SHELTER

Chapter 8

Something was off. Warren had known the instant he'd seen her face staring at him from the hallway. It had been a mixture of fear, shame and panic all rolled into one. Just as quickly she had wiped her face clean of emotion like a blank slate and disappeared.

Anyone with eye balls could tell she'd been crying when she'd reemerged to eat but she'd seemed bound and determined not to talk about it.

They'd eaten in tense silence. His questions as to her first day of work had been met with simple one or two word answers. She'd quickly cleaned up the dishes and high tailed it to bed right after.

Warren had sat through two episodes of his favorite show without seeing any of it as his mind whirled and clicked away trying to remember what he could have said or done to create such a change. His singing wasn't great but sheesh! Finally he'd shuffled off to bed just as confused as he'd begun.

The next morning hadn't proved any better. Jolie had made every attempt to avoid contact with him through such actions as staying in her room or the bathroom, even at the cost of her beloved coffee.

When the time finally came for them to head to his Aunt Barb's he had half expected her to concoct some sort of story or illness to get out of the dinner but she'd simply shuffled out and picked up the bag she'd carefully packed with both pies and a tub of homemade whipped cream. Without a word she'd walked out to the pickup and climbed into the passenger side.

Warren walked out to the pickup and climbed in. He sat in silence for a moment as he tried to decide whether to let it slide out longer or to go ahead and find out what went wrong while he had her pinned.

He cursed his weakness as he put the key in the ignition and watched the garage door lift. It was a blaze of white snowiness outside as they pulled out onto the main road.

"It snowed a lot last night." He commented randomly into the quiet cab. He was surprised to see her smiling softly while staring out the windshield when he looked over to see if she'd heard him.

"I love snow." She spoke softly and took a deep breath of the cold air as if she was trying to pull the snow into herself.

"We don't see a lot of it here. It probably won't stick around long before it'll freeze over and just be ice." He thought back to the night before and realized she hadn't been angry at all, she'd simply been scarce. He'd assumed she was angry at him for some reason but the woman beside him didn't seem angry. She seemed more than a little sad. "You probably had a lot more of it back in Idaho."

"We did. It would start at the end of October and we wouldn't see the ground again until May. By then everyone hates it and is desperate for spring but those first few weeks are magical."

"Where did you spend last year's holidays?" He wondered if she'd keep talking or clam up again.

"Last year? It seems so long ago," she used the pad of her finger to make a smiley face in the frost of the window. "I was in California somewhere, I think somewhere south of San Diego. It was warm and I sat on a bench by the beach and ate French fries."

"French fries for Thanksgiving on the beach? Doesn't sound too terrible."

She looked both wistfully out the window. "It was what it was."

"I hope you won't get mad but I want to be completely honest with you. Dustin told me just a little bit about why you left. What he understands anyway; which isn't much."

"I figured he would. I never meant to hurt anyone. I love those guys. How am I supposed to explain things to them that I don't even fully understand?"

Warren saw his Aunt Barb's house come into view in the low light of the evening. He didn't want to pull in behind his cousin's car; he wanted to keep driving and talking. He didn't know that Jolie would ever be this willing to talk to him again, whether it was the snow or the holiday, she felt like unburdening herself and he wanted to hear her.