"Boy, listen to that wind howl." Tommy shook his head as he carefully lowered a plank of Peruvian Walnut into place. "It makes me shiver even in here."
"Seems like winter is catching up." Joel grunted from where he knelt beside Tommy. They were almost finished with the living room flooring; only the dining room, kitchen and three bedrooms left to go. Tommy checked his watch.
"6 PM already?" Tommy leaned back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I think it's time for me to head out. You gonna stay late again?"
"Nah, I'll go too." Joel often worked as late as he could, but today, he felt anxious to get home. He didn't like the sound of that wind, nor the idea of a certain kid stuck outside in it. He hadn't seen Ellie in two weeks. The weather had been mild for late October, so he hadn't felt too worried. Today, he felt more worried.
I need to leave her alone. He reminded himself.
"Well, shit." Tommy stood and stretched. "Looks like Texas might just get a white Christmas after all."
"What?" Joel almost knocked over a stack of boards in his hurry to get to his feet. Sure enough, fat, fluffy flakes were falling gently outside, glowing a soft yellow in the light of the streetlamp. Joel's stomach dropped. Ellie.
"I'm gonna head home." He yelled to Tommy in farewell as he rushed outside. He flinched as a cold wind whipped through him. She couldn't stay outside in these conditions, not for long.
"What are you doing?" Tommy shouted from the doorway. "It's snowing! They're going to close the roads! Just stay here until it stops."
"I'll make it back!" Joel yelled. Then he slammed the door and peeled out of the client's driveway.
Thankfully, most Texans flinched from driving in any amount of snow, so Joel encountered little traffic as he flew recklessly fast down the road. The night was young, but the sun had already set, leaving the chilly night pitch black. Joel imagined Ellie running into his yard, banging on his door, crying his name. He saw her huddled next to her house in her too thin hoodie, fighting to stay awake in the freezing cold. He saw her sagging to the ground as she lost the battle.
Joel's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "She could be ok." He whispered to himself. "She could be in her house." Or she could be outside. For a moment, he saw Sarah, her dark eyes full of pain as she called for him from her hospital bed. He couldn't save her. He could save Ellie.
Red and blue lights flashed behind Joel. He swore and banged the steering wheel as he reluctantly pulled over. The thirty seconds it took the police officer to approach his car felt like an eternity.
"We're about to block the road here, sir." She told him. "I'm going to need you to go back the way you came."
"I need to get home." Joel insisted. "Please just let me through."
She shook her head, her eyes on her notepad. "I can't do that. This road gets icy when it snows. It's unsafe until we can get a plough here."
"Please, I have to keep going. My daughter locked herself out without a coat. If I don't get home to let her in, she could freeze to death." The lie flowed easily.
The police officer considered his words, then sighed. "Go. If anyone asks, I never saw you."
"Thank you so much." Joel stamped the accelerator the moment she was out of the way. My daughter. He hadn't used that phrase in twenty years.
Every minute felt like an hour. Finally, Joel was pulling into his driveway. He barely remembered to put the car in park before he was out and yelling Ellie's name.
"Ellie!" He ran over to her house, almost slipping on the icy grass. The wind shrieked and cut him with cold fingers. Fear pierced his heart when he reached the porch and saw what he'd dreaded: every light was off.
"Ellie!" He banged on the door. No response. She had to be outside. "Ellie!" The wind blew his voice away as he ran around her house, checking every nook and cranny. No sign of her. He gave his yard the same thorough search. Nothing.
Joel shuddered as he stared around his yard helplessly. His leather jacket did little to stop the wind and he was shaking uncontrollably. His hair was wet with snow, and he felt like the paralyzing cold was seeping into his brain. Joel staggered for the door and his numb fingers struggled with the lock. Finally, he shoved it open and ran inside. He went straight for his coat, not bothering to take off his boots. It didn't matter how long it took; Joel was going to find her.
He turned on every light and opened every blind, hoping that wherever Ellie was, she could see his house. Then he rushed back through his house, past the bedrooms and the kitchen and the red-haired girl curled up on his couch in the living room to brave the cold once more.
