“No one’s going anywhere,” he shuddered. “This storm’s going to last for days. Everything’s grounded. Several feet of accumulation. Even the City is going crazy… I left not long after you flew out. Just as the first of the flakes started falling.”
Lincoln put his hand on Donovan’s shoulder, motioning him closer to the fire. Swinging open the iron door, he threw another pair of logs on.
“You actually drove here?”
“Most of the way,” Donovan nodded. “I got stuck a few miles south of here, in a drift, outside a gas station. Found a guy with a plow who’d drive me up here. He plowed your driveway, by the way. I threw him some cash.” He stared at Lincoln for a moment. “You gave the address,” he shrugged. “You told me to come.”
“Yeah yeah,” Lincoln nodded. “Sure man, no problem. I— I just thought you had to stay. You said you had clients, you couldn’t leave work.”
New flames leapt up, and Donovan held his hands close to the fire. He rubbed them together and glanced back at us.
“I don’t have work anymore,” he smirked. “I just got fired from Crunch Time.”
Forty-Seven
HOLLY
“You got fired?” I cried in disbelief. Donovan’s nod felt like a punch to the gut. “How’d you get fired?”
“Eddie,” he replied, as if it were all that were needed.
“What happened?”
“Well, he was giving me less and less new appointments,” said Donovan, “and it was starting to get obvious. He was also approaching some of my existing clients, asking if they’d be willing to switch trainers. ‘Scheduling reasons,’ he claimed.”
Lincoln cursed under his breath. “Scumbag.”
“I know, right? Anyway, he was also hitting on two or three of my female clients. Ones I knew he not-so-secretly liked. Not that they’d give him the time of day, but when I started warning them about him he stomped over to have words with me.”
“Uh oh,” smiled Lincoln.
“Yeah.”
“So what happened?” I asked.
“Well, things got heated and he told me to fuck off. In front of clients, no less. So I laughed at him, and Eddie didn’t like that, so he pushed me.”
“And you clocked him,” guessed Lincoln.
Donovan nodded. “One punch, right across the jaw. He went straight down, like the sack of shit he really is.”
“Good for you,” said Lincoln.
“No,” I protested, pushing forward. “No, not good for him! Because of this he has no job, Lincoln. He has no home gym, no place to train anyone. He’s going to lose his clients!”
“Some,” Donovan agreed unhappily. “Maybe most. I don’t know. That place was… well it was ideal, really. Good location, central to the village. Such a great place, except for Eddie.”
I stared at Donovan, and he stared at the floor. As for Lincoln, he looked thoughtful. He was rubbing his chin again.
“Well I’m glad you’re here,” I said hugging him. “We all are.”
Lincoln smiled. “True enough, bud. Me casa es su casa.”
The fire crackled. Already it was getting warm again, although nowhere near as hot as before. I could see Donovan looking around, taking the place in. Realizing, as Brody and I did, how picture perfect it was.
“Where’s Brody?”
“The kid’s upstairs sleeping,” Lincoln replied. “Snoring like a lumberjack.”