“Growing up in the same small town all your life sounds nice,” she sighed. “Uncomplicated.”
“It was all right. Small towns have their own issues, like people constantly sticking their noses in your business.” It sounded so trivial compared to Hailey’s upbringing. “Tell me about your ‘someday.’ What does it look like?” He asked not only to occupy her mind with something besides the dog, the cold, and the awkwardness, but he genuinelywantedto know.
This time her voice held a brightness to it. “I’ll own a bookstore and have a dog who greets customers. A cat too.”
“A bookstore?” Wasn’t that a dying business?
“I know it’s a just a castle in the air,” she continued as if she had heard his unspoken question, “but I’ve always loved books. They were my lifeline growing up, someplace where I could escape and pretend my world was normal. I want to provide a place where others can escape too, especially kids.” Her shoulders vibrated with a laugh. “I guess I’m gonnahave to win Powerball, though, so I can afford to get the right place, fill it with books, and support myself on the income it brings in.”
“Know anything about running a business?”
“No. So I guess I’ll have to go back to school and get a business degree. Like I said, castle in the air.” Her back eased on an exhale.
The quiet sharpened the sound of their breathing, the thumping of his heart against her back. She melted against him and quickly stiffened again, as though she hadn’t meant to let herself go.
He checked his phone. No texts, no calls, and ten more minutes till it was time to turn on the truck. The dog’s silence made Noah reach for him, but the stretch was too much.
Hailey tugged on the covers that slid out of place. “What are you doing back there?”
“I’m going to check on the dog.” He slithered out of the warm nest, making sure to tuck the covers beneath Hailey, and wriggled into the front seat, where he stroked the dog’s side through the blanket, reassured by the animal’s warmth and its acknowledging snuffle.
“He’s okay,” he called back to her.
“Thank you. See? Sweet,” she called back.
Yeah, and so are you.
He ran the engine, adjusting the vents so they blew on Rover and into the backseat before shutting it down, crawling back under the covers, and resettling himself against Hailey’s warm back.
“Sorry about letting in the cold,” he apologized.
“It’s fine. Now that you’re here, I’m already warming up again.”
“If I crowd you too much, you let me know.”
“And what will you do?” she laughed. “We only have so much real estate to work with here.” With that, her body softened against him.
She trusted him.
A kernel of warmth that had nothing to do with their combined body heat unfurled in his gut and spread to his chest.
A loud rapping noisejerked Noah awake, and he fell onto the floorboards with awhump!
“Ow! Fuck!”
Legs tangling in the blankets, he pulled them with him and off of Hailey, who wrenched them back with a protesting moan.
Weak daylight filtered into the cab, the candles were burned out, and a sheet of frost layered the windows with ice. They’d apparently fallen asleep.
The driver’s door opened, letting in a blast of arctic air and a flurry of flakes.
“What the hell?” Noah yelled, and his breath crystallized before him.
“Reece, he’s here!” Charlie shouted.
“And ornerier than ever, it sounds like,” Reece’s voice floated back.
Noah had never been happier to hear his brothers’ voices. He scrambled to his knees and wrapped his hand around Hailey’s arm. He could barely feel his fingers. “Hailey, the cavalry’s here.”
