Im still doing the sleep when the baby sleeps thing, so I havent even watched the weather. Mike said hed be working overtime, but he didnt say anything about ice.
Neither did the radio. Some snow, but no mention of ice. Driving in snow was no big deal, but the last thing he wanted was for Tuckers Point to become an ice rink and keep him from catching his plane home tomorrow.
They caught up while she fed Noah. She told him how well working for the town was going for Mike, and asked about his business. He flipped real estate and the market was tight, but he was careful and still had enough money in the bank so he slept at night. They talked about the baby and how she and Mike were still debating on whether or not shed return to her job keeping books for the local doctor once her maternity leave was up.
Shed just finished laying the baby back in the bassinet when a massive gust of wind hit the house, driving ice against the window panes and making her jump. Its getting bad out there really fast.
Hopefully this is just a fluke and itll turn back over to snow pretty soon.
Are you going to see Mom and Dad while youre here? Sandy asked the question in a casual enough tone, but the way she picked at the side of her thumbnail gave away her tension.
He didnt want to. Walking into that shabby and depressing little house hed grown up in was the last thing he wanted to do. Did you tell them I was coming?
I might have mentioned it to Mom.
Of course she had. I might stop in for a few minutes on my out tomorrow.
As tempting as it was to accidentally run late and not have time, hed do it.
It wasnt that he didnt love his parents. He did. Talked to them all the time on the phone, and his mom had even mastered Facebook so she could keep tabs on him. And hed seen them during the past five years. Once, when hed been working in Connecticut, hed talked them into driving down for a weekend at the casino on his dime. And, two years ago, when Sandy had announced her engagement to Mike, hed talked them all into joining him in Las Vegas for what was the wedding trip of a lifetime for a couple from Tuckers Point.
Hed simply managed to avoid seeing them in their natural habitat, so to speak. Just thinking about his childhood home, with its ancient brown tweed couch and insulation-deep stench of cigarette smoke and the sea, made him feel claustrophobic.
But Brody had hurt his mom enough by taking off in the middle of the night five years before. He couldnt hurt her again by avoiding seeing her when he was only a few minutes away.
He tried not to think about the other woman hed hurt, maybe even more than hed hurt his mother.
Delaney Westcott had been expecting a future with him. They were nearing the point of proposal, followed by a wedding, a cheap apartment over a fishermens bar and babies. Instead, shed gotten a note telling her he was gone because he didnt have the guts to face her.
You need to spend more than a few minutes with them, Sandy said in an admonishing tone that made her sound just like their mother.
Ill visit for a while. More than a few minutes. But I cant stay too long because I have a plane to catch so I can get back to work. And out of Tuckers Point.
That was when the power went out.
* * *
CHAOS REIGNED IN the schools gymnasium. Delaney wanted to pretend it was the controlled kind of chaos, but if somebody had control, it wasnt her. All she had was the clipboard. And a growing stream of people who did not want to be there.
At least it was keeping her mind off the fact Brody Rollins was back in town. Mostly.
Shed gotten the phone call shortly after the storm took its unexpected turn for the worse. Homes were already losing power and there might be a lot of ice and wind yet to come, so it was time to open the towns emergency shelter at the school.
There were several other volunteers helping the displaced get settled. At this point in the storm, theyd get mostly the elderly and families with small children, which made for an interesting mix. But if the storm didnt ease up or change back to a more manageable snowfall, people would start risking the weather to get a warm bed and some food as the temperature droppedboth outside and in their houses.
She hadnt even gotten around to opening her ice cream yet. If her power went out and it melted, she was going to be really bummed. Shed need it after this.
When she saw Mrs. Palmer approaching her, she almost groaned aloud. What can I do for you?
Where are the jigsaw puzzles? We always do puzzles.
Ill bring them out in a little while. Right now were trying to get the cots, blankets and food situation taken care of.
What am I supposed to do, then?
Delaney smiled and did not suggest the woman help with the cots, blankets and food situation. Nobody would thank her for that. Maybe you could see if Penny needs any help?
