Page 6 of All the Way
“I don’t know. I think there’s something wrong with the tires. I have no traction.” Her voice is shaky and uneven, and she’s frightened.
“You have to get over to the side of the road, and I’ll get you home. I’m going to guide you. You can do this, okay?” I slam the door shut without waiting for her answer and walk quickly to the side of the road between two big piles of snow, sliding a little bit. Putting my hand up, I motion for her to back up so she’s in a better position to parallel park.
Turning off her hazards, she cuts the wheel and backs up slowly, then expertly pulls into the spot, straightens out, and then shifts into park, collapsing with her arms and forehead on the steering wheel.
“What’s going on?” I open the door and hop in, careful to move her box of pastries from Kaitlyn’s to the top of the dashboard. “Everything alright?”
“It’s fine,” she says, burying her face in her arms. “I should have known I was going to end up broken down on the side of the road.”
“Hey, hey.” I take off my gloves and stroke her hair, taking a silky length of it between my fingers and letting it slip away. “What’s the matter? We’ll get you all fixed up in no time.”
“I should never have stopped to get this stupid tree.” She picks her face up and looks at me, the whites of her eyes red and damp, her blue irises shining all the more brightly through her tears.
“Hey, I don’t want to hear crazy talk like that,” I gently scold her. “Nothing about a Christmas tree can ever be stupid. You take that back.”
She laughs and wipes her nose with a tissue from her pocket. “You’re right. I’m just having a bad luck day with my truck and everything.”
“It’s not your fault, baby.” I take her tissue and dab under her eyes. There’s no makeup on her face to ruin with her tears, and she looks as beautiful as she did the last time I saw her.
“I guess it’s not all bad luck,” she says, looking down at her lap. “If I hadn’t stopped, I wouldn’t have run into you.”
My heart leaps deep inside my chest, but I’m cautious. “It is nice to finally see you again, Jess. Let me get you home in one piece.”
Chapter Three - Jess
We untie the tree from the back of my truck, and I know why Chris was walking home instead of driving. I spotted his car a few blocks back, and there would be no reason for him to be on foot next to my car unless he’d been drinking. I was thinking about turning around to go find him and offer him a ride when I started losing control of my back tires and froze in the middle of the road.
But the snow is starting to let up a little, and walking home beside Chris in a blizzard would be better than driving home alone warm and dry.
“We aren’t far now,” he says, lifting the tree out of the back of the truck and propping it up on his back. “Though I do have to say that I’m a little glad all we had left was the four-footers. A big nine-foot tree might be a little hard to walk to your house.”
“I know you’d be able to do it,” I say, “but really, we can just leave it here. I’ll come back tomorrow to get it. Really, it’s too much trouble.”
“Screw that,” Josh says, shaking his head emphatically. “You wanted a tree tonight, and you’re getting it tonight. Consider it your Christmas present.”
“You’ve already done too much. Just walking me home would be a present.” I gaze up at him and notice how different he’s become. He’s grown a sexy, manly beard, which is so different from the clean-cut look he had a year ago. His hair is a little long at the top, and he appears to have started working out. He’s not the 21-year-old kid I said goodbye to a year ago. Now he’s all man.
“I’m bringing your tree home, and that’s that.” He smiles at me and his arms flex behind his back as he steadies the tree and starts to walk forward with me toward home. Yeah, he’s changed, alright.
I feel a little less guilty when I see how easy it is for him to carry, like it’s a bag of light groceries he’s carrying out to the car for a little old lady.
“We aren’t far from my house, anyway,” I say.
“You think I don’t remember where you live?” He looks down and tisks at me with his tongue. “Oh ye of little faith. I remember every turn and stop sign on the way to your house. It’s muscle memory. I could drive there with my eyes closed.”
“Well, promise me you won’t try that.” I wrap my arms tight around me and wish I could hold Chris’ hand. It’s a good thing he’s already occupied with something else.
It’s slightly too cold for smalltalk, and I’m thankful when we finally get to my street and turn a right to get home. All the lights are on downstairs, and I wonder if my family’s wondering why I’ve been gone so long.
We make our way up the shoveled and cleared steps and I let us in. Chris leaves the tree out on the covered porch, dusting the remaining snow off of it. “Let’s let this sit out here for a while to dry off,” he says. “Wouldn’t want to track any more snow into your house than we have to.”
“Jess? That you?” Jamie calls out as she comes padding through the hallway toward the front door. Her eyes light up when she sees who I have in tow. “Chris?”
She runs over and gives him a big hug, winking at me as she pulls away from him.
“You almost didn’t recognize me, I guess?” he says, pulling off his hat and shaking his hair out.
“Um, you could say that again. I’m really loving the beard.” She takes a step back and takes him in, looking past him to me again with a look that begs to know why I ever let this piece of man candy go in the first place. “And it looks like things are really looking up now,” my sister adds. “Is that box from Kaitlyn’s?”
