FEEL IT TWICE

chapter 16 - broken glass & bitter cold

"Shawn, what are we going to do?" Camila was frightened. They had just found each other again, there was no way she was going to let some small town, petty English cop pin some bogus crime on him to make himself famous or something!

"We're going to do as he said, stay here and keep safe, and hope the evidence clears me," he said, not looking as calm as his words implied.

"What if it doesn't?"

"We can't think that way, we know it wasn't what happened. They're only going by the security camera outside, that's the big one on the tree near the gate."

He stood up suddenly.

"Shit!"

"What?" she asked.

"The security cameras! There's security all through the house, including the barn! I forgot, because Maggie told me not to worry about it, that we're safe out here anyway."

"So why didn't they take the footage?" Surely the police would have seen the cameras?

"They're hidden cameras, don't ask me why, but there is definitely two in the barn, one pointed at the back door and one at the door to the house."

"Well, lets get the tape and send it to the police!" she exclaimed.

"We can't, it goes straight to the cloud and it's controlled by Maggie's iPad, which she has it with her!"

He scrabbled for his phone, which was sitting on the table. "We don't have service, dammit!"

"Well, when the police come, we'll tell them. Then we can find out what happened."

"We need to know what is on that footage."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, but it isn't what they think happened. We know that."

He pulled her close and she slid her arms around his waist, squeezing him. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed.

"No matter what happens, I love you Camilita."

"I know, I love you too baby, it'll be fine."

They did their chores and watched a movie as the storm closed in, hitting in full force in the early afternoon. The old house rattled and moaned, this was by far the worst wind they'd felt since the Big Freeze started. They heated soup for dinner and ate it by the fire in the little living room, playing Yahtzee. Nothing seemed to penetrate their glum mood. Shortly before they headed up to bed they heard a crash and ran out into the walkway to the gym to find one of the windows had smashed. A tree branch from the tree near the gate, quite a distance away, had been thrown across and crashed through, then luckily landed back outside. Shaw ran to the barn and found some wooden planks and tools and the two of them worked to weatherproof the damage, Shawn boarding up the broken window because it needed his strength to do the job, with the wind so strong, and Camila sweeping up the glass and mopping up the melting snow that had come inside.

Exhausted, they made their way up to their room. Shawn closed the interior shutters to all the windows as they went and made sure all the fires were banked. Once in bed, they snuggled together, listening to the howling wind. It suited their mood, for they were both consumed with the thought of what would happen to him when the storm was over and the police came back. It was hard to think of anything else. As suddenly as the storm arrived, it abated, at about four in the morning. There was an eerie silence and the windows began to make cracking sounds as the ice froze upon them. Shawn added wood to all the fires to combat the cold and more blankets to the bed.

"This is so romantic," Shawn said, plucking at her plaid flannel pyjamas, that looked that they had once belonged to Maggie's sons as teens. She had the drawstring waist pulled tight and the sleeves and legs rolled up. She looked freaking adorable. He wore a larger pair in a different colour, maybe belonging to an older version of Maggie's children. They both wore thick socks and they rubbed their feet against each other's to keep warm.