Penny was so going to make her pay for that later. Probably tenfold, even. But Delaney needed to get the cots set up because she had the chart from the fire department and if everything wasnt up to the safety code, theyd have to do it again. It was a lot harder once people started showing up.
At least Mike and Sandy had a generator, which meant even if Brody was there with her and the power went out, he wouldnt be showing up at the school. It was hectic enough without throwing in a lost love. Not that hed been lost. Hed deliberately left her behind without even telling her goodbye.
Hopefully shed get through this storm and his surprise return to Tuckers Point without telling him hello.
CHAPTER TWO
THE CHILL WAS already creeping into Sandys small house, and Brody knew whenever the power didnt come back within a few minutes, it could be an hour or it could be a while. And a while with no heat was no fun.
I cant stay here with Noah, Sandy said, as if shed been reading his mind. Hes too little.
You dont have a wood stove or a generator or anything?
We dont have a wood stove because of Mikes allergies. And we had a generator, but it died and we havent gotten around to having it fixed yet.
Space heaters?
Mike has a torpedo heater for the shed, but its not really meant for in the house. And I dont think we have any kerosene for it, anyway.
He scrubbed his hands over his face, considering the options. If Mike hadnt been able to get the generator running, there was no sense in Brody standing around in the cold, tinkering with it. But Sandy was right. Noah was too little to weather having no heat with not even an estimated time for power restoration.
How about Mom and Dads? he asked. He could drop them off, have a quick cup of coffee and then, hopefully, still get out of town and to a hotel.
The way Dad smokes? Sandy shook her head. A quick visits one thing, but Noah cant stay there.
We might make it to a hotel, but wed have to leave now. The motels in Tuckers Point were all closed for the off-season, so theyd have to go inland or down the coast. Hed take the chance alone, but not with his sister and a baby in the car. Its already white-knuckle out there.
Sandy stood in front of the window, gently bouncing the blue bundle in her arms. We cant risk that. I think we should head to the school before it gets any worse.
Sandy stood in front of the window, gently bouncing the blue bundle in her arms. We cant risk that. I think we should head to the school before it gets any worse.
He agreed, but that didnt make it sit any easier. The plan was to get in, get out and not see anybody but his sister and her family and maybe his parents if he had the time. The plan didnt include sitting around an elementary school gymnasium with whatever percentage of the population of Tuckers Point showed up.
The only saving grace was that there wouldnt be too many people from his old neighborhood. The fishing families tended to be a hardier bunch and more self-sufficient, so theyd weather the storm better.
Brody? his sister prompted.
Yeah. We should go. He reached out to take the baby from her. Gather up whatever youll need and well go before it gets any worse.
It wasnt a fun ride. Front-wheel, all-wheel or four-wheel drive didnt matter on ice and his fingers were strangling the steering wheel before he even reached the end of Sandys road. With her neighborhood in darkness, it wasnt bad, but when they passed through areas that still had power, the ice refracted lights and pierced his eyeballs.
He crept along the streets and with every slip of the wheels, he grew more conscious of the precious cargo sleeping in the backseat. Sandy was quiet, probably not wanting to distract him, and they both breathed a sigh of relief when he finally reached the end of Oak Street and turned into the school lot.
Do you want me to carry Noah?
You can get our bags in one trip if I take him, but Ill leave him in his seat so hell be protected if I fall on the ice.
Hold on to the handle if you do fall. Brody chuckled. Otherwise hell go on one hell of a first sledding trip.
They made it to the double doors marked as the shelter entrance without falling and Brody set their bags down to hold the door for Sandy. After picking them back up, he followed her in, blinking under the bright lighting.
We have to sign in, Sandy said. They need to know whos here, plus if theres a problem in my neighborhood, theyll know where I am.
He set the bags next to her feet. Ill take care of it. Wait here.
No, wait, he heard her say as he turned and stepped toward the woman with the clipboard.
Just as the woman with the clipboard turned toward him.
Delaney?
* * *
THE CHAOS AROUND Delaney faded into the background as her eyes met Brodys, and her breath caught in her throat.
The last thing she needed was to be snowed in with Brody Rollins.
