Other Plans

Chapter Six

I'd hoped blood would return to my fingers, but it pounded in my ears as my heart lodged in my throat.

"Isn't that the way our story goes?" I uttered.

In the dark, his voice was intoxicatingly nostalgic, reminding me of early mornings, sleepless nights, and the last time he kissed me goodbye. A door swung open, with Mr. Elliott stepping through, pushing a cart illuminated by Aidan's cell phone.

"That should do it," he explained. "Captain?"

"How can I help, Mr. Elliott?" Aidan responded, his movement behind me and toward Mr. Elliott making my hair dance along my cheeks.

"Captain?" I blurted, thinking of how everything about his engagement was for Lieutenant Commander Bennett.

"Yes?" Aidan answered, his tone slightly strained as he helped Mr. Elliott. With one flick, a dim bulb flashed on above me and I noticed the humming generator on Mr. Elliott's cart. Aidan stood from turning it on and offered a chair to our favorite store owner, who settled in with a sigh.

"What?" Aidan continued, but I couldn't look him in the eye so I shook my head to brush it off. I wasn't trying to get his attention, it just slipped out as I considered the title.

"I should call Lenora," Mr. Elliott said, "but the phones are down. I don't have one of those fancy things."

"Use mine," Aidan offered. He dialed the number Mr. Elliott provided, and handed him the phone. It was getting crowded in the small space, and I considered moving to a different table, but that wouldn't change the fact I was there with him.

Mr. Elliott practically shouted into Aidan's phone. I heard a soft chuckle from Aidan as he moved to lean in the doorframe, the wall almost sighing with the same weight of emotion I felt in that moment.

I handled his mother and aunt professionally, with tact and urgency to escape their presence, but I couldn't do the same around him. Thinking about seeing him at the top of the stairs, I closed my eyes and tried not to let the warm scent of his cologne lull me too far into the past.

"Captain?" I wondered aloud again.

"Are you addressing me, or..." Aidan didn't finish his question, not after my gaze finally met his and we both froze. His sleeves were pushed back over his forearms, one of which held his folded over coat. His clothes were casual, not his white Navy uniform or anything near the suit he wore at his engagement party.

"I don't know," I confessed. "What are we doing here?"

His eyes softened with his smile. "I was," he sighed, adjusting his arm against the doorframe, "looking for a way back in time, I think. You?"

I didn't understand what he meant, but I couldn't gape at him any longer without saying something. "I was caught in the storm."

"It's a bad one," Mr. Elliott added, huffing when he placed Aidan's phone on the table. "Lenora still has power, but there's no way out. The generator will keep the heat on for us through the night, at least."

"The night?" Aidan and I reacted in unison. Mr. Elliott shuffled around the room, tinkering with switches and knobs around the appliances and coolers.

I reached into my bag since my fingers thawed and tried to text Josie and Lily. "I don't have service."

"You can use mine," Aidan suggested. "It worked for him."

"Do you have some special cellular privileges?" I quietly mocked, feeling my throat tighten with nerves.

"Yep." He grinned, officially melting the last of the storm's chill from my bones. "It works through cinderblock walls, under water, and in an F-22."

"I'll be," Mr. Elliott uttered.