Page 4 of A Forever Home
Bob was too humble to do anything but accept the decision and leave. Bob’s wife, however, was more vocal about her anger.
Roman’s phone buzzed in his hand as he walked down the hall that led away from the public restroom. Without thinking, he checked the screen and saw the wife’s latest text pop up.
You are despicable. It’s Christmas! How could you fire a family man with mouths to feed?
Guilt sucker-punched Roman in the gut. He shoved his phone into his coat pocket. Bob was a good worker with a good heart, and Christmas or not, he didn’t deserve the financial stress this would cause his family.
Roman pushed through the door into the main waiting area of the rental place. A couple hours from now, he’d be pulling up to Sweetwater Springs and seeing his family, who, except for pictures on Facebook, he hadn’t laid eyes on in over a year. No part of him wanted to go, but Brian would appreciate having Roman there.
A familiar-looking person caught Roman’s eye. She sat crumpled in one of the waiting room chairs as he started to pass by. Her head was down, but he recognized the blond hair cascading toward her lap as she leaned forward. She was wearing dark-rinse jeans and a soft pink cotton top—just like Della had been wearing on the plane beside him. “Della?”
She lifted her head. “Roman. You’re still here.”
“Barely. I’m on my way out. Shouldn’t you be on a plane?”
She grimaced. “I got the plane reservations wrong. I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t fly that often.”
“You don’t say,” he teased.
She gave him a half-hearted glare. “My ticket is for a flight tomorrow, so I was going to miss my sons’ recitals. I thought I could rent a car and just drive back to Somerset Lake, but the woman at the desk said she just handed out the keys for the last car.” Della narrowed her eyes at Roman.
He held up a set of keys and jingled them. “Guess that would be me. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You reserved that car ahead of time. It’s rightfully yours. I just don’t know what I’m going to do. Getting home by tonight is so important to me.” Her eyes grew shiny, and Roman suspected she was on the verge of tears.
Roman felt the buzz of his cell phone in his pocket again. It was no doubt another angry message from Bob’s wife. Maybe one good deed would cancel out the bad one he’d done on his boss’s behalf. He could only hope. “I have to go to Sweetwater Springs. I’ll be there for at least an hour and a half. Probably more like two,” he said.
Della looked up at him.
“Somerset Lake is about two hours from Sweetwater Springs. By my calculations, we could drive to my hometown, stay a couple hours, and head straight to your town, having you at that recital just in time to see your boys’ performance.”
Della’s lips parted. “Really?”
He nodded. “We’d really be cutting it close, but you’d be there in time. If you don’t mind sharing a car with me and humoring my relatives.”
“I don’t mind at all.” She stood quickly and threw her arms around him, surprising him. His arms reflexively locked around her to keep them both balanced.
“Thank you so much. I hate to impose, but I don’t really have any other options right now.” She pulled back, her face close to his.
He didn’t breathe for a moment. He’d been out of a relationship for over a year now. It’d been that long since he’d held a woman in his arms for any kind of reason.
She took a small step back until the backs of her knees touched the chair behind her. “Well, we better go. We have a lot of ground to cover today, don’t we?”
“I guess we do,” he said, ignoring the buzz of his cell phone again. As well as the unwanted buzz of attraction now zipping through him. He picked up his carry-on bag from where it was lying at his feet and headed toward the exit, leading the way. He opened the door for Della and waited for her to pass. Then he headed toward the parking lot, where a blue sedan was waiting to take them both on a Christmas road trip. First stop, Sweetwater Springs. Last stop, Somerset Lake.
***
Della was tired of hearing herself speak, and Roman wasn’t really helping carry the conversation. Either he was shy, which she didn’t really think so, or he didn’t like her, which she didn’t believe was true either. He could just have things on his mind. Judging by his deeply furrowed brow and serious expression as he drove, she suspected that was the reason for his silence.
“Going home really makes you nervous, huh?” she asked.
He glanced over but didn’t answer as he returned his gaze to the road.
“If I’m being too nosy, just tell me so. You won’t hurt my feelings.” She looked out the passenger-side window. “I used to say it was pretty hard to hurt my feelings, but my ex succeeded to the point that I might have bruised emotions for the rest of my life.”
Roman glanced over again. She could feel his eyes on her. “Time will heal.”
She released a soft sigh that fogged the window she was staring out. “So I’ve been told. Right now, it’s hard to believe.”