Hed changed during his five years away. His clothes looked expensive and his dark hair was obviously being professionally cut now, rather than hacked at by his mother in the kitchen when it got shaggy enough so it fell over his eyes. At twenty-seven, his face had matured and he had an air of confidence hed never had before.
But that rough and dangerous boy was still there, simmering under the thin layer of polish. As always, the girl inside whod loved him immediately yearned for his touch, but that girl needed to behave so she didnt embarrass herself.
Holding the clipboard against her chest, as if it were some kind of cheap plastic armor, Delaney forced herself to smile. Hi, Brody. Its been a long time.
It has. He didnt return her smile. Instead, he looked at her so intently she felt as if she was being memorized. You look great.
If women with windblown ponytails, crowd-wrangling crazy eyes and a fresh coffee spill down the front of her favorite Red Sox sweatshirt were his thing, more power to him. Thanks. You do, too.
Oh, crap. The sweatshirt. Delaney clutched the clipboard tighter, as if she was trying to hide the baseball logo on the front. Maybe he wouldnt notice her sweatshirtso much her favorite, the hem and the end of the cuffs were a little on the frayed sidehad been his, once upon a time. Hed pulled it off and made her wear it one night when they took a late-night walk by the shore. It had been in her dryer, waiting to be folded, when he took off.
After crying into the sweatshirt off and on for days, shed washed it again and thought about returning it to Brodys mom. She knew it was his favorite, after all. But she hadnt gotten the rings, the picket fence, the two-and-a-half kids or the black Lab shed been waiting for, so shed kept the damn sweatshirt.
I guess Im supposed to tell you were here or something?
Oh, she knew he was there. The racing pulse, tingling body and muscle-memory wondering why she wasnt in his arms let her know Brody Rollins was in the room.
An unhappy squawk from the baby seat Sandy was holding gave her an excuse to break eye contact with the man. Throwing a newborn into the mix was going to be a challenge. People would already be cranky about being displaced from their homes and trying to sleep on cots in a school gymnasium. Noah fussing to be fed every few hours, especially during the night, would grate on already raw nerves.
Okay, she said, putting on her professional face, lets get you checked in. And we have a very limited number of privacy screens, but Ill make sure you get one, Sandy.
The act of writing down their names and Sandys address helped calm her nerves. They had no medical concerns to note, other than Sandy having given birth two weeks before, and she listed the medications new mom and baby had. They had to sign acknowledging they understood the rules of the shelter and would abide by them, and she was doing okay until Brody stepped close to take the pen and clipboard from her.
He smelled delicious. Slightly damp wool and leather and a hint of a very masculine cologne. Like money, she thought. He didnt smell anything like the Brody Rollins shed known.
And it was probably deliberate. Because everything about the man seemed to trigger a memory; she remembered the amount of time hed spend in the shower, trying to scrub the scent of fishing off his skin before taking her out on a date. Hed hated that smellbeen ashamed of iteven though shed never complained.
As soon as hed finished signing his name and handed back her clipboard, she put as much distance between them as she could without appearing obvious. Lets put you guys in that back corner. Its a low traffic area, so maybe Noah will be able to sleep.
After leading Brody and Sandy to the cots in the corner, Delaney slipped through the double doors theyd hung a sign on that read No Admittance Without a Volunteer and into the main hallway of the school. The doors swung closed behind her and she stepped to the right so she could lean her head against the wall.
There was not enough ice cream in the world to take the edge off this situation, even if she could get home to her freezer.
Of course, the jerk had to look amazing. Not that he could have gone too far downhill in five years, but now he was a man whod make her look twice even if he was a stranger on the street. That kind of delicious packaging on a man shed loved with all of her heart, though, was making her head spin.
She needed to focus. After taking a deep breath, she straightened and walked toward the closet where theyd stashed the few privacy screens they had. If they left them in the gym, a brawl would probably break out for them.
Once shed handed it off to Sandy, Delaney would go back about her business of running the emergency shelter and do her best to ignore Brody. It wasnt what she wanted to do. Now that shed come face-to-face with him, all the questions that had haunted her were rattling around in her brain, demanding answers.