“Alex, is that you?” Holly called out as she came out of the kitchen, wearing jeans and his Pittsburgh Steelers T-shirt. He was going to let her keep it, because to ever wear it himself after it had been on her, drenched in her warmth and her scent, was not going to be possible. She was holding some kind of cleanser in one hand and she looked guilty.
“What did you do?” he asked suspiciously.
She looked guiltier. “I’m sorry, Alex. I didn’t mean to do the whole stereotype. You know, waltz into the bachelor’s house and wield domestic tyranny. It’s just I don’t think you’ve dusted since, well, forever, and I didn’t want Will developing asthma or anything. Especially now that I’m counting on him to get a football scholarship, join the NFL and buy me a yacht.”
Alex folded his arms. “I have so dusted.”
She raised an eyebrow. “There are dust bunnies in this house that could do battle with Godzilla.”
“I’ve never seen any dust bunnies,” he said.
“That’s because they were under the couch and behind furniture, places I don’t think you visit very often.”
“Well, there you go. I mean, who cleans under stuff and behind stuff? That’s just a little too anal-retentive for me. I’m a free and easy kind of guy,” he added, a grin breaking through his mock-defensiveness. Truthfully, it was fun to come home to a house that looked and smelled this good, especially when he hadn’t had to do any of the work. Not that he’d mind doing the work if this was how Holly liked things.
“I would’ve done this if you’d asked,” he told her. “You’re a guest. You shouldn’t have to clean.”
“Oh, I didn’t mind. I like to keep busy.” She turned back toward the kitchen. “There’s leftover chicken casserole if you want some,” she said over her shoulder, and Alex followed behind her like a homing pigeon, telling himself it was because he was hungry even though he’d had a huge sandwich at the deli on his way home.
“Mmm, smells good,” he said, looking around in amazement at his now sparkling-clean kitchen. “Wow, Holly. This must have taken hours.”
“Not really,” she said, scooping some casserole onto a plate and handing it to him. “And like I said, I was glad to have something to do. I hardly saw Will at all today. We had dinner together, but he did homework at the table and then went straight upstairs to do more. He’s got a big history test tomorrow. And…”
She hesitated, sitting down at the table. Alex sat down across from her and took a bite of casserole. “Truthfully,” she went on, “I was glad for the distraction. I filled out the insurance paperwork today and it was kind of…depressing.”
He stopped eating. “Holly, I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”
“The paperwork part wasn’t so bad. I even keep a household inventory in a safe deposit box, like the insurance companies tell you to but no one ever does. So the contents form was pretty easy to fill out…except…”
Her eyes filled with tears suddenly, which she did her best to blink back. “Sorry. But there was no place on the form for Will’s baby pictures, or the drawings he brought home from kindergarten, or the Mother’s Day card he made in third grade…or…”
He reached across the table and covered her hand with his.
“Sorry,” she said again, taking a deep breath. “I know the important thing is that Will and I got out safely. It’s just…everything’s gone. The paper chains he made for the Christmas tree when he was seven—” She smiled through her tears. “Every year he begs me not to put them up, but it’s not Christmas without them.” Her smile faded. “The pictures are the worst, though. I have the more recent ones on my computer at work, but not Will’s baby or toddler pictures. The ones I took before I had a digital camera. I always meant to have them scanned…but…”
“That’s rough, Holly. I’m so sorry.” He racked his brain, trying to think of some way to help. He hesitated. “Would your parents have any copies of those? Or…would Brian?”
She blinked in surprise. “To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about that. Of course they might. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right? My parents, anyway,” she amended. “I don’t enjoy talking with Brian at the best of times, and I really don’t feel like dealing with him now. He doesn’t even know about the fire yet, unless Will called him.”
“Holly, why did you—” He stopped suddenly.