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“No, you won’t,” he said. “You’re not dressed for this. What’s the code?”
I fed him the code and watched him slip out and open the garage door. In seconds, he had pulled into the garage.
“Great,” he said. “I’ll carry your daughter. You keep up. I know it’s not much of a walk, but…wait, give me your key.”
“Key?”
“The door might be buried in a drift or frozen shut. I don’t want you standing out in the cold while I work on it.” He slipped on his ski mask and pulled up the hood on the parka. “Don’t move. I’ll be back.”
Emily was awake and a bit confused.
“I don’t know him,” Emily said.
“He’s a coworker at the bank. He’s very capable.”
“I have to pee.”
“Just a few more minutes, Emily.”
“I’m not going out to play in the snow.”
“No one is out, not until tomorrow.”
“This is so cool. I’m going to text my peeps back in Wilmington.”
“Good idea. Let’s get inside first.”
I waited with Emily until Codrin returned. He opened the door, and he was covered in snow.
“I unlocked the door and managed to get it open. So, Stay close.”
He held out his arms, and Emily was soon in them. I slipped out of the SUV, ever so grateful for the 4-wheel drive. The slog to the front kitchen door took longer than it should have, mainly because of the three-foot drift we waded through. My cheeks burned, and my lungs hurt when I inhaled. I told myself that I was going to find a job back in Wilmington as soon as I could. Chicago weather was murderous.
I closed the kitchen door behind us and panted. Codrin carried Emily into the family room. I wanted to kneel and kiss the floor, but that didn’t seem healthy. Instead, I followed Codrin. Emily hurried to her bathroom. Codrin pulled off his parka and started to load the fireplace with newspaper and small kindling.
“You have more wood?” he asked.
“No. I didn’t think I would need it.”
“Then, I won’t build a fire unless we need it. Go ahead and start some faucets dripping. Upstairs and down.”
“That’s wasting water,” I said.
“Better than frozen pipes. Go.”
I went around the house, opening the faucets until they dripped. I thought the exercise was overkill, but Codrin was the expert. When I returned to the family room, Emily was on the couch. Codrin had disappeared.
“He went to get something to drink,” Emily said.
Codrin returned with two beers and a Gatorade that he passed to Emily.
“This is insane,” I said.
“No, it’s an early Chicago winter. I should leave.”
“You’re not leaving. We have plenty of room.” I accepted a beer and sipped.
“You’re right.”
