AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She scrambled for her own phone and scanned her recent activity. “I didn’t get anything from her. If something was seriously wrong, she would have reached out.”
Sure, that made sense…unless she couldn’t call for some reason. Maybe the landline had also gone down. Bad storms sometimes knocked over telephone lines. It could happen. But why had she asked Galen for help?
“I’m calling Galen.”
“Good. I’m going to get dressed, then we should get going.”
He nodded as he called his brother’s sat phone. He allowed himself one quick glance at Jenna’s round ass in her clingy yoga pants. Last night’s moment was definitely over. He hadn’t seen any sign in her eyes that she even remembered it. He should follow her lead and banish it from his memory. It would be better for both of them if he did.
Galen answered on the first ring. “Are you on the road?”
“About to be. What’s going on?”
“The whole town’s socked in. I have three feet of snow outside my door.”
“Did you ever talk to Annika? Do you know what she needed?”
Jenna was back, in the midst of adjusting the cobalt-blue sweater she’d pulled on. She’d changed into jeans but was still barefoot. He switched the phone to speaker. “Jenna’s here too.”
“Oh hey, Jenna. I hope you guys had fun, sorry we missed it.”
Jenna showed not one flicker of secret “oh we sure had fun” amusement. “Any word from Annika and the boys?”
“No, but just about everything’s down. They just started plowing. We’re still trying to get the front door open. It’s nuts. Freak storm of the century. As soon as I can get out, I’ll strap on some snowshoes and head to your house.”
“Thank you, Galen.” Her heartfelt words made Billy’s gut tighten. If he hadn’t asked her to this damn awards dinner, she’d be home dealing with this crisis herself. “They’re probably fine, but I’ll feel a lot better after I talk to someone.”
“They have backup power, right?”
“Generator,” Billy confirmed. “I have it all set up. I wrote out instructions anyone could figure out, Annika won’t have a problem. They have plenty of firewood, plenty of water.”
Was he trying to reassure the others or himself?
Jenna leaned close to his shoulder to speak into the phone. “We’ll be there as quick as we can, but who knows what the roads are like.”
“They’re probably crap,” said Galen in his usual blunt way. “So be safe. Don’t rush. Last thing we need is you guys in an accident.”
Good reminder. Billy felt Jenna nod, and did the same. He ended the call and turned to meet Jenna’s gaze. Her gray eyes were dark with worry. “They might still be asleep. It’s still early there,” she said.
“Then let’s go home and wake them up.”
That got a smile from her. “Sounds good. You get dressed, I’ll make some coffee. We can grab some food at the buffet breakfast downstairs. It’ll save time. I’m going to call the airline and make sure the planes are up and running.”
When he finished dressing and packing, he found Jenna in the living room with a Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee for him. Her phone was on speaker, playing hold music. “I’m still on hold at the airline, but let’s just go.”
He nodded and slung her bag over his shoulder, then grabbed the handle of his own rolling suitcase. They left the suite and headed for the elevator, both sipping their coffee, like two office workers on their way to work. It was all over, just like that. Back to “professional co-parenting.”
He wished he could stop the elevator and have one more moment with her. One more kiss. One more out-of-time experience before reality closed in again.
The door opened and they followed the flow of early-rising guests toward the breakfast buffet.
“Well hello, if it isn’t the sexy exes,” a voice purred as they stepped into the dining room. “I thought about you last night. I couldn’t help wondering why you left so early and didn’t even give the afterparty a pop-in.”
Chelsey looked camera-ready even at this early hour. “If you ever get tired of being a baseball wife, you should be a morning show anchor,” Billy told her. “No one else looks that good first thing in the morning.”
“Au contraire, mon frère. Both of you look yummier than my morning non-fat decaf. That’s probably why you made the top spot on The Dugout this morning.”
Uh oh. “What’d they say?” Billy asked warily.
