lit, trying to stay warm.”

“They’ve been without heat for two nights?”

“Yeah, but you know how Dad is. He can’t smoke in here, so he didn’t want to come.”

Brody shook his head, not surprised by their stubbornness, no matter how stupid it was to use your gas cookstove for heat. “I hope Mike gave them a stern lecture.”

“He did. He also made them pack a bag and they’re on their way here. I just missed his call, so they should be here any minute.”

Great. His parents were just what this involuntary group reunion was missing. Though seeing them here was better than having to step foot in the house he’d grown up in. “I’m surprised he got them to leave. They can be pretty stubborn.”

“He said he told them I was having a hard time here because he couldn’t be with me and Noah.” She paused to smile. “And he told Ma you were stuck here and couldn’t get away.”

“Smart guy.” He paused, debating on how best to phrase his next question. “Did he tell her anything else?”

“You mean that you got caught making out in the janitor’s closet with Delaney Westcott?”

His sister wasn’t known for being subtle. “We were not making out.”

“Not what I heard.”

“We weren’t.” He cleared his throat. “I kissed her, though. Just a kiss.”

“Just a kiss because that’s all there was to it, or just a kiss because Alice walked in on you before it was more than just a kiss?”

“Leave it alone, San.”

“I’ve known you my whole life, so I know you can be an idiot sometimes. I didn’t know you had a mean streak, though.”

That pissed him off, but he forced himself to stay relaxed. He’d figured out pretty quickly babies were sensitive to the emotions of the people holding them. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I didn’t force the kiss on her. Trust me.”

“You’re playing with her emotions and that makes you a jerk.”

“Is that just your opinion or did the fine people of Tucker’s Point discuss it and come to a consensus?”

“Except for a few incurable romantics who think you came back to sweep Delaney off her feet and carry her into the sunset, it’s pretty much a consensus.”

“Great.” He shouldn’t care what a bunch of people he hadn’t seen in years and wouldn’t see again in the near future thought of him, but it stung a little. Why did going out in the world and making something of himself make him a bad guy? And he wasn’t the first guy to break things off with a girl, either.

Brody wouldn’t have thought it possible, but he was so relieved to see his parents enter the gym he wanted to let out a cheer. The conversation with Sandy was over. He didn’t like having his relationship with Delaney poked at and prodded. He didn’t know what was going on himself, so he couldn’t very well explain it to anybody else.

After Sandy stood up, she took Noah, freeing him to stand. His butt hurt from sitting on the hard floor, but there were only so many places to sit and the women and older men had dibs by right. The floor was actually more comfortable than trying to sit on one of the cots, but it didn’t make getting up any easier.