Page 59 of Maid in Heaven

“Get out of my fucking house!” Hank spat, pointing at the front door.

Will scrambled to put on his bootsand rushed outin nothing but shoes and underwear, laces still untied. The cold hit him like an icy train crashing into his bare skin. The door slammed shut behind him.

Will turned around, realizing he had left his trench coat inside.The truckkeys were still in his coat pocket.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He scurried back up the steps, hesitating to knockdespite the freezing temperatures. Inside, he heard Hankscreaming at the top of his lungs.

Will tried the knob, and the door quietly opened.He stepped inside and snatched his coat, tipping the rack overonto the floor. Will swiped atit, but it was too far out of reach.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Hank! He just did what I paid him to do,” she wailed.

Mr. Higgins stormed toward Will.

“I’ll fucking kill you, you son of a bitch!”

Will darted out the door, slipping on the ice and splaying hard across the stoop.Will looked up just as a fist plummeted toward his face. He rolledand heard bones crack hard againstthe stone beneath him.

Hankscreamed, gripping his busted fistin pain.

Will clambered to his booted feet and stepped back out of Hank’s reach. “Jesus, are youalright?”

“Do I fuckin’lookalright?I think I just fractured my goddamned metacarpal!” Mr. Higgins shouted, slinkingdown onto the cold stone, clutching his trembling hand.

Will stepped down onto the snowy lawn, packed two handfuls together in his hands and returned to Hank’s side. “Here. Put some ice on it..”

Mr. Higgins spiked the snowy lump onto the stone steps with his uninjured handlike avolleyball, flashing Will adevastatingly loathsome gaze.“Get the fuck out of here!”

Will held his hands up and backed awayslowly.From the doorway, Darcy tossed him his trench coat with an apologetic stare.

Will put it on and trudged back to his truck, cinching it shut.He hopped inand slammed the door behind him. Hank yowled like a cat in heat as Darcytried to wrap her arms around him. He shrugged her off and growled something Will couldn’t make out.

Mrs. Higgins looked up at Will and waved goodbye.

Will knew it wasfor good.

New rule,he thought to himself as he pulled away,always keep a spare set of keysin the glove box…

18

“So why are wewaiting outside in the middle of January?” Ava’s words came out in puffy billows of steam as the icyair nipped at her lungs. Despite the mid-afternoon sunshine, the unforgiving cold lingered.

“You’ll see soon enough. If we wait inside,it would spoil the surprise. They announce it over the speakers once every few minutes. It’s worth the cold,I promise. That’s why I wanted you to dress warm.”

“I did,” she added, gesturing to her puffy coat, boots, beanie and gloves. “None of it doesdiddly-squat for thisWyomingwind,though.” Her teeth chattered violently.

Will chuckled, wrapping a strong arm around her. “Is that better?”

“Not really,” she answered honestlywith a shrug.

“Here.” He positioned himself between her and the wind, unzipped his coat,and held it open for her. “Come.”

Ava grinned andobliged, burrowing beneath his coat like a down-clad tick. Her face rested against his chest, and he closed his coat around the both of them.

“Better?” he asked as the shiveringagainst himslowly subsided.

“Much.”

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