Joel was halfway across his yard before he stopped. He blinked a couple times, then turned and almost slipped in his haste to get back inside. He hadn't imagined it: Ellie was fast asleep on his sofa.
Joel closed the front door quietly, trying not to disturb her. Then he realized he needed to wake her anyways. He slipped off his wet boots and padded into the living room to sit on the armchair beside her. "Ellie, wake up." He said gruffly. She didn't stir. Joel poked her shoulder.
"What?" Ellie muttered irritably as she opened one bleary eye. "Oh, it's you."
"How did you get in here?" Joel demanded. He felt his eyes watering and told himself it was from the cold.
"Doggy door." She pointed at his front door. "The perks of being small, I guess."
Joel wanted to hug her and strangle her at the same time. "You need to learn to keep track of your keys." He snapped. "You got lucky with the dog door, but what would you have done if I didn't have it? You could have frozen to death."
"Fuck no." Ellie sat up to scowl at Joel. "If you didn't have a doggy door, I would have gotten some heavy shit from your shed and broken a window. I'm not about to die to a fucking snow flurry."
"Well." Joel said after a surprised pause. "I'm glad you had a backup plan. But you still need to keep track of your keys." His voice turned harsh again. "It's irresponsible and downright stupid to be so forgetful with them. What if someone finds them and breaks into your house?"
Ellie held out her hand in indignation. "Ok, one, I'm poor as shit, so anyone breaking into my house won't find too much to take." She counted on her fingers. "And two, I'm not losing my keys, my stepfather takes them out of my bag. It's not my fault!"
"What?" Joel stared at her in disbelief. "Why would he take your keys?"
"Ugh!" Ellie flopped back onto the couch and crossed her arms angrily. "Every time I argue with him about something, he steals my keys from my backpack. Then he makes sure he and Mom are gone until super late so I'm stuck outside." She punched one of Joel's faded throw pillows. "He's such a dickhead."
Blood roared in Joel's ears. He squeezed the armrests of his chair until they groaned in complaint. "You're sure he does that?" He spoke with thinly controlled rage.
"Yeah, I caught him a couple weeks ago." Ellie's eyes drifted from his white knuckles to his hard expression. "You good, dude?"
Joel forced himself to calm down. As badly as he wanted to destroy Ellie's stepfather, that would do nothing but send Joel to jail and leave Ellie without any protection. Ellie needed to be his priority now.
"Here's how it's gonna be." Joel said. "When that piece of garbage gives you your keys back, you leave them here, understand? Every time you get home, you come over, get your keys to unlock your door, then put them back in my house. Never leave them at your house. Then he can't take them."
Ellie considered his proposal with an amused expression. "You're smarter than you look." She grinned. "I like your plan. Let's do it."
"Alright." Joel nodded. "So… guessing you didn't eat dinner?"
"Nope." Ellie perked up. "McDonald's?"
Joel shrugged. "Sure."
"Yes!" Ellie jumped up and did a little victory dance as Joel went for his coat.
"You'll need something warmer than that." Joel commented on her hoodie. He rifled through his closet. "Here."
"Ah." Ellie shrugged on Joel's old winter coat. "I feel like I'm going to drown in this thing." She complained. She held up her hands, which were hidden in the puffy, black sleeves. "Don't you have anything smaller?"
Joel remembered Sarah's closet, all the hours spent in department stores as she tried on outfit after outfit. "Nope." He said quickly. "Let's go." He turned for the door.
"Hey, Joel?" Ellie's voice was unusually hesitant. He turned to find her staring at the floor. "I'm sorry I yelled at you last time. That was a jerk move." Her bright green eyes flicked to his. "Like… you've done a lot for me and you kind of didn't have to do anything and I'm- I am grateful, you know?" Ellie pressed her hands together from within her oversized coat. "I guess I'm trying to say thank you."
"Yeah, sure." Joel rubbed his neck. "Food?"
"Yep." Ellie rushed by him and neither met the other's eyes as they walked to the truck.