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“I was busy.” Frowning, I fold my arms across my chest and the strap of my smaller bag. I’m still freezing, and Steve’s telling me I can’t go upstairs. “You called me at an inconvenient time.”
“I’ve been calling you all day and night,” he says gently. “You must’ve been in the air, because I kept getting your voicemail. The moment the call rang through, I didn’t quit until I actually spoke to you.”
“And you…” Longingly, I look past him to the stairs. “I can’t go into my apartment?”
He shakes his head so his almost-bald scalp glistens under the overhead light, and his dopey, dog-like eyes express true compassion. “I’ve got contractors coming out first thing tomorrow to fix it up, but until then, it’s just not safe for you to enter. You’d be a popsicle before morning.”
“So where am I supposed to sleep?” I glance over my shoulder and groan at the feral wind that is somehow growing in ferocity. “Where do you suggest I go at eleven o’clock at night in a strange city?” I look back to Steve. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Life would be a whole lot simpler if you’d check your messages once in a while,” the man grumbles. “I took the liberty of booking you a room a couple of blocks down. It’s not fancy, but it’s better than sleeping in the street. So I figure, beggars and choosers and all that.”
He pauses and looks me up and down, scowling when he stops on my bare shoulder. “You could walk the distance in about ten minutes. Run it in five. You’ll be cold either way. I don’t have a car, so I can’t drive you, but I could call a cab—”
“No, it’s okay.”
Thinking for a moment, I bring my hands up and press them to my eyes until I see stars.
Where do I go? What do I do? How the hell do I get there? And is there food where I’m going?
After drawing a deep breath, I exhale again and drop my arms. When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is my bag.
Too heavy to run with in the storm. Not worth dying for when I stumble and bury myself in snow.
“Can I leave my suitcase here with you?”
My landlord’s muddy brown eyes search mine. “You won’t need it for the night?”
“Not enough to tempt me to cart it across town. Will it be safe here? That’s everything I own.” I pause and narrow my eyes. “Can I trust you, Steve?”
“I’ll put it in my place.” His ruddy cheeks warm with a little color. “It’ll be safe.”
“And I can come back tomorrow?”
He nods. “Contractor is in at nine. I can let you into the apartment any time after that, so long as the noise from his work doesn’t bother you. The damage is isolated to the bathroom, so while you go about your business, he’ll stay in there and patch up the ceiling.”
“Alright. Well…” I cast another glance back down to my case. “You’re not gonna misplace or steal my stuff,” I look up, “right?”
“Promise.” He steps forward and wraps his hand around the straps. He tugs, and though he moves the luggage, he has to work hard to stifle the grunt that rushes along his throat. “You have my word. You’ll be staying close by, at The Patterson, but I’ll text you the address so you can follow GPS directions. It’s freezing out there, Ms. Mayet. Do you want to grab a coat before you go?”
My coat was in my stolen bag, and my stolen bag now belongs to a ninja. So the answer to that, unfortunately, isnope.
“I’ll be okay,” I tell him. “I need to find food before anything else.”
At the sound of loud music mixing with the storm outside, I tilt my head that way. “The place next door offer food?”
“Tim’s not gonna win any awards for his burgers, but they’re decent enough to fill a belly.” Steve reaches around to his back pocket. “I feel bad about your place not being available. Can I buy your dinner?”
“No.” I wrap my arm across the strap of my oversized purse and take a step back. “It’s okay.”
“I’d like to insist.”
“I pay for my own food.” Turning away from all my worldly possessions, I grip the steel handle of the building’s door and prepare to step into the cold once more. “I’ll be back in the morning. Thanks for waiting up for me.”
Steve chuckles, deep in the back of his throat. “I knew you wasn’t listening to me when I called. My conscience wouldn’t let me sleep till I told you what you needed to know.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I swing the glass door open and whimper at the freezing cold that bites at my bones. My trek to the hotel will be miserable, but before that, I only have to run twenty feet from my building to the one next door.
