The Smell of Lilies

Chapter 8

It took Brandon over an hour to get to the airport. The snow and wind forced him to drive well under the speed limit and he hadn't put any chains on his tires yet. His windshield wipers were going faster than his wheels. He had to take some back roads because the snowplows weren't up and out until early morning. Perfect scenario for a wreck.

Brandon checked the clock. It was almost one in the morning. His only worry was that Kel was freezing out here and everything was against him in getting to her. In his spurt of incoherent action after listening to the messages, he managed to grab his heavy coat and blankets and threw them in the passenger seat. 

"Every fucking red light," he muttered as he rolled to a stop. The highways were closed due to weather conditions. There must be ice on the ramps. He had tried to call her back when he first got in the truck, but the line went dead before anything could reach. He picked it up and tried again.

A couple muffled rings, and then, "Hello?"

He sighed in relief. "Kel, I'm coming."

She said something but he couldn't hear her. 

"What?" he said a little louder.

"...McDonald's...two guys...coffee..."

"Say that again," he said. It wasn't polite, it was a command. 'Two guys' didn't sound comforting to him. 

Again he couldn't hear her. So he just cut her off, "Look, don't move, stay inside, I'm almost there. Stay inside." The line went dead.

He began to chew on his cheeks again and rapidly tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. 

After what seemed like ages, he was at the O'Hare. Despite the weather, cars were still going in and out. Some just parked in the middle of the street; people were trying to either get inside to stay warm for the night or get to the bus or car. It was mayhem. 

He knew where the McDonald's was and tried to head in that direction. After several minutes and several curses later, he jumped on the bandwagon and put his truck in park right where he was. He could run the rest of the way, it wasn't far.

Goddamn it's cold. 

He started heading north, as fast as the mob of people around him would let him. Finally he spotted the golden arches.

Once he stepped inside his eyes darted. It wasn't as full as he thought it might be, but it wasn't empty. So why couldn't he see her?

He checked around him again, and then saw the reason for his blindness. There were two big men cornering her at the end of the dining area. He caught a flash of her face, red and frightened. Those guys were far too close to her for Kel's, and Brandon's, liking. 

One of the men's hands came up to Kel's shoulder and slid down her arm to her waist. She tried to step back but the wall was behind her. She had no where to go.

Brandon's strong hand gripped the guy's shoulder within a second and ripped him away from Kel. Immediately Brandon broadened his shoulders and stepped in between her and them. Anger was clear as daylight on his face. 

"Who do you -," the guy started.

"Get the fuck away from her," Brandon cracked, his hands in fists as he took a step towards them. Brandon had been in his fair share of fights before; he wasn't afraid of two creepy guys.

Both men sheepishly put their hands up as if in surrender and backed away. Once they stepped out of the diner he turned to her. He was pissed off by a bunch of things...the red lights, the snow, the people in the diner who didn't do shit about two questionable guys who could possibly hurt a woman...but all that melted away when he saw her face.

She was biting her lips and was frozen in her place, as if she weren't breathing. 

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. I -," he was cut off by Kel who immediately stepped up to him and huddled in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. She buried her head into his shoulder. He heard what he thought was to be little crying noises. 

At that moment everything melted away. Brandon's anger and frustration...gone. He knew only one thing the moment her head fit into his shoulder, and that was that she was hurting badly and his anger was irrelevant. She needed him more than he knew before. And he would be there for her. 

Brandon wrapped his long arms around her too. He stroked her damp hair and kissed her on the head, letting her cry, ignoring the watching eyes. 

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now," he said, trying to calm her. "I'm here now."

She sniffled. Her little voice muffled, "I'm sorry."

Brandon chuckled cynically. "You're sorry? You have no reason to."

"Did you mean it when you called me a tool?"

It felt like fifty pound weights had just landed on his chest. "No, you know I didn't."

After a few more muffled sobs, he lifted her face up to look at him.

"Let's go home." 

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