It’s all I can think about as I lie awake in bed for hours before finally drifting off to sleep.
With my bedroom door unlocked.
24
Evan
Amelia is going to freak.
Completely lose her mind. I can already see it. And not because of our mind-blowing kiss.
That, I will make sure she wants to do over and over again.
Nope, the reason my darling Amelia is going to go ape shit is because of Anna, and I’m not talking about her late mother.
I’ve just gotten off the phone working logistics with my assistant Hayden when Amelia pads into the kitchen, her hair swooshing from side to side, freshly showered wearing black cropped leggings and a light blue sweater. She’s walking toward the coffee machine when she spots me by the kitchen island. “Good morning.” She shyly smiles.
I get up and round the island until I’m standing next to her. “Good morning.” I drop a kiss on her head. “How did you sleep?” I say as I take over and make her a cup of coffee.
She eyes me suspiciously. “Fine. Surprised I didn’t find an intruder in my room.”
“Oh yeah? The locks in this house work pretty well, so you didn’t need to worry about an intruder.” I play along. Handing over her coffee.
Without breaking eye contact, she lightly blows into the cup, then takes a small sip. “My door wasn’t locked, Evan.” She pats my chest twice as she breezes past me to sit on a bar stool by the kitchen island.
With my hands leaning on the counter, I bow my head down. “Jesus Christ Amelia. We should talk about—”
“Holy crap that’s a lot of snow!” Amelia says as she hops off the bar stool with her coffee and walks toward the windows. “You never get to see the snow get this high in the city. The kids are gonna love it. I can only imagine the amount of ugly snowmen that we’ll have to build today.” She smiles broadly.
“About that …” I unmute the tv and let the weatherman be the bearer of bad news.
“I tell you Joanne, this is unprecedented,”the poor weather man says as he’s being whipped by nasty looking winds.“This is the first snowstorm of the season here in Massachusetts and it seems like we’re going to be breaking records this weekend. So far here in Boston we’ve gotten over 24 inches of snow and there seems to be no indication that this storm is slowing down, causing major changes in everyone’s holiday travel plans. Seems like storm Anna is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Back to you in the studio.”
I walk towards Amelia so I can try and calm her down before she inevitably spirals, but before I get to her, I’m taken aback by the sound ceramic crashing against the wooden floors.
“Ow! Shit!” Amelia yelps and jumps around as her bare feet are splashed by hot coffee and shards of sharp ceramic edges.
Before she can cause anymore damage to herself, I swoop her into my arms, cradling her while I walk us over to the kitchen island sink. I set her on the center of the island and guide her feet into the deep sink where I immediately turn on the cold water. “Don’t move, I’m getting the first aid kit,” I say quickly.
I’m gone before she has time to protest and by the time I get back, she literally hasn’t moved a muscle. Staring off into the abyss as if she’s seen a ghost.
Truthfully, the fact that the storm is named after her mother is a little trippy. I mean sure, Anna is a common name, and the storm was named after that character from the movie Frozen, but it still feels a bit eerie. Even to me.
When I’m back by her side she almost seems catatonic until I start tending to her blotchy burn marks on her feet and ankles.
“Evan, stop. I’m ok, just a little hot coffee. Gimme that.” She reaches for the burn gel, but I hold it out of her reach.
“I got this Amelia. I’ll be quick.” I turn off the water and gently start rubbing a generous amount of the burn gel in the affected areas. I spot a small cut on her ankle and place a Hello Kitty band aid on it. “See, told ya these Hello Kitty band aids would come in handy.” I look up to her and her eyes look panicked.
“Evan. Tell me that this storm is not named after my mother please,” she pleads as her eyes start to glisten with tears.
“Amelia, I know it’s weird, but Anna is a very common—”
“Wait! W-what about everyone? They’re still coming right, I mean they must be on their way now, right?” Her breathing becomes more labored.
I hold her face in my hands and force her to focus on me. “Baby, I’m gonna need you to take a couple of deep breaths for me.”
She swats at my hands. “Evan, I don’t have time for thisbabytalk. We need to call the drivers and make sure they’re safe and—”
