Home for Love (An Adult Contemporary Romance) by Aneesa Price Page B

reached for the doorknob and
turned. Rattling it, she turned back to Todd, who was bent over the bags and
about to heft them over his shoulders. Darn but if that sight didn’t send
tingles to her nether regions. And yet another sign, she mentally acknowledged,
that she had to leave the shed.
    Rattling the doorknob again, she spoke
to Todd without risking another look. “Todd, I think the door’s stuck.”
    “Can’t be,” he said, “Mr. Stewart may be
getting on in years, but he’d never allow a stuck door situation.”
    “Huh,” Bree looked at him puzzled.
“Okay, regardless of Mr. Stewart’s handyman principles and practices, this darn
door is stuck. Come see for yourself,” she indicated the door with a sweep of
her hand and stepped away - but not too far into the shed.
    Todd tried the doorknob and also did a
fair bit of rattling. “It’s not stuck,” he said, “it’s locked.”
    “Locked?” she questioned. “Why on earth
would it be locked? It wasn’t locked before.”
    “How would I know why it wasn’t locked,”
he bit out irritatingly. “I just know that it’s locked now.”
    “I can’t stay in here, Todd,” Bree felt
panicked.
    “Let’s just call Mrs. Stewart and ask
her to open for us,” he offered.
    “She’s losing her hearing, Todd I doubt
she’d hear us.”
    “I meant your phone. Call her on it.”
    “I don’t have my phone,” Amber stated.
“I left it on the counter in my handbag. Use yours.”
    “I don’t have mine either,” Todd
replied. “I came over quickly when Mrs. Stewart called to ask me to help you
with the bags. Said that Mr. Stewart was at home sick and that she didn’t feel
right having you carry them all by yourself.”
    “Well aren’t you just the knight in
shining armor,” Bree’s sarcasm was thick. “So, Mr. Knight, get us out of here.”
    “I would if I could, Bree,” he
responded. “In fact, I probably could if you’d stop nagging long enough so I
could think.”
    “Fine,” she huffed, sitting on top of
the bags of her granddad’s dirt, closest to the door. “Think away, Einstein.”
    Steaming with irritation, she watched
Todd under veiled lids as he went around the room, inspecting it for a way out.
    “You won’t believe this,” he came
towards her, “but there aren’t any windows either.”
    “So, we’re stuck here?”
    “Looks like,” he nodded, sitting next to
her on a neighboring stack of bags.
    “Todd,” she said, worried, “it’s not a
good idea to be stuck during winter.”
    “I know, Bree. I’m hoping that the kids
across the road will come by sometime or your granddad will realize we’re
missing and come find us.”
    Bree nodded bleakly. “Don’t you think
that Mrs. Stewart would remember?”
    “Maybe,” Todd replied, “but she’s been
losing her memory lately. too.”
    “The poor darling,” Bree stated
sincerely. “It must be hard to change in that way, especially after having been
such a strong, vital woman.”
    Todd considered then shook his head.
“Oh, I reckon that she’s still as strong, as vital, just in a different way.”
    Bree’s lips curved in appreciation for
his sensitivity. “That’s a sweet thing to say.”
    “I have my moments,” Todd answered,
looking down at her, his lips curved in response.
    “Do you remember when we were stuck in
the janitor’s room at school?” Todd asked, trying to prod her mind away from
her fears.
    Bree smiled at the recollection. “Yes.
The end of senior year - your hockey buddies decided that we needed a bit of
privacy. That was quite a fascinating study of janitorial equipment.”
    Todd looked down at his crotch, “Is that
what you call it?”
    Bree laughed and nudged him in the ribs.
“That was fun. They thought we’d come out fuming instead we’d looked like we’d
a blast.”
    “Yep,” Todd said, the smile dying,
sincerity replacing it, “We always had a good time as long as we had each
other.”
    “And we didn’t inspect your equipment,
as